As retailers are going through a consumer revolution in the way you perceive and purchase products, there is a new issue on the horizon that is impacting big-box, category-killing retailers like Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy – called “show rooming”.
If you have ever gone to a retail store (“brick”), found and examined the product you were looking for, and then went home to buy it online (“click”) you “show roomed”.
You scoped out the merchandise, but understandably wanted to pay the best price – which you found on the Internet. Regardless of the wait and the shipping and handling, you bought it electronically and saved. So, if you are the retailer who lost out on the sale, now what?
To combat this problem retailers have resorted to new approaches that will hopefully further benefit the consumer buying experience:
- WORK WITH MANUFACTURERS TO MAKE EXCLUSIVE PRODUCTS. It can’t work for the little guys, but the big-box retailers have enough clout to request and offer unique goods not available anywhere else. Unique goods that you can defend as a reason for your retail loyalty.
- OFFER COUPONS DIRECTLY TO CONSUMERS VIA MOBILE PHONES. Daily-deal alerts, exclusive discount paperless coupons, and loyalty reward specials are easy to pick up and use right at the cash register with your smart phone. These are the equivalent of personalized prices and may be the most strategic way retailers will beat the web competition at their own game.
- EMPHASIZE IN-STORE PICKUPS FOR ON-LINE ORDERS. As a consumer, you won’t have to pay the shipping fee and can have the instant gratification (well, almost instant) within the hour. Retailers get insure that you bought at their website and no others. Maybe while you are picking up your new DVD player at the store you might buy some DVDs and popcorn too.
- HAVE RETAIL CLERKS SEND CUSTOMERS TO THE WEBSITE IF THE PRODUCT ISN’T ON THE SHELF. Under the category, "if you can’t beat them, join them" credit the online purchase to the store closest to the address of the customer who ordered via the Internet.
- MAKE THE PROCESS SEAMLESS. Invest in computers and tablets for the retail store associate/retail selling floor to identify your previous purchases and make it easy to get what you want, when you want it, no matter where you are -- at the store or at the home computer.
- AND BE AWARE OF THE FUTURE. According to a recent Advertising Age study and report on retailing, “giants such as Amazon, eBay, Google and Living Social are all looking into the potential of physical stores.”
Just what we need…even more choice.
Actually, Lauren hits the nail on the head in her post: they have to do both. It goes without saying (but we'll say it anyway) that every online retailer should have a professional, well maintained site where self-serve customers who know what they want can go and be rewarded with a good deal (while they're there, you have the perfect opportunity to maximize the sale by upselling or presenting related products). Meanwhile, for those customers who are not as tech savvy (or just prefer the physical act of shopping), the bricks-and-mortar experience should be as rewarding as possible. This means customer service is more important than ever: if a customer gets in their car and drives to your store, it's because they need help making a purchasing decision, and it's the job of the salesperson to provide that help. There are no more retail "salespeople" anymore. There are only Customer Service representatives On the one hand, these can be confusing times for retailers. On the other, it presents a multitude of new selling opportunities for those who are willing to embrace the changing faces of both technology and retailing. Or, to put it another way, there has never been a better or more important time to "give the people what they want."
On the other hand, it wouldn't help the local economy, since you'd still be running a skeleton crew with no back-end warehouse help. The larger question then -- which is beyond the scope of this post -- is how do we as a community and country transition from a manufacturing economy to a service economy? The old jobs are gone and not coming back, and many in the workforce are not only too old to train for a new career, but often transitioning from jobs for which there are no current equivalents. During 30+ years as a graphic designer I was able to go from working at a drawing board to working at a computer, but other fields aren't as flexible -- especially those in manufacturing. I loved your analogy about blacksmiths, but I wonder how many of them were able at the time to find a new career once their smithing services were no longer needed? As you rightly point out, things change more quickly these days, and I fear that a lot of people have already blinked -- and missed the opportunity to change with the times.
From what I see, people NEED to physically hold most items for sale. They don't like the idea of just ordering it.....and I don't see the brick and mortars going bye bye completely.....how and what their revisions/changes/improvements should be - well, there are ideas, but we all have to wait and see. I agree that changes are coming and whether we blinked or not - the transition just may not be there for people regardless of age - it's just downsizing across the board.
I've been doing what Lauren calls "show-rooming" for a while now. I started with shoes. I cannot think of buying shoes online without trying them on. However, the ones I like are much cheaper at Amazon, so, I go to a store, try them on, and then buy them online. However , I am nostalgic of the times when Old Country Road in Mineola was thriving with business. Changing is continuous, it's a reality. We have to adapt and be creative. In the meantime, exercise frugality.