The Collective: Weaving a personal and enduring legacy

At the heart of The Collective lies a culture that values personal touch and strives to make every customer experience an enduring one

The business of luxury is built on a deep and passionate understanding of customers’ tastes, preferences and habits. It is also based on building trust and a lasting relationship through every touchpoint and engagement experience.

That’s where The Collective — a one of its kind, super-premium retail concept by Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail — stands out. It has actively developed processes that help build enduring bonds with its stakeholders.

As a lifestyle store, The Collective brings over 100 of the world’s iconic fashion apparel and accessories brands under one roof. More than that, The Collective has already created a lasting impression in the world of luxury retailing based on the premise of building lasting relationships with customers.

At The Collective, engagement goes beyond elegant décor; it is centred around the people at the stores. Employees deliver a personalised experience, often playing the role of personal stylist and fashion advisor for their well-heeled guests.

Clients at The Collective are global travellers, with a taste for the finer things in life. Staff members at these stores are therefore chosen and trained to be individual contributors who can perform at their best with minimal supervision. This poses a challenge, though — how does one monitor individual outcomes and also sustain a culture of collective growth for the business?

It can happen only if the staff live the brand values themselves. This orientation starts with the hiring process and continues through the on-boarding phase. Those recruited at The Collective are identified for their natural orientation to the brand values, and are trained through the brand’s experience framework to ensure that their in-store behaviours and actions reflect this culture at every step of the way.

Each person who joins the business is also handed a copy of ‘The Collective Book of Stories’ containing delightful customer stories, on their first day itself. The book helps team members better understand, relate to, and imbibe the values that are key to their roles as ambassadors for the brand. It goes a long way in embracing the diversity of thought, opinion, and culture that help make The Collective what it is.

Built on empathy and enduring bonds, The Collective shines a light on how businesses can up their customer-centricity to stay relevant.