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Monday, August 30, 2010

Sheena Iyengar & the Power of Choice

Choice, according to Columbia Business School Professor Sheena Iyengar, author of The Art of Choosing, is the most powerful tool we have available to us. At the same time, choice is the source of intense paradox: too many choices can paralyze and not enough choices can disappoint. Imagine the potential dilemmas for the retail experience!

In the following Knowledge@Wharton presentation, Sheena Iyengar addresses "the need to separate choices that are "meaningful and uplifting" from those that tend to distract us or that lead to unwise decisions. Choice, she says, is "the most powerful tool that we have in our lives. It enables us to go from who we are today to whom we want to be tomorrow. But it does not fulfill all our needs.""

The presentation lasts one hour.  I strongly recommend that you find the time to listen to it. Iyengar's words are mesmerizing and her observations profound.

If you'd like a pdf transcript of Sheena Iyengar on the Power of Choice -- and Why It Doesn’t Always Bring Us What We Want, click on this link. The document is 15 pages long.

[Subscribers, please click on the link to view the YouTube video of Sheena Iyengar on the Power of Choice.]


Will you let me know your reactions? How do you see applying some of these observations about the power of choice to your retail experience?

Friday, August 27, 2010

Retail Experience in the News - 8/27/10

Wordle: #retailexpHappy Friday to you!  Consider this the BoltBus-to-DC edition [for perspective see Reinventing Bus Travel on MarketingProfs Digital Fix] of Retail Experience in the News...  with the latest articles and links from the week and shared on Twitter with the #retailexp hashtag.

I was particularly inspired by stories related to a few of my favorite retailers - Urban Outfitters and Trader Joe's - and really intrigued with both the retail experience ideas and integrating online with offline.

Retail Experience and Customer Service

The Economy/Consumers


Retail Experience Ideas


Integrating Online with Offline



Enjoy and thanks for reading!


For previous issues of Retail Experience In The News, see Retail Experience News.

Graphic Created Via Wordle.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Levi's Customer Retail Experience

As promised in Customer Retail Experience: In-Store and Online, David Polinchock and I will be sharing observations about our June 2010 visit to several stores in New York City, starting with Levi's in SoHo.

I've not been in a Levi's store in ages - mostly because I find buying jeans so painful an experience.  According to MediaPost, I'm not alone and Levi's intends to do something about it!  See Levi's Woos Women With Curves.

The Levi's solution: helping women customers determine whether they require Slight Curve, Demi Curve or Bold Curve jeans. That's done by measuring the difference between one's waist, hips and thighs.

Given how confusing I find most jean sizing schemes, this approach sounded brilliantly simple not to mention logical.

It seems that when David and I visited the Levi's store in June, the new Curve program had just been launched. When we walked into the store, a charming sales associate was busy with a strange contraption consisting of strings and a tape measure. Intriguing and conversation worthy.

I asked if I could take a photo. Answer: no.

After wandering through the store, I returned to the sales associate and asked her to tell me more about the contraption, volunteering that she measure me.

We learned that training had just been implemented and that it made NO sense to most of the store associates.

She diligently went about measuring me and then informed me that I required Demi Curve jeans.  Great, I responded; what size? That she couldn't help me with. That despite being measured with a tape measure.

I have to admit to being dumbfounded. I had spent several minutes being 'fitted' via an elaborate process and the only piece of concrete information I had was that I should explore Demi Curve jeans, which I could have figured out on my own. This seemed more like smoke & mirrors than a legitimate solution for helping me find jeans.  Why waste my time?

I asked whether information on the Curve concept existed online and received an unsatisfactory answer. I don't think my sales associate knew and it's certainly possible that in the training process she wasn't informed.

Interestingly, if you read to the end of the Mediapost article [published in August], it explains that "While women can be fitted at any Levi's store, they can also shop digitally, with an online quiz to help women identify their shape as well as a measurement tutorial."

Here, then, is the link to the Levi's Digital Curve Id quiz which will walk you through creating your own tape measure and string contraption to measure yourself. It also provides more detail on the various measurements and how they work together. However, it, too, doesn't recommend specific sizes to try. Hmmm. 

Levi's Customer Retail Experience Questions:

Why not let me take photos? The Curves Contraption is talk-worthy and I would have loved to share with you a photo of myself being 'measured'. It's not as if it's a state secret; it's readily available online.

Why not recommend specific sizes to try? I haven't tried jeans on in a while. Why not make the process easier? Delight me with suggestions so I'm not overwhelmed.

Why not make sure your sales associates understand the big picture of the product concept including what the digital plan consists of?

While you're at it, have you considered having all of your sales associates go through the measurement process both online and in-store, figure out which is their optimal curve and invite them to wear a corresponding product during sales hours? Talk about an effective word-of-mouth story.

By the way, seems that Old Navy is similarly focusing on matching women with the right jeans via their humorous Booty Reader. Hat tip to Rich Nadworny.

------
Added 8/23/10: David Polinchock calls attention to Levi's Wear What Fits Event taking place in Bryant Park, NYC, on August 27th from 10am to 4pm. Details in this Facebook Event.

Also, this post inspired David's post No Pictures Please!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Retail Experience in the News - 8/20/10

Wordle: #retailexpHurray! It's Friday and a glorious late summer weekend is in the works.. Here is this week's Retail Experience in the News...  with the latest articles and links from the week and shared on Twitter with the #retailexp hashtag.

I think you're going to enjoy these links. They range from cemeteries and Klingons, back-2-school to Christmas creep, to applying zero-waste concepts to redefining menswear. Intriguing, no?

Retail Experience and Customer Service

    The Economy/Consumers

      Retail Experience Ideas

      Integrating Online with Offline


      Thanks for reading!

      For previous issues of Retail Experience In The News, see Retail Experience News.

      Graphic Created Via Wordle.




      Monday, August 16, 2010

      Customer Retail Experience: In-Store & Online

      David Polinchock exploring customer retail experience in SoHoWhat makes a customer experience successful at retail? Yes, the in-store retail experience must be impeccable, but so, too, must the related online experience.

      David Polinchock from Polinchock's Ponderings and I, after several intense discussions on the subject, decided we would visit retail stores in NYC to explore and research their in-store & online experience.

      [See Brand Experience Lab: Creating a Branded Retail Experience for my first meeting with David.]

      This past June 21, 2010, David and I spent the day visiting retail stores in SoHo and 14th Street in New York City.  We visited:

      2 Apple Stores [in SoHo and on 14th Street]

      [Note: next time, I will make sure to track my retail visits with  my hiking trail marker app so you can follow in our tracks the next time you visit NYC.]

      As we visited these stores, we were curious about how sales associates would interact with us, what they knew about their store online activities, how well each store integrated in-store selling with online resources. We were both armed with cameras. Some stores welcomed photos; others strongly forbid them!

      We were interested in how technology was used and integrated in-store. [By the way, we came across the first ever iPads used as interactive retail displays and they looked much more effective than the more traditional computer kiosks.]

      Over the next few weeks, I plan to take you through several of these stores and explore with you how each goes about creating a memorable customer retail experience not just in-store, but also online.  It's what David refers to as "Oneline".

      I look forward to sharing these adventures and observations with you and encourage you do your own explorations and share them with us.

      Friday, August 13, 2010

      Retail Experience In The News VII

      Wordle: #retailexpHurray! It's Friday. Here is this week's Retail Experience in the News...  with the latest articles and links from the week and shared on Twitter with the #retailexp hashtag.

      No surprise, the economic news aren't too jolly. However, I did come across some unusual angles.  Also, be sure to check out the nifty ideas in the 'Retail Experience Ideas' section.  They should definitely inspire you to try new and creative retail experience approaches.

      Enjoy!

      Retail Experience and Customer Service

      The Economy/Consumers

      Retail Experience Ideas

      • Fascinating opinion on mobile coupons http://bit.ly/cCSbwO - there's a better way to customize offers & engage customers #retailexp
      • A groupon-like resource for home improvement & maintenance http://bit.ly/9Ucjx5 How might you adapt this to yr #retailexp?
      • Restaurants ramp up loyalty programs http://bit.ly/9tSGhN interesting #retailexp ideas around rewarding loyal customers
      • Bringing locally grown produce to stores w/in 24 hours of harvest http://bit.ly/9x9Bj2 addresses real consumer concerns #retailexp
      • Retail experimentation via popup stores for small biz in wide range categories http://bit.ly/daQVrs #retailexp/li>
      • Game changing retail experience for kids: 77kids with interactivity, etc. http://bit.ly/cz4rUb #retailexp
      • Sears 2 open flagship Craftsman experience store! http://bit.ly/bE9OfK #retailexp Craftsman br helped Sears control 30% of tools market
      • Interesting collaboration b/n Groupon, Bravo, Top Chefs and restaurants http://bit.ly/cYk6g1 #retailexp
      • Have you tried Social Sun from Sunglass Hut? It's a new interactive #retailexp http://bit.ly/cqbofL
      • Is this modern day version of soap opera? Ikea sponsors web-based series http://bit.ly/cfhBNW #retailexp
      • Really enjoyed this story about Maurice's, now a division of Dress Barn. http://bit.ly/czCYLE #retailexp
      • From Abercrombie & Fitch, a blending of online during offline #retailexp http://bit.ly/atW7Gk
      Thanks for reading! For previous issues of Retail Experience In The News, see Retail Experience News.

      Graphic Created Via Wordle.

      Monday, August 09, 2010

      Waiting & the Retail Experience

      Time Warped?

      'Bending' Time or How to Improve Waiting in the Retail Experience

      Have you ever spent time waiting? Perhaps at the bank, waiting for a teller or ATM, or at a grocery store checkout, perhaps even on the phone for service. Did you like it? I bet you put up with it, though, because you had no other choice.  It was simply part of that retail experience.

      As negative as waiting is, it can be managed in such a way that the person waiting may enjoy the experience or, at least, not feel dissatisfied. Call it 'bending' time.

      I was reminded of this when I read that US Emergency Department patients spent an average of 4 hours, 7 minutes waiting [an increase over previous findings] and yet "patients who waited more than four hours, but received 'good' or 'very good' information about delays were just as satisfied as patients who spent less than one hour in the emergency department." [note: bolding mine]

      In other words, interacting with those waiting and eliminating their uncertainty about the wait positively affected their waiting experience.

      In Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, Paco Underhill dedicates a chapter to waiting and the retail experience.  It's titled "Time, Real and Perceived" and states "...the single most important factor in determining a shopper's opinion of the service he or she receives is waiting time.... Quite simply, a short wait enhances the entire shopping experience and a long one poisons it."

      However, he explains that shoppers' perception of waiting time can be 'bent' or modified.

      Time is a funny thing. We may measure it with a watch, but our internal sense of time may override what the watch tells us [think of times when time flies or seems to drag forever].

      According to Paco, "when people wait up to about a minute and a half, their sense of how much time has elapsed is fairly accurate.  Anything over ninety or so seconds, however, and their sense of time distorts.... Taking care of a customer in two minutes is a success; doing it in three minutes is a failure."

      And yet those folks waiting in emergency rooms did so for much longer and were satisfied! Why?

      His advice for the retail experience:

      Interaction - human or otherwise - makes a difference.  "The time a shopper spends waiting after an employee has initiated contact goes faster than time spent waiting before that interaction takes place."

      Eliminate uncertainty"Tell shoppers their wait will be finite and controlled rather than open-ended and subject to the vagaries of fate and chance."

      Companionship.  It's much easier to wait if you have someone to talk to.

      Diversion.  "Almost anything will suffice." Communicate a message, offer reading materials; in so doing you 'bend' shoppers' perception of waiting time.

      My favorite personal example took place several years ago when my flight was canceled and I had to spend an extra night on the road. When I reached the airport Marriott, a line of fellow stranded travelers stretched out the door, all waiting to check in. Not good. I had no other choice than to wait...After a while, a Marriott employee made his way through the line reassuring those waiting that additional personnel had been called to help expedite registration [interaction, eliminate uncertainty]. Next, he produced a silver tray filled with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies which he offered to each of us [diversion!] while thanking us for our patience.  This then broke the ice between those of us waiting and we all began to chat, expressing amazement over the cookies [companionship].  I was sorry when it was my turn to check in. Marriott had successfully bent time for me, altering my perception of waiting time.

      Paco's advice on bending time or altering waiting translates to my hotel experience as well as emergency room waiting.  What about in your business? What do you do to help bend waiting time in your retail experience?



      Image Credit:
      Time Warped? originally uploaded by onkel_wart

      Friday, August 06, 2010

      Retail Experience In The News VI

      Wordle: #retailexpFor your Friday reading pleasure, this week's Retail Experience in the News...  with the latest articles and links from the week and shared on Twitter with the #retailexp hashtag.

      Enjoy!

      Retail Experience and Customer Service

      The Economy/Consumers

      Retail Experience Ideas

      • Fascinating opinion on mobile coupons http://bit.ly/cCSbwO - there's a better way to customize offers & engage customers #retailexp
      • Have U heard of Papa Murphy's Take-n-bake Pizza chain? Focus on value, quaity, fresh + community http://bit.ly/cwFlqN #retailexp ideas
      • Unexpected: low- & high-end fashion products tend 2 have less conspicous brand mark than midpriced ones http://nyti.ms/b62aNU #retailexp 
      • Radioshack w/ kiosks in Target. Grocery stores next? http://bit.ly/bWju6Q Is this ultimate convenient #retailexp?
      • Have you experienced Forever 21 in Times Square? Supposed to be intense #retailexp http://nyti.ms/8ZN8x2
      • Imagine the future of retail: world as #retailexp from PSFK http://bit.ly/avqWd1
      • Walmart remodeling stores to retain customers http://bit.ly/djzO9X how effective will the #retailexp be?
         

      Thanks for reading!

      For previous issues of Retail Experience In The News, see Retail Experience News.

      Graphic Created Via Wordle.
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