SOGO: Leveraging Digital Technologies to Enhance Customer Engagement and Drive Growth

Focusing on the use of digital technologies in the retail sector in Hong Kong, this case describes the challenges confronted by the largest department store operator in Hong Kong, SOGO department stores. A traditional brick-and-mortar retailer with negligible e-commerce operations, SOGO has recognized the impact of technology in the retail sector. Just as its customers are influenced by technology in their daily lives, SOGO has been perpetually challenged in seeking the optimal ways to integrate technology into its daily operations, such as point-of-sale (POS) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. SOGO needs to understand better the best ways to interact with its more than 500,000 loyal SOGO Rewards members, particularly the digitally-savvy younger customers. As a business case, this is not just a discussion about technology trends in retail, but about the strategic decision-making of an Executive Director of SOGO as she confronts the challenges and inherent costs to acquire new technologies and the resources required to train employees to use such technologies which would improve the company's interactions with its customers and drive growth. Furthermore, at the intersection of technology and customers is often data - data about customers' demographics (gender, age etc.), what items they are purchasing, how much they are spending, and what their likes and dislikes are. For SOGO, how could it leverage technology to utilize the extensive data it collects and maximize lifetime customer value?

• Customer relationship management
• Marketing management
• Corporate strategy