1979년 한국 백화점시장에 뛰어든 롯데백화점은 그 동안 혁신적이고 차별화 된 서비스 제공을 위한 체계를 구축해 나감으로써 고급 백화점으로서의 위치를 강화해 왔다. 특히, 국내 유통업계의 경쟁이 치열해지고 있는 2000년 대에 들어와서부터 롯데백화점의 고객중심 경영전략은 다양한 방향으로 확장되어 가고 있다. 고객이익과 고객참여를 동시에 균형 있게 추구하여 기업과 고객이 함께 지속 가능한 사회를 만들어 나가고자 하는 Custonler Equal Project를 진행하는가 하면 소비자 주권 향상을 추구하는 ``소비자 중심경영 인증(CCM. Consumer Centered Management)``을 백화점 업계 최초로 획득하였다. 나아가, 롯데백화점의 고객 중심경영은 안전하고 친환경적인 쇼핑공간을 만들고 각종 탄소저감 활동을 통해 지속 가능한 소비문화를 구현하는 방향으로까지 발전해 나가고 있다. 본 사례에서는 이러한 롯데백화점의 고객중심 경영전락을 상세히 분석하여 소개하고 그 성과와 특징을 논의하고 앞으로의 과제를 제시하고자 한다.

Since its first entry into the Korean department store market in 1979. Lotte Department Store has grown into a major player in the upscale segment of the market. Such strong position in the market was made possible mainly through their consistent innovative service strategy. With the motto ``customers are our owners``, strong customer service was at the core of Lotte Department Store`s competitive strategy from the very beginning. With the opening of their business, the service staff at Lotte immediately gained the attention of the press and the public with their excellent service hitherto not seen in Korea. This was possible because all service staff members were required to attend a service training program every week where they were trained to think and act from the customers` perspective. They were also provided with foreign language instruction. Since the early years, the continued intensification of competition in the worldwide as well as Korean retail market, the customer service strategy at Lotte Department Store has continued to expand into various new frontiers. One area of expansion has been in the area of corporate social responsibility(CSR). Specifically, under the name, "Customer Equal Project," Lotte has been seeking to engage its customers in its sustainability efforts of balancing business profits with social and environmental benefits. Through the Customer Equal Project. Lotte rewards customers for voluntari1y engaging in sustainable purchase and consumption behavior. Lotte Department Store has focused on innovating the organization structure in its efforts to improve the handling of customer complaints. These efforts have culminated in the adoption of the "Consumer Centered Management(CCMY` system which was officially accredited by the Korean Fair Trade Commission in 2009. The main purpose of CCM is the prevention of customer complaints. But if and when customer complaint occurs, CCM brings together people from all relevant parts of the organization such as sales, public relations, purchasing, logistics, quality control, and customer service to develop and recommend the best solution to the problem as quickly as possible. In 2010. Lotte went as far as entering into an agreement with its 71 suppliers where it promised to support their adoption of the CCM system. This effort was widely recognized as a pioneering effort in disseminating the culture of customer respect in the Korean retail industry. The customer service strategy at Lotte Department Store is also characterized by the wide variety of communication channels available to the customers to voice their opinions. The wide range of channels through which customers can ``talk`` to the company not only improves customer accessibility, it also helps to increase the reach of the benefits offered by the company to more customers. Furthermore, it motivates the organization to stay more alert and responsive to customer needs. The four most notable communication channels are as follows. (1) "Want Slip." This is a convenient way for customers to file complaints or suggestions. Rather than customers having to write their opinions themselves on paper or on-line, they can voice their opinion directly to the sales clerk on the shopping floor who will then submit the opinion in written form to the appropriate party on their behalf. This system takes away a lot of the hassle customers must bear when voicing their opinion. (2) "If I was the MD-customer suggestion system. Through this on-line system, customers can freely leave new product and merchandizing suggestions including ideas from other countries. The company then reviews all suggestions in terms of merit and feasibility and regularly rewards those that are deemed valuable. In the year 2010, a total of 3,794 suggestions were received out of which 120 were chosen as valuable ideas. (3) Voice of Customer(VOC) system. This is an on-line system where customers can express any opinions including complaints, compliments, and suggestions. All opinions are then transferred to appropriate personnel/department who then is required to respond within 12 hours. (4) 1 to 1 real time communication through social network services. Since August 2010, Lotte has since opened three Twitter accounts and a Facebook account through which customers can easily express their thoughts. All customer comments are shared throughout the organization through the VOC system. Lotte Department Store also maintains an active Customer Relationship Management(CRM) system that is linked closely with their GIS database. Through this system, they are able to pinpoint and cater to the needs of very specific customer segments such as ``working moms``, ``baby boomers``, or customers residing in certain geographic locations. Another important aspect of customer service has been the enhancement of the safety of the shopping facilities. In addition to raising the maintenance standards of all major facilities such as escalators, significant investments have been made to improving the air quality of the shopping area. The customer service efforts at Lotte Department Store over the years have certainly been fruitful in the sense that it helped the company to grow into one of the leading department stores in the country. As the company looks into the future, it is clear that the efforts not only need to continue, but also to broaden even further. The retail industry of tomorrow increasingly calls for services that anticipate customer needs, not merely respond to their requests. Such innovative service strategy requires, among other things, a deep understanding of the fundamental human nature of customers. The challenge at Lotte is to engage in long term investments to develop such capabilities in their staff at all levels and to continue to pre-empt the competition in designing innovative and implementable customer service strategies based on those capabilities.