Customer Equity Drivers and CLV of the Department Stores in Seoul

Study aims to identify customer equity drivers and their relative importance, to represent customer lifetime value (CLV) distribution, and to investigate the effect of customer equity drivers and demographics on CLV when shopping apparels at the four big department stores in Seoul. Recently, Korean department stores marked significant decrease in sales volume and it calls for more focus on customer orientation. Customer equity is a managerial concept which considers customers as a valuable asset for business success. Sustainable competitive advantage is attainable when customer equity drivers and CLV are measured, managed and enhanced. results identified four dimensions of customer equity drivers such as 'retail brand equity: 'relationship equity', 'retail service equity', and 'price value equity'. Among them, 'relationship equity' was proved to be the most influencing factor on the customer's store patronage intention. The CLV distribution represented unique characteristics of each department store. The level of CLV depended on such demographics as age and income. Marital status influenced the relationship between perceived customer equity drivers and CLV. It also analyzed competitive structure of the four big department stores in Seoul and offered managerial suggestions. This study provided conceptual framework for the future study of customer equity related to apparel shopping at the department stores as well as managerial implications.