Alteration- a service

Alteration service

The development of malls and organized retailing has directly and indirectly benefited the consumers a lot. This development has witnessed the evolution of many tools linked to customer service, leading to a complete change in approach by all retailers, big or small. Providing alteration service is one of them.
I remember in the early eighties to early nineties we used to not buy readymade garments, but prefer stitching one, due to non-availability of the perfect size, and the absence of alteration service. Even the few which existed used to be an expensive act.

Since some few years around I have noticed a drastic change in the way the small retailers have responded to this new concept of alteration service provided by the big retailers at the malls. During all the festive seasons, especially during the Diwali (Festival of Light- celebrated in a huge scale in India) season every readymade garment shop will station a tailor just outside the shop just to take alteration orders from the customers. To compete with the big retailers they encourage all their customers to buy the garment of their choice, not to worry about sizes as they will be altered free of charge by their in-house tailor. (The one stationed outside the shop) Providing free alteration by most of the retailers to their customers have encouraged the shoppers to buy more goods.

This concept has also introduced customized garments wherein all gents trousers have open ended hems and ladies sleeveless kurtas (tops) will have a pair of sleeves attached as an option for the customer, in case she wants the sleeves to be stitched.

Most of the Retailers who are in the business of selling readymade garments have introduced this facility of providing alteration facility to their customers. The advantage to retailers is that they are able to convert more customers, and increase the sale. The customers find this service more convenient, as well as time and money saving factor.

Every service provided to a customer is fine as long as it is targeting a small size of business, but needs to be properly planned, a proper process implemented to run the service process if targeted to a bigger business house. Same goes to the alteration system.
Alteration service can go for a toss if a proper system is not put in place by the retailers.

I still remember an incident which I experienced along with one of my colleagues in one of the shops I was working with. We were standing near one of the cash tills at the men’s section. A customer in his late thirties approached us with a bill and told us that he had come to collect his goods given for alteration. The shop we were working in did not have a proper customer service desk. Hence any customer could approach the nearest sales executive and request for service. My collegue took the slip from the customer, went to one of the areas at the back office where all altered garments used to be kept. He came with one of the bags, and gave the customer. The customer thanked him and left from there.
In the evening the customer came back with the merchandise. A young gentleman had accompanied him now. He took out one of the garments from the bag, which somewhat looked like a Bermuda, and asked us whether it is the same trouser he had purchased for his son. His son was around five feet and seven inches in height, and the Bermuda-like trouser was obviously not his. He had purchased a similar material trouser and wanted its inner length to be reduced by 2 inches. The tailor had mistaken the measurement and reduced the length of the trouser by 2 ft. and made a Bermuda out of it. We had to apologize to the customer for such a drastic mistake, buy some more time from the customer, replace the trouser, alter it as per his requirement, and home deliver it.
The obvious reason for such a terrible incident to occur was absence of a proper alteration process and system within the shop.