There's no doubt that behind the wheel of a car, speed kills. When it comes to driving business at retail, however, speed sells. That is especially true during the holiday season.
According to a study by Yankelovich, consumers say having too little time is more of an issue for them than having too little money. This is true across all income levels.
The 56 percent of consumers who were most stressed over time constraints/pressure put a median price of $90 an hour on their time. The balance, who felt less stress, valued their time at $60 an hour.
"Christmas is a hard deadline. You don't get an extension," David Bersoff, Yankelovich executive vice president, told USA Today. "And as you get closer to Christmas, time gets even more valuable."
Retailers and other businesses understanding that a lack of speed can kill their business are taking steps to move things along more quickly for shoppers.
Sears, for example, guarantees customers that items ordered online for store pickup will be ready within five minutes of the shopper coming to the pickup area with the bar code they receive as a receipt of their order. If Sears fails to deliver, the customer will get a $5 coupon.
Walmart.com redesigned its web site to make the process of checking out go more quickly. Today, a customer can checkout in four clicks. Before the site was overhauled, it took six clicks.
Mall operators are also looking to speed consumers through their facilities but the approach here is decidedly less high tech. Chelsea Property Group, a division of the Simon Property Group, has posted tips online as to how consumers can get their shopping done more quickly.
An example of Chelsea's advice: "Map your day before you go. Print a map of the center and determine your plan of attack to save time."
Discussion Questions: What are consumers doing to finish their holiday shopping in the shortest period of time? How are retailers speeding up shopping trips? Is there one retailer in your experience that is the fastest?