Is Convenience the Key to Achieving an Elevated Shopping Experience

Is Convenience the Key to Achieving an Elevated Shopping Experience?

About the Author

"Elevated."

That's the word often used to describe the ideal modern shopping experience.

"Convenient" is another.

I think they're often one in the same.

It doesn't matter if you're an operations manager for a c-store, big box store or a luxury boutique, your customers will never rate the shopping experience with your brand as "elevated" if they don't find it convenient in some way.

That begs the question: What do shoppers consider "convenient"?

Is it being able to…

- Get in and out without being stopped by anyone for any reason (even to pay)?

- Find everything they need in one store so they don't have to make multiple stops?

- Get step-by-step guidance on where to go to find each item on their shopping list?

- Confirm prices in a matter of seconds?

- See and apply all available discounts for their basket at the time of payment, without having to scroll through dozens of items on their phone to see what's available?

- Return online orders in store?

- Change their buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) orders as many times as they want until the moment you handoff their order to them?

- Call upon an associate for assistance and have someone show up almost instantly cater to their every request so they don't have to hunt for information or inventory?

- Walk in, have the associates (or a mobile app) recognize them, and then receive a completely personalized experience based on their known preferences and behaviors?

Is it all the above? Something else?

I spent 35 years at Macy's, first in store operations inside the stores then building in-store technology systems. I know how challenging it can be to understand shoppers' expectations, much less effectively respond to them.

But here's the thing: I don't think the way to fix things is to take a customer-first approach, at least in the traditional sense.

Instead, we, as retailers, need to take an associate-first approach.

Please don't misunderstand: We must absolutely listen to what consumers are saying they like or don't like about the shopping experience first. That's non-negotiable. Convenience is both a commodity and a differentiator, right? We need to know if consumers think we're hitting the mark there, and what else besides convenience they may expect.

However, once we know why consumers may not be 100% satisfied with their shopping experience today, we must then go talk to associates and further investigate what's really making consumers feel that way.

Why are associates struggling to help customers? Or is the problem that associates are having to engage too much with customers or focus on support tasks that must be completed so the retail experience can be achieved? If you're a luxury retailer who must focus more on that "macro moment" experience, I think it's the former. If you're a convenience store or even a grocery store, it may be the latter.

Either way, if it's not convenient for an associate to do their job, then the shopper is going to experience some sort of friction. If there's any friction at all in the shopping experience, a customer's opinion of your brand will shift. They'll feel it's not as convenient or elevated as it once was or perhaps as they were expecting. Once that opinion shifts, even in a micro moment transaction, you're going to have to work twice as hard to keep them or win them back. They say we remember one bad experience but forget all the good ones, right?

So, as retailers, we must start looking critically at all the little things that have seemed benign or that we've categorized as "normal in retail" in recent years. We must calculate how much friction each of those minor inconveniences causes for an associate and, subsequently, a shopper. How much are they adding up? How much are they impacting shoppers' opinion of our brand and loyalty to their brand? (Because convenience is a commodity and differentiator no matter what type of retailer you are.)

That's why I recently spent some time talking with Tony DiPaolo, Vice President of Retail Solutions at Manhattan Associates about things such as…

1. How to objectively assess your convenience rating or factor.

2. The things you can do to help ensure customers rate it "convenient" to shop your online or brick-and-mortar stores.

3. Ways you can use technology to better guide associates through workflows so it's convenient for them to assist customers and complete tasks that elevate the shopping experience (such as maintaining shelf inventory, fulfilling orders, and processing returns).

If you have 30 minutes, I recommend you listen to our entire conversation:

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You can also read the full transcript here.