Santa and his enterprising sleigh

The two most important trading weeks of the year lie before us. For many retailers, delivering superior customer service at this peak period is vital, not least to achieve the financials required to meet the expectations of owners, shareholders and, indeed, Retail Week and other significant media.

Successful retailers often commit to months of rigorous planning in preparing for this peak. We chase a competitive edge by restlessly seeking out innovative concepts, or best practice ideas, from suppliers or from other retailers in our own country or overseas.

But in these festive times, isn’t there someone who represents a more obvious source of innovation? Someone, who is also a model of durability and of securing customer satisfaction. A creative genius, who provides a truly world class logistics and distribution service in mid-winter, and who serves some 2.2 billion children living in 195 countries, across the planet? Why…. it’s Father Christmas.

Father Christmas successfully sustains a ‘think global, act local’ strategy. His trademark white beard and distinctive red (pantone 485) outfit, together with his “Ho Ho Ho” strap line, command universal recognition and affection. To adapt to specific territories, he markets his brand under an assortment of names, such as Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Ayaz Baba, Sion Corn or Kris Kringle.

With consummate ease, he flits across consumer media channels – not only posters, magazines, newspapers or TV, but is also a skilled exponent of 21st century cyberspace: his regular stamping grounds for communicating with his customers include Facebook and Twitter.

So what can we learn? Well, he certainly gets the right stock in the right place to optimise both efficiency and customer satisfaction. So a ‘Just in Time’ supply chain process is essential.  Moreover, Father Christmas’s Lapland distribution centre comprises floor space of some 4 million sq ft, with incredibly well organised racking, and its real-time warehouse management system effortlessly manages order picking and replenishment, sleigh loading and a peerless on-time home delivery service.

Father Christmas applies cohesive training and succession planning practices for his army of elves, who are dedicated to providing Christmas toys and gifts for children throughout the world. HR professionals perhaps can learn much from the ‘can do’ culture that underpins productivity and employee retention.

At the epicentre of this highly sophisticated customer service venture must be a state of the art EPoS system. It is only reasonable to imagine that Father Christmas and his elves meticulously monitor trends and customer preferences, and track stock flows. The subsequent interactive databank must surely be a fundamental instrument in shaping inventory projections, and elf resource planning, for the following Christmas.

Christmas 2009 is nearly upon us, so only tactical responses can be formulated to address any previously unidentified customer needs. But there are still 379 days left until Christmas 2010. May I urge you to draw inspiration from our seasonal superstar – Father Christmas.

Leo McKee is chief executive of Brighthouse