Enhancing consumer experiences within retail spaces
Suppose, for some reason; you’ve been unsure of what’s been going in business and especially in retail.
In that case, we’re going to bring you up to speed real quick: absolutely everything that could change has changed, and if you’re not planning on bringing anything new to your in-store environment, you might as well start printing your signage for your closing down sale.
We’ve been through incredibly and, in some ways, almost unbelievable amounts of upheaval and change in commerce globally, domestically, and perhaps of more import, locally.
Indeed, it appears that for national economies to recover, we’re going to need to look at how we can place more focus on ensuring the security of local economies first as consumers look to supporting locally owned and smaller businesses.
Overall, that’s a very positive element of this time that we’re living in. Some would argue that there has been a desperate need to focus on developing local and rural economies. Now that that’s happening, we’re already starting to see the impact.
This means to retailers both at a national and local level: competition has never been more aggressive and extends beyond just getting feet through the door.
Smart money knows that customers don’t want to feel like another brick in the wall; they want personalised experiences that speak to their individual experiences and lifestyles and offer innovative solutions that create emotional bonds to products and services.
“Customer experience is not an initiative. It’s a mindset change”. – Ruth Crowley, VP Customer Experience Design, Lowe’s
How the retail world is adapting to change
Take a look at this article by Forbes, and you’ll see just how seriously the top management at the most prominent brands are taking customer experiences.
The jury is out; consumers are no longer content to just pop down to the mall and get a bag of “stuff.” They want experiences that last, and they want access to people that make decisions when things don’t go according to plan.
Have a look at these seriously cool retail innovations for some ideas.
Ease and convenience place easily at the top of these demands, evidenced by Amazon’s “Go” concept where you walk in the store, take what you want, and leave. Everything happens without a single interaction with a cashier or another physical payment method.
Some high end clothing stores are employing live models to try on different looks and styles so that customers can see what garments look like from a different perspective, and grocery stores are delivering goods using driverless technology and then storing those purchases in roadside “boxes” that keep interests fresh until you get home.
But, all of these changes and tech-based solutions may be out of reach for smaller retailers or those few remaining “mom and pop” stores. If that’s you, how can you compete?
Customer enhancement solutions for smarter retailers
Not everyone can afford über high end virtual payment systems or live, touch screen customer service kiosks. So what can you do to enhance your customer’s experience when you’re a smaller retailer?
It’s not as complicated as you might have thought.
Whichever way you look at it, service, convenience, and fulfilled promises are still the hallmark of great retailers. So if you have those down, you can begin to start differentiating between yourself and your competition by adding the little “nice to haves” that are unique to your business.
For example, if your store supplies homebaked goods and candy, knowing your regular customer’s important celebration dates like birthdays, anniversaries, children’s birth dates, etc., is gold. A week before the date, you send them a small sample cake in advance to be the “first” to wish them well for their special day.
It sounds relatively insignificant, but knowing who you are as a retailer and the space you occupy in the hearts and minds of your client’s lives is critical in any example.
After sales service extends beyond being there when things go wrong.
One of the most underrated and yet most precious forms of forming emotional bonds with your customers is calling them after they have taken delivery of your product and service, just to see how they’re doing. The humble courtesy call is enjoying something of a rebound in our post-covid reality - and it works.
The omnichannel experience is one that smaller retailers can emulate from their bigger cousins. In today’s work, consumers want the convenience of ordering what they want and, if not, having it delivered, then having someone bring it out to them at the curbside, drive-through, or a pre-order kiosk.
Furthermore, consumers, especially younger consumers, love knowing that they’re part of a community that can all rave about how fantastic an event was or how they got something that someone else couldn’t because of their loyalty.
Social media earmark this.
Creating the type of online community that shows off your product or service on Instagram or Twitter with a dedicated “hashtag” - and then having that post shared and reshared, is incredibly powerful.
Of course, constant renovation and forward-thinking merchandise, shopfitting, and the overall internal experience go some way to building the hype.
But it’s also knowing what issues your customers face when they enter your doors. Are your products easily accessible? Does your shelving make it difficult for guests who use wheelchairs to access?
Is your refrigeration up to scratch if you retail in fresh produce, or is it time to invest in a new Commercial Refrigerator that can handle mass traffic?
As always, it is all in the detail, and when you begin to examine your scenario from a customer’s perspective, you’ll find gold. It could be worth looking into secret shoppers to see what you’re missing.
Look, we’re never going to have the same challenges year in and year out; if it weren’t the pandemic, it would have been something else, but if there is a takeaway from all of this, it’s this…
Remaining relevant and desirable amongst a grand stable of competitors is, has been and always will be the greatest challenge of all.
