Are you re-inventing your retail?

I was recently reading an article by DR. ALAN TREADGOLD on the Hub Magazine (here) and he made some interesting points which I would like to address.

That shoppers no longer need to go into physical retail stores is incontestable.

True — even groceries can be ordered online….

What should traditional B&M stores do to compete with their online counter parts?

While the rise of internet retailing tells a lot about how shoppers value the 24/7 and never-leave-home convenience of the web, it also says something about the relative lack of appeal that traditional stores have for a lot of shoppers in a lot of product categories a lot of the time.

Maybe we are evolving into smarter (or lazier) shoppers. Where unless it’s convenient; I’m not going to buy it.  To be honest; in some cases I’d rather shop online then drag 2 kids to a local B&M store. Why not sit on the couch and order a my groceries online and even pay a little more for the convenience of doing so.

The good news is that, to paraphrase Mark Twain (13,252 results on Amazon.com, incidentally), reports of the death of the retail store have been greatly exaggerated. In a recent survey of 2,200 American shoppers, fully 50 percent agreed that there is still no substitute for going into the store and seeing the product in real life. In high-touch categories, 43 percent still like to touch and feel a product before they feel sufficiently confident to make a purchase.

Ahhh so true, but I would say it really depends on the item. Example: I might check out a iphone 4 from a friend. I am familiar with the phone already since i own a iphone 3, and I know the quality of the iphone by apple. I know the brand and what to expect. So i would “NOT” want to go to my local apple store and wait 1 hour or more just to purchase a phone (I did that once before). I’d rather order it online and get it delivered to my door.

This might not hold true for a pair of shoes. But electronics, certain clothing and I’m sure a handful of other items fit into this category.  What about you? What items do you have to absolutely TOUCH & FEEL before buying?

The first is that a substantial minority of American shoppers —around 20 percent in this survey — regard the internet as a good substitute for going into a store. In fact, they would prefer not to go into a store at all.

I guess I fall into that category. I’ll be the 1st to admit it.

This raises the important consideration of relative advantage. Physical stores are better placed than the online space to deliver some attributes of the shopping experience. Surely, stores should be capable of being more experiential, more engaging, more stimulating, and more theatrical even than their online counterparts. If they are not able to deliver beyond the web on these experiential elements of retailing, then it is very valid to question just what the relevance of the retail store becomes.

So retailers – you need to engage on a much greater level and ensure the experience is fun and exciting.  What is a high priority on your holiday shopping experience? Good Outstanding customer service? A unique product? Or the experience? How will you standout?

Retailers should have no doubt that, for many shoppers, the experience of visiting their stores is indeed a distinctly sub-optimal, unsatisfactory and underwhelming one. Retail businesses are essentially all about momentum — if they’re not cycling forward then they are almost certainly spiraling backwards, but very rarely are they ever standing still.

OUCH! So the current experience is “sub-optimal, unsatisfactory and underwhelming one” sounds like fun! Retailers are you taking note? You should be surveying and setting up focus groups to determine how to make a shift in the current feelings & experiences.

The multi-channel and recession-defined landscape that is the US retail marketplace is certainly no Field of Dreams: If you build it they won’t necessarily come. But they will if you understand how physical stores can win over the web, deliver at least to the expectations of shoppers on the “basics,” and create truly imaginative and inspiring experiences.

Bravo Alan, you hit the nail on the head – create truly imaginative and inspiring experiences!

Thanks for the great article.