Connecting with Pre-Shoppers and Following Through In-Store
By Al McClain
There are obviously lots of reasons why retailers lose sales, but as the industry evaluates the holiday shopping season just past, Pat Conroy of Deloitte & Touche offers some insights that might help retailers do a better job in 2007. Mr. Conroy delivered a presentation at January's NRF Convention based on a recent consumer survey and sat down afterwards to discuss his observations.
A key finding of the survey was that 66 percent of store visits this holiday season were not influenced by advertising and marketing. Mr. Conroy said this is consistent with previous studies and shows that, to win shoppers, retailers need to deliver consistent shopping experiences and fulfill brand promises. In other words, previous shopping experiences are more important than advertising messages.
Sixty-three percent of consumers surveyed searched for a product or store information online before visiting a store, what Deloitte calls "pre-shopping." Those "pre-shoppers" spend about $100 more per transaction than those who did not. Forty-eight percent of consumers read online consumer-written product reviews and 90 percent said these helped them decide whether to buy a product or not.
Mr. Conroy said consumers are "becoming more surgical in their approach and using the internet for a variety of shopping and pre-shopping activities."
Meanwhile, back at the store, Deloitte's research found consumers frequently left without buying what they intended. When they did, it was because:
64 percent said the item or size was out-of-stock
57 percent said the checkout line was too long
52 percent said a sales associate was not available
32 percent said a sales associate could not answer their questions
26 percent said the store layout was too confusing
Service levels, Deloitte's research points out, are critical in how much shoppers spend. Younger shoppers find friendly sales help to be an important factor in the decision to purchase. Older shoppers are more impressed and likely to buy from an associate who demonstrates product knowledge.
Discussion Questions: What forms of "new media" deliver the most ROI for retailers and can help merchants connect better with consumers who are engaged in "pre-shopping?" What are the easiest areas of the in-store experience to improve when it comes to keeping customers in the store?
It's going to be a hard sell to ask retailers not to spend a ton of money on traditional advertising, especially around the holidays when they often do the bulk of their sales for the year. Hopefully, though, statistics and insights like these will lead retailers to think more about non-traditional opportunities that can provide a better connection with potential shoppers. Perhaps it might even save companies money in the process.
We talk a lot about the importance of customer service on this site, so Deloitte is preaching to the choir in this area, but it doesn't make their message any less valid. I recently heard of a department store shopper who filled out a customer survey. The shopper was waited on by an associate chewing gum and carrying on a side conversation - the customer said in the survey that she was "so mad she wanted to slap her face." That's pretty extreme, but shows us that, at least in some cases, shoppers are really frustrated by their poor in-store experiences.