Online Shopping Part II: Giordano Online Store

In the midst of global economic instability, Giordano, one of the biggest names in fashion, continues to flourish with record profits not only in Asia but the Middle East and other parts of the world.

Hoping to reach more clients, Giordano has ventured into another formula that is focused on bringing shopping comfort to their clientele, that is online shopping.

While this has an enormous following in Hongkong and China, they have yet to conquer the hearts of the Arab market in the Middle East. "In this region, it's still more of an infancy stage, people still have issues or concerns in terms of payment security", says Giordano's Executive Director for the Middle East Operations, Ishwar Chugani. He, however, assures clients that they have already crossed the threshold taking into account Giordano's long time solid presence in the market. Efforts are being made to bring more people to their online store, offering a simpler, more convenient shopping experience in the comforts of their homes or offices.

On a different note, Giordano boasts of an Inventory Management System that is unparalleled. The company claims that one of the secrets to their success is their passion for their work in inventory management. Their inventory, according to the Mr Chugani is under control, and allows them to offer special bundle offers and deals during shopping festivals. They also never have more than 5-6% of obsolete or slow-moving merchandise because of its efficiency.

Ella Panganiban

When asked if the rising cost of raw materials is a concern, he admitted that it used to be an issue but was already stabilized to make sure they can compete in the market and never have to lose. What is more of a challenge for the company, according to Mr Chugani, is the currency fluctuation in the Eurozone and India. However, Giordano make sure to negotiate with their suppliers from China so they could work on better pricing that will not compromise the quality of the merchandise they have been known for through the years.

Listen to Mr Ishwar being interviewed by Dubai Eye 103.8



So, have you visited their our store?
Share with us your favorite Giordano online purchase.

Ella Panganiban
Giordano Social Media Executive

Online Shopping Part I: Taking a virtual brick and mortar shop right at your finger tips

Online shopping is one of the by-products of convenience and technology.  With the likes of amazon.com, ebay.com, alibaba.com and many others crossing our minds, we know that online shopping has made its mark.  After all, who amongst us has not even tried to buy online?

Admittedly, our shopping experience has been revolutionized by the convenience of online shopping.  Products are brought closer to us and we can shop anywhere in the world. The most obvious benefit of online shopping is that we save time and money – no need to deal with commuting or parking, traffic and even carrying shopping bags.

Here in the Middle East, online shopping has also taken shape.  In a recent report by a newswire company quoting research conducted by Euromonitor, customers in the region spend around $1.1 billion through the internet expected to double to $2.2 billion by 2016.  The news report said that online shopping in the region has one of the fastest growing rates in the world.

The study only took into account purchases made on physical items such as books, DVDs and clothes.  The figure can actually go higher if the study included purchases from group buying websites or even booking flights or holidays.  Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia were observed to have had tremendous growth in online purchase.  This also shows that netizens are increasingly becoming more comfortable in using their credit cards to purchase goods (or services) online.

The potential for this medium is quite high, considering that it’s still in the nascent stage in the Middle East.  While there are different schools of thoughts on how online shopping is measured – the sheer increase in online purchasing activity already drives a point.  Online shopping is in our shores and something we welcome.

We, at Giordano, also recognize that online shopping is a great way to complement our own stores.  With the launch of our e-shopping portal www.giordano-me.com, with UAE being the pilot market with view to cover other markets in the future, we are aiming to complement existing Giordano stores to make our customers’ shopping experience more convenient.  

More than sales, we want our customers to have an alternative should they not be able to go to our stores for one reason or another.  Customers can now also buy from any of the 300 Giordano items in the comfort of their own homes or offices.

Ishwar Chugani
Executive Director
Giordano Middle East

Hakbang Buhay 2012

A meaningful start of the year…

On Friday, 6^th of January, Giordano participated in the “Hakbang Buhay 2012 – Walk for Life Sendong (Washi) Victims” organized by the Philippine Business Council.This was an auspicious time to show our support not just to the community where we work but to extend it to the loved - ones of our community. 

 

The devastation caused by typhoon “Sendong” (as it’s locally known in the Philippines; international name: “Wash”) was beyond anyone’s imagination.  Towns and villages were ravaged at a time when people were peacefully asleep.  The loss of livelihood, homes and lives are simply beyond anyone’s grasp.  

When the opportunity for Giordano to help the victims of “Sendong” came up, we immediately signed up for it. You see, within Giordano’s culture, helping the community is big on the agenda – and this is a chance for us to be involved. We were overwhelmed by the support of the community to take part in this initiative and the concern and love for fellowmen shown by each and every participant of the Friday walk.  From babies to elderlies, from abled-bodied to handicapped, from people of different beliefs – we were all one in answer to a call for humanity.

Our indomitable spirit of support was stronger than the disaster itself.

Thank you for all your support.

It is a Happy New Year!

Ishwar Chugani - Executive Director

GIORDANO MEANS SERVICE CAMPAIGN

At Giordano we continuously strive to provide our customers with a total shopping experience so that we achieve our objective of selling more.

Customer Service is paramount and we strive to go that extra mile

Customers rarely buy from a company. They buy from … a person they like, a person they trust, a person who is knowledgeable, a person who delivers what is promised. They want to do business with people they know and people who know them.

Whatever you do, others can follow or even do it better. If we are to achieve continuous positive growth and be a step ahead of the competition, it is ‘YOU’ our PEOPLE – who will make the difference.

Remember in business you are never trying to beat the competition. You are trying to give your customer something other than what they are receiving from the competition.

It is a waste of time and energy trying to beat the competition because the customers don’t care about rivalry.

Ishwar Chugani

Executive Director

Giordano Middle East

It's all about retail - part 2

Customers are truly loyal to the experiences they prefer. Your loyal customers return because the experiences you create are preferable to those delivered by your competitors. The experience your brand offers is yours alone and that will provide you with a true competitive advantage.

Customer experience today has also been taken to a different level – in the virtual world. The ‘brick and mortar’ store concept of course remains a major force but a strong presence online matters – be that online selling or by merely connecting with customers through social media. How you use social media can actually spell the difference for your brand. Operationally, leveraging online formats and the use of social media can not only cut costs but can also contribute to business growth.

Knowing your customer also provides you with the ability to offer them products and a service level that they are always on the lookout for. Understanding how to better communicate your brand image to the customer is also key. The customer is KING – this is as true today as when the phrase was first coined.

Nothing will turn a shopper off more than rude or pushy salespeople, long lines at the checkout and items without tags or prices. And shoppers will not complain about these issues. It’s just too much hassle and they can’t be bothered to waste time. It could also be that they feel no matter what they say, the problem will not be resolved. Customers will simply vote with their feet, walk out and spend their cash elsewhere.

Ishwar Chugani

Executive Director

Giordano Middle East

It's all about retail - part 1

- Customer focus is the new mantra

- Change is here; dwelling on past practices will mean you miss the future

The world of retail is incredibly competitive, with customers becoming increasingly inundated by the various lines, styles and brands available and every retailer vying to get a substantial slice of the market pie.

Now, more than ever, retailing needs to be upfront, straightforward, relevant, functional and affordable. Customers will buy from someone they can trust, someone knowledgeable, someone who can actually deliver on what is promised.
While you may see some people rummaging through the myriad choices in the mall for individual items, most will not have the luxury of time to stay long, and they get confused. People instinctively turn to the familiar; brands and outlets that they know will give them what they want and need.

Many retailers tend to think that products and store ambiance alone set their advantage from competitors. With today’s technology, it is possible to match competitors’ products feature by feature, but what will set you apart is customer interaction. The experience economy is more about how you sell something than what you actually sell. Forget about product distinction. Today’s retail market is short on the ‘distinct experience’ – create one and you create an instant relationship with your customers.

Ishwar Chugani
Executive Director
Giordano Middle East 

Communicate with your customers; get to know them!

The experience economy is more about how you sell something than what you actually sell. Forget about product distinction. Today’s retail market is short on the ‘distinct experience’ – create one and you create an instant relationship with your customers.

Knowing your customer also provides you with the ability to offer them products and a service level that they are always on the lookout for. Understanding how to better communicate you brand image to the customer is also key. The customer is KING – this is as true today, as when the phrase was first coined.

Like any relationship, making it works takes trust, understanding, commitment and support – in other words – get to know your customer, make your promise and then ensure that all elements are synchronized to nurture the bond.

Ishwar Chugani

Executive Director

Giordano Middle East 

Great customer service leads to customer loyalty

Successful retailing combines friendly customer service and simple product offering. Maintain your core values – and this will set you apart from the rest of the crowd.

Companies walk a fine line when they ‘study’ their competitors. Be true to your brand and brainstorm how you can create the same positive feelings, in a way that is distinctive, yet consistent with your targeted customer impression. Your long-term aim should be to leverage the unique strengths your brand possesses instead of copying your competitors gimmicks and signals.

Businesses are now realizing that true customer loyalty cannot be bought for discounts, ‘miles’ or points. These are a short-term fad, which get boring when they don’t deliver on the initial expectation. Customers are truly loyal to the experiences they prefer. Your loyal customers return because the experiences you create are preferable to those delivered by your competitors.

Your competitors may be able to match your products and services, feature for feature, but the experience your brand offers is yours alone, and provides you with a true competitive advantage. To enjoy profitability in the long-term retailers need to reach out from the confines of the box, continually innovating and varying their offering in order to lead consumers.

Ishwar Chugani
Executive Director
Giordano Middle East

What are shoppers really looking for?

Retailers are under the impression that shoppers want a good shopping atmosphere, convenient store locations, sufficient sales help, helpful and knowledgeable sales staff and good levels of customer service. However, recent studies polling shoppers, has revealed that there is a real requirement for special promotions and sales, better quality merchandise, great value, efficient return policies and continuous brand reliability.

Nothing will turn a shopper off more than rude or pushy salespeople, long lines at the checkout and unpriced items. Do shoppers complain about these problems? Answer – No. It is too much hassle, and with the lack of available time they can’t be bothered, they don’t know who to complain to or they feel that no matter what they say, the problem will not be resolved.

Ishwar Chugani
Executive Director
Giordano Middle East 

"We need to be doing things differently, rather than doing different things".

The father of Taoism, Lao-Tzu is credited with saying ‘when you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.’

The world of apparel retailing is incredibly competitive, with customers becoming more and more disillusioned with the various lines, styles and brands available.

To be successful, the retail offering should be relevant, functional and affordable. Customers don’t buy from a company; they buy regularly from someone they can trust, someone knowledgeable, someone who delivers what is promised. While a number of customers can spend hours rummaging through rails looking for that individual item, most people don’t have the luxury of time anymore, and turn to familiar outlets, where they know that what they are looking for can be found quickly and affordably.

A majority of global customers are cost and time conscious. It is rare that you will find a customer who thinks of cost as no obstacle, never mind time. If you want repeat custom, make your customers shopping experience an enjoyable one. Gone are the days when we could divide our time into two separate categories “work” and “leisure”. The 21st century shopper generally believes they’ve lost eight to ten leisure hours per week over the past decade.

While shoppers are looking for more expedient ways to spend their time they are also looking to get the most from their wardrobe, being able to wear their clothes in a number of combinations, yet still maintain an individual style. In order to reach your customers most basic needs you need to be doing things differently, rather than doing different things.

Ishwar Chugani
Executive Director

Giordano Middle East

The three things a great retailer will do

Identify what’s important – identify what’s important to your customer, what’s important in that moment.

Make it obvious - Once you’ve identified what’s important you make it obvious.
Old is new again – trends come back but with a twist.

And, think customer first at all times!

This will drive everything you do – you have to be in service to the customer – what’s important to the customer? What does the customer want? What does the customer want to buy? How does the customer like to buy it? How does the customer like to see it?

This is what you have to ask yourself over and over again – what is important?

Ask yourself these three questions when you first reach the office in the morning:

What is important? – Identify it.
How do I make it obvious? – What’s my strategy in making it obvious?
How do I make old new again? – Because I know that the newest craze isn’t necessarily going to be the winning ticket.

Think customer first – when you start from this place, you will see the answers and you will see how simple it is. Customers want you to do the thinking for them – that’s part of your service.

And that’s what we do here at Giordano - we do the thinking for them – make it simple, and as easy as possible.

How do we make it easier? How do we make it more obvious? How do we service the customer better with our product?

We innovate – within our domain – through style, colour and details – the potential is infinite.

Ishwar Chugani
Executive Director
Giordano Middle East

Brand Value

Creating a strong set of values around a brand denotes good value for a quality product. From the consumer’s point of view, acceptance of a product that is backed by good value becomes easy.

“The power of branding lies in the minds of the customer.” And companies have to use the power of branding to distinguish itself from the competition and also show customers that it is better than the others. Creating this differentiation is all the more significant in today’s marketplace where we have more choices of products with so many different brands. Differentiation is the key to win customers away from other brands. Two brands that have been able to achieve this differentiation with remarkable effects are Starbucks and Barista. Both have created differentiation with the social experience they offer customers through the ambience and comfort created in every outlet.

In the end, brands don’t just happen; they are created, nurtured and maintained. A brand once created has value.

Ishwar Chugani
Executive Director
Giordano Middle East

Creating brand performance

Merely creating brand awareness by itself is not enough; the quality of the product is of primary importance.

At Giordano, we take quality very seriously. In our chairman, Peter Lau’s words: “The essence of quality is the maintenance of trust between customers and retailers. When the trust is enhanced the retailer is regarded as a quality provider.”

In any brand loyalty programme, customers are the focal point. Brands must build a strong communication channel with their customer base for getting feedback, interacting, and understanding their needs. These are crucial and must be a continuous process. It is effective to conduct focus groups where, for example, new campaigns are shown and feedback sought. There must be innovation and creativity in what a brand does. The result of all our efforts is to provide exceptional customer service at all times. Once a company has created brand equity that’s not the end of the road. In fact, there is no finish line and the work just goes on.

Brand management at Giordano is towards creating the ‘world’ brand. A world brand is different from a global brand – it has no centre, knows no national or cross-cultural borders, it is truly owned by the local consumers. It is truly “think global, act local.” As a world brand, we will function as a virtual company where every office is interdependent


Ishwar Chugani
Executive Director
Giordano Middle East

Keep Your Cool this Summer with Giordano

As the mercury rises, sizzle in the brightest of hues while you stay cool and comfortable with Giordano’s summer collection, in stores from May 1.  With sporty tees and Big Tees, skater shorts and pants, skinny jeans, leggings and jeggings – the region’s favorite place for wardrobe essentials let’s you show your fashionable side without melting in the sun.

Limited Edition women's Big Tees make colour-blocking easy

Giordano’s Summer 11 collection focuses on a lot more color and also launches its new and innovative G:Cool technology of NatruDry fabrics, guaranteed to keep you cool and dry.   Men’s essential highlights include the G:Cool skater shorts and pants, specially designed for those who love an active lifestyle and want to brave the scorching heat with confidence, thanks to performance-driven fabrics and NatruDry technology.


The new men’s range has a wide selection of everyday wardrobe essentials like yarn-dyed stripe polo shirts, the ever-popular Lion Polo in a wide variety of color combinations, tipping polo shirts, striped and print shirts, and slim and regular fit plaid shirts with long or short sleeves - all just perfect paired with Giordano khaki pants or denims.

It's all about G:Cool with NatruDry fabric technology

For women too, there is no shortage of treats in store. Wardrobe-staple fashion tees in black, white and grey  are complemented by Giordano’s Summer 11 limited edition Big Tees in scorching brights, making this season’s colour-blocking trend ever-so-simple to wear. The Big Tees are a must-have match for stretch cotton Lycra leggings, jeggings or skinny fit denims and look super sweet accessorized with cotton scarves.

“At Giordano, we’re committed to providing our customers high quality and versatile essential clothing at great value. This Summer’s Collection is all about simple, easy to wear pieces that look great every time you put them on,” says Ishwar Chugani, Executive Director, Giordano Fashions LLC.  “That’s why we’re the go-to place for men’s and women’s wardrobe essentials.”






Giordano Middle East

An Acceptance To Change...

This is a very exciting time for all of us at Giordano, discovering and adopting new attitudes, values and behaviours, as we move along on this road of change.

What is change?  Change can be defined as the systematic attempt to re-design an organization in a way that will help it adapt to the external environment or to achieve new goals, new products, better ideas, new challenges.

At Giordano, we developed an acceptance to change – hence, we are always trying to do things differently and striving to create a difference that will change customers' retail experience.  None of this will be possible without clear objectives and the freedom to pursue them.  And at Giordano, we have the management that gives us the flexibility to do this. The rest is upon the individual.

Giordano is still very much a learning organization and will continue to be so in this rapidly changing, highly competitive retail industry. 

"Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future."......John F. Kennedy

Ishwar Chugani

Executive Director

Giordano Middle East

Basics of Success – 18 years and still going strong

K.I.S.S.  Remember what that is?  Yes, but no need to say what the last letter stands for – Keep It Simple says enough. 

At Giordano, we also keep it simple.  In fact, we’ve kept it to the very basic and it works.  Giordano Middle East was established in March 1993 as a joint venture between Emirates Trading Agency (ETA) Dubai and Giordano International Ltd. Hong Kong. Today we celebrate our 18^th birthday – we’re officially ‘grown up’.

Armed with our five intrinsic values of Quality, Knowledge, Innovation, Service and Simplicity (Q.K.I.S.S.), Giordano has grown from a single store in Dubai to currently 190 throughout the G.C.C, India, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Yemen and Iraq.  We will also soon be seen in Sri Lanka and Morocco.

Our values ring through the products that we carry – simple, created with innovative technology and materials.  Giordano’s consistent focus on these values helped create and magnify our signature look – easy-to-wear fashion pieces that can be easily mixed and matched to suit any desired look.

We made it through 18 years here in the Middle East and we look forward to many more years to come.  While many things have changed over the years, our promise will never waiver.  Our customers are assured of a collection that is essential, relevant and functional that will suit their lifestyles.

Ishwar Chugani

Executive Director

Giordano Middle East

Welcome to our blog!

Giordano Middle East was established in March 1993 as a joint venture between Emirates Trading Agency (ETA), Dubai, and Giordano International Ltd, Hong Kong.

ABOUT US

          

"To make people feel good and look great". This straightforward mission has served the Giordano Group well since 1981 in guiding its growth from a manufacturer of casual clothing into a leading international retailer of apparel and accessories for men, women and children. By providing attractive everyday fashion in a comfortable environment, it has built a family of brands synonymous with quality, value and customer service.

In the Middle East apparel market, Giordano is probably one of the top five clothing retailers in the whole Arab world. The brand now operates over 200 stores in 15 countries across the region that includes the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries, Jordan, Iran, India, Syria , Bulgaria, Georgia and Armenia.

 The brand's offering of essential, timeless, relevant and easy to mix and match apparel, has proved popular for all age groups and nationalities, demonstrating the global appeal of the brand.

Keep up with all our news and views here on the World Without Strangers blog!