Paradigm Shifters in Retailing

Abstract

In this global market of intense competition, some retail firms consistently stand out as market leaders. These firms have achieved success in spite of the intense ­competition; they appear to have assumed a different and more compelling strategic orientation – the “service.” This conceptual but organization-wide orientation to “service” has helped them to orchestrate and focus on the “customer” from a fundamentally different perspective than that of their competition. We call these firms “paradigm shifters,” – firms that operate within a different paradigm of thinking. These paradigm shifters appear to perceive their “service concept” as their “north star,” the guiding principle that drives all strategies, principles, and directions. The unique advantage gained in the market by these paradigm shifters is the effect of a meticulous and consistent focus on the “customer” – the ability to “think for the customer” – and therefore the focus on exemplary service.