MaineBusiness.com

My father used to run a drug store, and always said, "When you don't have what a customer wants, you lose that customer." It's a bit more complicated than that. But having products available for the customer is as much about customer service as inventory management.

To make the point, I'm going to suggest you read Chris Brogan's experience trying to find a pair of Timberland boots. It's worth reading his post and more than 60 comments - especially since Chris and a Timberland representative comment.

Here's a summary:

1. Chris sees an ad for a Timberland boot.
2. Chris likes what he sees enough to visit a Timberland store to buy it.
3. The store doesn't have it in stock.
4. Store employee knows nothing about this model.
5. Same store employee suggests he try two other stores.
6. The retailers are of no help.
7. He finds the boot online at Zappos.com
8. He blogs about it.
9. Lots of people comment - mostly criticizing his shopping skills
10. A Timberland rep offers to ship the boots to him

Here's what the Timberland rep posted in the middle of the debate:

Very sorry to hear about your frustrating experience. My name is Chris and I work for Timberland. I'm responsible for their online business. I understand your frustrations with stores and online shops not having your product or size. We struggle with this everyday. We try to carry ample supply of every style in every size, unfortunately, that isn't always easy to predict.

In this case; however, this style you've chosen, 15551, is one of our most popular styles and we carry it year round. This product is carried online and in Timberland Specialty stores (meaning not in factory outlets), as well as any of our retail partners who choose to purchase it. I just checked our site and we do have this style in stock and can ship it to you asap. Please use the attached link http://www.timberland.com/product/index.jsp?pro....

Please let me know if you don't have the experience you expect and I'm sorry you've encountered such frustration thus far.

Like I said, it's worth reading the post and comments. Here are my Takeaways:

If you have a beef with a company, a blog is an extremely useful way to get their attention. Combine it with a Facebook and Twitter mini-campaign, you will get a response.
You need to be monitoring blogs and social networks for your brand. Timblerland deserves credit for quickly trying to solve a customer's problem.
I don't give Timberland a lot of credit for expecting customers to know the difference between a "Timberland Specialty store" and a factory outlet. A store is a store to most customers. This is an industry that double checks to make sure you are walking out the door with right and left versions of your shoes.
I understand the arguments made by commenters about complex supply chain logistics. It's bound to leave gaps in inventory. But this Timberland store employee never heard of the boot. If you're going to spend money on a TV ad campaign, you need to spend some time and money making sure employees know as much as the customer.
If you are a brick and mortar retailer with an ecommerce site, train your employees on how to use it. Offer to find a product online for them. Some commenters felt Chris should have known to look for the boot at Timberland.com.
Customers don't care about the difference between specialty stores and outlets. And so what if the ecommerce site is a different division? Customers see the same logo. You can't expect customers to show brand loyalty if your employees don't.
Brick and mortar still matters. Chris knows how to find products online, but he feels a need to make sure footwear fits properly before buying. No matter how good Zappos.com gets at selling shoes, customers are going to want a real experience.
Like I said, this is a customer service fail. A customer walked into the store intending to spend money. The store didn't do enough to solve that customer's problem.