As a regular visitor of the Carmel, I have walked the Ocean Ave numerous times and visited LUSH every time i went there. Probably LUSH is the only exclusive cosmetics store there and people can’t miss the soothing fragrance that fills near the street. “Lush produces and sells a variety of handmade products, including soaps, shower gels, shampoos and hair conditioners, bath bombs, bubble bars, face make, and hand and body lotions for a variety of skin types”. Best part is you can try the products then and there and staff is very welcoming and resourceful. They are there to educate you but not push products. By now, my 4 year old daughter is a big fan of their bath bombs and bubble bars.
After few encounters, I was compelled to think on why I am OK paying high prices for LUSH products and not going to other traditional places. Here is the list.
- An exclusive shop – makes you believe that they are special, very special.
- A friendly staff who is passionate about educating customers is much better than sales people trying to push products.
- The product variety makes you think that there is innovation everywhere… even with bath bars.
- Each product has a name of the person who made it. This makes it more personal and brings in the human touch.
- LUSH does not do animal testing rather they get human volunteers to test their products.
- Most of the time they donate some money to a cause. This time it is to the Japan’s Fukushima children who is recovering from the nuclear disaster.
This is not a rocket science but executing and sticking to what you believe is the key here. I have constantly seen this shop for last seven years delivering the same service and I am impressed. This is a great lesson for everyone in business – “No matter which industry you operate in and how crowded the market is, you can always differentiate yourself”. In LUSH’s case it is fresh, natural, personalization, innovation, product consistency, services and company ethos are the ones that differentiate its products.
How do you differentiate your self ?
