Commentary

Kagan: Make it easier for customers to love you with "sense of store"

Jeff Kagan explains why retailers should embrace the concept of 'sense of store' as it can touch the consumer soul. It's the kind of relationship that separates the companies that see strong growth from those who struggle.

Photo by iStock.com

February 22, 2019 by Jeff KAGAN — Wireless Analyst, Telecom Industry Analyst

As we spend time in a wide variety of stores, we develop a sense of that store. "Sense of store" is the feeling we get when we think of shopping there. Some feelings are positive and welcoming. Others are the opposite. How important is a good sense of store and how can we get the best sense for our store in our customers minds?

This is more than a clever marketing campaign and advertising message. It’s where the rubber meets the road. It’s the “feeling” your customers get when they think of doing business with you. If they don’t love you, then you are at risk of quickly losing them.

Let me share a few examples.

Walk into any Stein Mart store and you will be impressed with the store design, quality of their stock and selection. However, there are several areas where they fail. One of the main areas is their checkout counter experience.

Their checkout experience takes forever, especially when they are busy. When there are two or three people waiting to check out, it takes an agonizingly long wait. One reason is poor technology that takes too long. Another reason is there are not enough cashiers. Plus, too often they have bad attitudes. They don’t make the customer feel good.

Compare this to the chain with T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods. They have attractive stores, good quality clothing, and are great at handling the checkout experience.

There are always very long lines of customers waiting to checkout, but they typically get through the line at a surprisingly quick pace.

Check-out design is as important as the entire shopping experience

The way the checkout lanes are created play a role in how well they take care of customers. Stein Mart has several cashiers and you must choose which line to wait in. Invariably, the customer chooses wrong and it takes forever to check out.

T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods all use the same checkout method which works great. They have one long line. The next customer in line is taken care of at one of a number of cashiers. So, there is no frustration on the customers part.

Eliminating the rub-moment is key for every retail store

That means there is never a “rub moment” for the customer. Nothing that rubs them the wrong way. Plus, along the line, there are all sorts of things the customer can look at and put in their cart as they walk the long line. This helps keep them occupied while they are waiting.

The bottom line is Stein Mart shoppers are more frustrated and the T.J. Maxx customers are happier and actually buy more things while waiting in line.

This simple example of two good stores that treat their customers very differently shows how important the “sense of store” is.

T.J. Maxx and Stein Mart are in the same business, both have good quality goods, but there is a big difference in the “sense of store” comparing one to the other.

A positive sense-of-store should be focus of every retailer

This is an important lesson for every retailer. How can you improve your “sense of store” for your customers? Many companies struggle with this important issue.

Consider Apple vs. Microsoft. Apple is thought of as that warm and fuzzy company that’s part of your family, compared to Microsoft which is a cold and impersonal company to do business with.

In this case both are very different, but both are very successful. However, that’s not always the case. Typically, one company is stronger and better and the other struggles in comparison.

There are important lessons to be learned here. Especially as companies like Amazon.com move into retail. The retail industry is going through a long-term and utterly amazing transformation. In this changing world, every company must change in order to continue to show growth.

Retail is business, but it should also touch the soul. It should make the customer feel good. Feel warm and welcome. This kind of relationship typically separates the companies who see strong growth, to those who struggle.