How consumers in China are redefining customer service—and changing everyone’s expectations

Written by Sue Tan and Jerome Goh

The Chinese word for service is fuwu (服务), which everyone in China who’s older than fifty recognizes as part of the Communist slogan “serve the people” (wei renmin fuwu, or 为人民服务). In the sixties, this maxim was designed to foster the virtue of selflessness, in the name of social harmony and national progress. Although that idea still resonates, citizens of modern China are redefining the meaning of service in the context of one of the world’s most powerful consumer-driven economies.

On the crowded streets of Beijing today, anybody with a few yuan in his or her pocket has more choices than they previously could have imagined. The abundance of choice—domestic and foreign brands, both authentic and fake—combined with China’s manufacturing might is allowing service offerings to evolve. The rest of the world is waiting with baited breath to see how Chinese consumers will shape the offerings of tomorrow. Have a look at this article from IDEO to to check out a sampling of what they have observed so far.