There's a retail brand in the city that is known for offering the best range of electronic products. They advertise nearly every day in the local papers, promoting the latest gadgets at attractive prices. As I was in the market for new a DVD recorder I decided to pay their store a visit and check out what was on offer.
As I walked into the showroom I navigated my way to the relevant aisle (poor signage but nonetheless I found what I was looking for). I waited for nearly 20 minutes for one of the salesmen to show me the product I wanted, he was juggling two other customers & decided that I was not a priority.
I waited & then found one of his colleagues to help me. He worked for another section of the shop & didn't know much about what I was looking for. Also, he had terrible body odour so I was quite happy to fend for myself. I finally got the item I wanted, was given a receipt to take to the cashier & asked to pay at the counter.
With a queue 20 deep and two tills un-manned, I wondered where the floor manager was as he could have made the paying part a lot faster. No, they ambled along and eventually I decided it wasn't worth the wait. So, I quietly stepped out of the showroom & decided to go home.
The lesson here is that retailers should focus more on customer engagement, not just spend thousands of dollars on expensive ads but improve the overall customer experience - make the showroom smell nice & fresh, change the light-bulbs, train the staff, tell them to have a shower, ask the floor manager to be more alert, welcome customers, be fast, be intelligent and most importantly divide your time, not your attention.
If I experienced the above then I don't need to see ads to be reminded to visit the store every now & then.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hello Gaurav
I find your blog quite interesting, especially because it's very up to date with luxury and retail marketing trends...
Getting retailers (big or small)to stop thinking that regular ATL will solve all their issues and still bring a lot of profit to the business is very, very hard...I know that...we're on the same bizz...in-store optimization...shopper marketing...retail design...staff training...these are just some of the options a retailer has to improve the business...however whenever we're pitching for some new bizz, I get the feeling that nobody really takes us seriously...maybe it's the lack of credibility...maybe it's the very late media boom in latin america and the middle east, driving people to believe that TV still is the boggest responsible for reaching out to people...when will retailers understand that engaing, creating a dialogue is the most effective way to touch the consumer? it's not about what the product can do for you...but what else you can do with the product! Retailers must understand that they have to deliver more than the product. They MUST deliver a brand experience - always. Something more - more value.
Cheers
Post a Comment