Lululemon's Secret to Staying Ahead of the Competition

Lululemon is not the only company that delivers appealing, high-quality athletic wear with a strong brand presence. There is one thing, however, that differentiates them from their would-be competition:

Customer service.

Lululemon prioritizes the hiring of in-store and online representatives that not only care about the customer but are passionate about the product. While a quick look at their Reddit page or Yelp reviews will make this obvious, it was proven beyond doubt with a recent interaction.

About a month ago, I spotted a tennis skirt on the website. It had just been released, I had a discount code, and it looked adorable. This created a perfect storm for an impulse purchase. I was sure that if I could get my hands on this Court Rival High-Rise Skirt, I would be the next Serena Williams. So, I ordered it and waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

I got sick of waiting.

#1 The Email Exchange

After two weeks, my frustration reached a breaking point. I could’ve ordered a clone of this item on Amazon and worn it three times by now. I had received an email notification that my order was on its way days ago. On the email was a support address that was available to write to if there was an issue. I angrily typed in how I ordered my skirt weeks ago and it was nowhere to be found. Almost immediately after hitting send, a customer service agent responded with two shipping notifications from FedEx letting me know that my skirt was stuck in transit in Indiana, but I should receive it shortly.

While I was still disappointed my item had not yet arrived, I was satisfied with the level of support I received for the time being.

#2 The Phone Call

A few days later I checked on my order with the FedEx tracking number and it was still in Indiana—nowhere close to its final destination. My anger was spiraling in a bad direction. I spent almost 90 dollars on a few feet of fabric only to face all this frustration. I dialed Lululemon’s customer support number, ready to sit on hold for however long it took to get the compensation I deserved.

The phone rang once (once) before someone picked up, “Hi! This is Katie, an Educator with Lululemon. How can I help you?” Katie, who turned out to be a part-time Lululemon educator and full-time yoga instructor in my area, listened to my story carefully.

“Anyway,” I told her, “I really wanted this skirt, but I have no hope it’s going to get here.”

Katie laughed, “I agree. Let’s get you a refund and see if we can get a new skirt on its way.”

Easy as that. A refund and a new skirt! I had to stop myself from jumping for joy. After a few moments of listening to frantic typing on the other end of the line, Katie’s voice returned. “Unfortunately, the skirt is out of stock at our warehouse. I’m so sorry, I’ll still process the refund. Sometimes you will still find some extra pieces in the store, even if it says out of stock online, so I would definitely give that a shot.”

Though this was not the perfect outcome, I wasn’t mad. Katie was incredibly nice, very relatable, and sounded more like a fellow Lululemon customer than a customer support agent. “No problem, thanks so much for your help,” I told her before hanging up the phone.

I had my money back, but still no skirt. At this point, most people would have given up on purchasing an overpriced piece of clothing they didn’t really need. I am not most people.

#3 The In-Store Experience

I walked to my local Lululemon Athletica store about a mile away. When I walked in, I was kindly greeted by the staff. I waved a silent hello before making a b-line for the skirts.

There it was, the Court Rival High-Rise Skirt. Unfortunately, they only had the extra-long version in the store. I tried it on for size, just to see what it looked like. It was everything I dreamed it would be: comfortable, flowy, something I could wear working out and then to the grocery store. A dream come true. Only issue—this length aged me more than a few years. I exited the changing room, gave the skirt back to the attendant, and sulked over to the cash register.

As a last-ditch effort, I decided to ask the cashier if they had anything “in the back,” to make sure I covered all my bases. He informed me that they did not, but could check online for me.

“Don’t bother,” I told him, “I already checked online and they didn’t have any left in my size.”

“But I have something you can’t see online—the inventory of every store in America” he grinned.

The customer service representative, Nick, began making phone calls. According to his records, there were five stores in the United States that had my size in the skirt. I stood in front of him, giving him any details I could think of to help him in the quest. The first store just sold its last one. The second was holding their remaining skirt for a pickup order. The third and fourth stores hadn’t updated their records since selling their last pieces.

It was time for the last call. Nick dialed a store in a small town in Northern California, roughly 3,000 miles away from our current location. He spoke to them in a low voice, giving them my information and asking the appropriate questions.

“Okay, thanks so much.” He slammed the phone down, “Congratulations, you got the last Court Rival High-Rise Skirt in America.”

This story had a happy ending: I got the skirt. But it would not have been this way if each customer service representative hadn’t been precise, detailed, and supportive every step of the way. In the email exchange, there was a prompt, automated response that provided the exact information I was looking for. On the phone, Katie told me there was nothing she could do—but there was a chance someone else could. With hope restored I could get the item I wanted, Nick called stores around the country, making this one purchase his number one priority for the time being. Not only that, but his ability to access the inventory was astonishing. In an era where many customer service agents don’t know what the person sitting next to them is doing, it is remarkable to see someone with such awareness of his global coworkers’ inventory.

What if Katie had the same visibility? What if, upon my call, she looked into the global inventory and sent me the skirt from California? Meeting Nick was a pleasure, but this experience could have been seamless if Katie had the access she needed to solve my problem from the comfort of my couch.

Lululemon is not the cheapest, nor the fastest, place I could go shopping. But because of the customer support, it is the nicest. Next time I need athletic apparel, catered support for a purchase, or need to make a recommendation for someone else, I will be turning to Lululemon. By creating an advantageous customer experience on every channel and making your customer a priority every step of the way, even the most imperfect company can seem like the perfect solution every time for customers.

Header Photo by Sonnie Hiles on Unsplash