Where would we be without our customers?

Fanatical customers come with the territory in retailing. Fanatical about the company, the shops, the products and even about who makes products.

Some customers scour the shelves for their favourites and declare they won’t use anything unless it’s made by “Kris” or “Dan” – we label our products with who made them and when. This fanaticism comes to the fore particularly when we dare to discontinue their favourite product. A customer once told me that, years ago, when we discontinued her favourite product, she stood outside the shop all day in protest.

Our solution? The new Retro section on our web site. Customers can click to buy these products and as long as at least 50 people agree to buy the same product, the factory will make it.

It may sound like I’m scoffing at these avid customers but, the truth is, I am one of them – I have ordered hundreds of pounds’ worth of discontinued items.

So, we are holding a “forum” party to give Lush fanatics a glimpse of the Christmas products before we launch them. The forum is part of our web site and the forumites epitomise fanatical customers. They are staunch followers – quick to congratulate, but equally quick to say where we are going wrong. They defend their favourite products to the death. They can be a little intense, but we are lucky to have customers who love the company so much that they are willing to talk about it to us, each other and the public. They are a voice that we like to take the time to listen to.