I’ll begin by stating the obvious: the internet has changed how we do business. While many industries have done their best to keep that change at bay, I think we can all agree that the web has won. Few businesses can survive without some sort of digital presence, even if it is just a basic website or Facebook page. Many brick and mortar retail stores are particularly disheartened by their customers’ purchasing items online instead of in their shops. They see our ability to buy everything we need on the internet as a threat to their business model. However, I believe the opposite is true:
The full adoption of online purchasing is actually leading people back into the stores, (but with different expectations).
Balance – this is what nature is always trying to get back to, and the same is true of the economy. With each rise, we see a fall, and then we rise again. The digital world is not free from the influence of balance – we are seeing signs of this movement already. While the Internet of Things tries to move us further away from performing the mundane tasks of daily life, many of us have been seeking to reconnect on a human level at the same time. This shift has been noted by urban planning experts, who see our society beginning to move away from living in isolated suburbs and relocating to bustling urban areas. In June 2016, Christopher Leinberger and Michael Rodriguez from The George Washington University published a report on walkable urban places. “Foot Traffic Ahead: Ranking Walkable Urbanism in America’s Largest Metros” reveals the increase in investment in high-density neighborhoods walkable to services and amenities. These communities garner a rental premium over suburban options, and are attracting an educated workforce with a higher GDP per capita. It seems the skyrocketing growth of the virtual community – social media, gaming, user groups – is beginning to see a kind of backlash, a coming into balance. This investment in more intimate communities with retail and services just steps away is a clear sign that consumers are looking for the personal connection that they are not getting from online interactions.
So what does this mean for your brick and mortar retail business? What it has always meant – giving your customers what they want. Turns out, what they want has changed, or rather, returned to its roots. Even the CIO of Walmart, Karenann Terrell, who has been charged with growing the behemoth’s online sales channel, noted the growing importance of the in-person experience. Ms. Terrell was quoted in a recent Wall Street Journal article:
“As we’ve been watching the behavior of customers who shop in the store, and then we watch the behavior of how customers shop through grocery home shopping, we’ve observed that online customers have a very, very high level of satisfaction—above 90%—while for those shopping in the store, it isn’t nearly at that high level. We wanted to dig underneath and find out why. The convenience of online ordering, coupled with the special treatment online customers get when they come in person to pick up their orders, leads to a more satisfying experience. We’ve hired dedicated personal shoppers to pick these online grocery orders for customers. They see these customers regularly and know their preferences and begin to know them personally. That has been a huge learning for us in how we will manage stores. One associate wrote a Happy Mother’s Day card to a single mom who visits every week and has a son with Down syndrome.”
Walmart is beginning to understand that while online customers want the convenience of shopping online, what ultimately makes their purchasing experience satisfying is the human connection they make at pick up.
Now, most stores are not Walmart, and frankly, the huge retailer is often viewed as a killer of local small business. However, I find it noteworthy that a company that values price over service is recognizing their customers’ desire for a rich purchasing experience. With their more intimate settings, small retail businesses are well-placed to give customers what they are seeking.
Joe’s Butcher Shop & Fish Market in Carmel, Indiana is a small business that serves as a testament for the success that comes with creating a sense of community, quality and personal touch. Joe Lazzara started his butcher shop business in 2006, offering high-quality meat and fish, as well as high-end food items and wines. Joe chose the newly created Arts & Design District to start his business, a small downtown area along a major bike and walking trail with high-end specialty stores, restaurants and art galleries. When the recession hit, many of the other shops in the District closed, but not Joe’s. Why? Because Joe’s offers a shopping experience that resonates with his target market.
When you shop at Joe’s you get the following:
- High quality products with a respect for local sourcing where possible.
- Friendly, long-term staff who are not only knowledgeable about what they are selling, they work hard to remember your name.
- An advocate for the local economy – Joe’s goes beyond donating to the local high school by selling locally made foods created by small farmers, bakers, and even peanut butter makers.
- A sense of community – you run into other “foodies” there, where strangers offer up to each other their best recipes while waiting in line, and signing up for Joe’s enewsletter gets you special access to secret sale items.
- Rewarded for your patronage – rather than using reward coupons that end up left at home or lost in your purse, or odd give-away gimics that mean little to most people, customers earn credit based on their spending which Joe’s tracks for you and lets you know when it becomes available. They actually want to thank you for being their customers, rather than trick you back into the store.
With high-end supermarkets like Whole Foods, Fresh Market and Market District in town, as well as grocery delivery services entering the market, there are many options for Carmel residents to buy the products Joe’s sells. Yet, Joe’s recently cut the ribbon on a store expansion into prepared foods and specialty grocery items. Why? They have provided what their competitors have not – a special shopping experience.
As a brick and mortar retail store, you may feel that the internet’s competitive advantages of price, variety and convenience are insurmountable. However, I challenge you to rethink this mindset. Rather, use the changes in customer behavior as an opportunity to get creative, to step out of the “we’ve always done it this way” to “there is a better serve way our customers of today”. Our economy is coming back into balance; we are craving the traditional community experience. Tapping into this trend could lead to great success for your brick and mortar business.
Are you a retail store owner? If so, what do you do to provide a rich customer experience?
