Blog

Putting romance back into retail

August 14, 2012 by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Retailing has changed more in the last 3 years than in the past 3 decades. Actually, it is the consumers who have changed. They are shopping 24/7/365 anywhere they choose, and they are broadcasting their experiences in social media to everyone they know. In many ways retailers are still trying to play catch-up to a consumer centric world. The best consumer brands and retailers are finding ways to romance consumers with more ways to fall in love with products they try out while they are in the store.

That ugly retail reality again: Combating showrooming

It doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. The retail reality of "showrooming" pops up daily in the headlines. In fact, the number one question I'm getting as I prepare for my upcoming international Retail University workshops is: "what can we retailers do to combat showrooming in retail stores?"

The practice of going to stores to look at merchandise and then shopping around for prices has always been there, even before the internet. It's probably in our shopper DNA. The difference with the internet is that shoppers can now check prices on their smartphones literally while standing in the store. The key for retail stores is to create value beyond just price. There are a number of tactics that retailers are employing to combat showrooming:

• Unique tags that replace barcodes so scanning by smartphone is difficult
• Private-label merchandise that is exclusive to that retailer
• Unique assortments adjusted to store location
• Unique bundle offerings which go beyond just the single product or SKU
• Trained staff who can explain and show the products

However, private-label goods and merchandise exclusives are not enough to survive, let alone thrive. Best case, private label goods might be 30 to 40% of the assortment. Bricks and mortar retailers have to create consumer value beyond the product-centric merchandising.

Demos and talk are not enough

Paco Underhill, founder of Enivrosell, could be called the father of behavioral research in retail. He literally has countless hours of video of consumers shopping in stores. According to Underhill, consumers are reluctant to buy beyond the basics for many reasons, but when shopping is focused primarily on price, consumers worry that they will find a better deal the next day, or on the next internet site. Paco Underhill's research confirms that in retailing today, value beyond price has become "front-and center."

Stores have a couple of inherent advantages over the internet. You can't touch and experience the product while viewing it on your computer. If stores have trained staff on the floor, they have an opportunity to create a relationship and showcase the product. However, the challenge with most stores is that experience is still product centric and one way. Consumers often know as much or more than the sales people. Sales people "talking up" up the product are not enough, and may even be perceived as a negative experience on the part of the consumer.

What is needed is a little romance and falling in love

Retailers have a unique opportunity to literally "romance" products in ways that consumers fall in love with them. The key is not show and tell, but finding ways to engage the consumer in trying the product. Case in point - supermarket grocery store samples: Would you as a consumer be more inclined to purchase a food product after hearing about or watching a video on its preparation, or tasting the freshness and flavor of a real sample just popped out of the oven!

The bottom line message here is that meaningful consumer experience has to go beyond merchandising and displays – it literally has to immerse and engage the consumer in ways that they discover value of the product for themselves.

Romancing the products will require innovative ways to get the consumers to try it in store. Paco Underhill says: "They really need to try it and fall in love with the product". Underhill goes on to state that this "falling in love" goes beyond the initial sale – It literally "strengthens the bond between the store and the consumer". Ok, sounds good, but how does all this actually work in retail?

Tempur-Pedic – A case study of falling in bed and loving a product

I recently ran across an article by Janet Groeber entitled "Are You Experienced?" Groeber does a great job of highlighting Paco Underhill's falling in love principles and demonstrating how they have been applied in the real retail world of engaging consumers in new ways.

Tempur-Pedic is a very unique kind of bedding material comprised of "memory foam". According to their ads, a Tempur-Pedic mattress "provides the support you need, yet confirms to your body ... for a better night's sleep." You can play all the ads, show videos on the internet, but consumers want to know what it feels like and why they should pay a premium price versus a good regular mattress they can buy online or on sale.

Ok, if we follow the "try it and love it" principle, the retail challenge is to get people to actually lie down and try the mattress. Only one problem, people don't feel comfortable lying down flat on a bed, while other consumers are walling around in the store. I'll let you read Groeber's article for more details, but here are some of the interesting details with how Tempur-Pedic got consumers to try their product and fall in love with it in store:

• Tempur-Pedic created a self-contained "Sleep Experience Center"
• They removed the merchandising clutter, noise and distractions
• They created wooden walls so that there would be privacy
• They created an interactive tour of that included at least 5 minutes of lie down experience to "effectively test a mattress"
• Tracking how consumers interacted with the product and changing the environment and messages based on the consumer responses, NOT product merchandising.

Love makes the world go round ... and cash registers ring

To be sure, Tempur-Pedic offers high-end products that can cost thousands of $ for a "sleep system". But that's the first key point –if consumers don't fall in love through trial, they are not going to spend that kind of money. There are other examples of romancing products through consumer trial. Groeber's article describes another case study related to golf equipment. Another success story is the retailer REI, who is very creative at engaging consumers in sports by literally having them try the equipment right in the store.

The naysayers are quick to point out that some things are "commodities" and don't fall under the spell of "romancing the experience." Then again, there are the coffee shops like Starbucks who turned a 50 cent cup of coffee into a $5 love affair.

The evolution of modern retailing will not come from incrementally improving interactive merchandising or installing product demos. The only vote that counts is the consumer's. And increasingly, they buy when they try and fall in love through the experience.

About Chris Petersen

---

None

Connect with Chris: