A new Wharton survey found that 35 percent of shoppers have had a "Wow" experience recently. But it also revealed that as many as 10 different elements have to occur simultaneously to make one happen and it's a bigger challenge for larger chains.
The online survey of 1,006 shoppers in the U.S and Canada asked: "Can you think of a shopping experience that you had in the past six months or so that was especially great, in that the experience created delight and surprise for you in any way?"
The report, titled "Discovering 'WOW' -- A Study of Great Retail Shopping Experiences in North America," pointed to five underlying areas that contributed to a great shopping experience:
- Engagement: being polite, genuinely caring and interested in helping, acknowledging and listening.
- Executional Excellence: patiently explaining and advising, checking stock, helping to find products, having product knowledge and providing unexpected product quality.
- Brand Experience: exciting store design and atmosphere, consistently great product quality, making customers feel they're special and that they always get a deal.
- Expediting: being sensitive to customers' time on long check-out lines, being proactive in helping speed the shopping process.
- Problem Recovery: helping resolve and compensate for problems, upgrading quality and ensuring complete satisfaction.
The researcher found that retailers can focus on creating a "bedrock," or platform, based on the five major pillars of retail satisfaction to increase the probability of creating a "Wow" experience.
In all, however, respondents mentioned 28 distinct elements for creating a great experience, such as salespeople who "immediately acknowledged you" or "could easily explain a product to you" or "seemed genuine." As much as ten needed to occur simultaneously to make a "Wow" experience.
"Peoples' expectations are pretty high. It's easy to [fall short of those expectations], and hard to eclipse [bad experiences, even] with something that's over-the-top," Wharton marketing professor Stephen Hoch told Knowledge@Wharton. "Bitching and moaning is more common than praise."
The report also found that creating a "Wow" experience is tougher for larger chains than smaller chains because many stores tend to look the same and even offer a similar shopping experience.
"Most chains are cookie-cutter," said Prof. Hoch. "Even if the stores themselves are different from each other, the same store is in every mall. It's probably a lot easier for a small merchant to provide this brand experience. Unfortunately, if people see the same look over and over again, they find it mundane."
Discussion Question: Do you think larger stores have a chance to create a "Wow" experience? What do you think are some critical elements underlying an extraordinary shopping experience?