'Tis The Season....To Cite Paco

Image courtesy of Envirosell.I am a Paco groupie - and proud of it! What about you?

Paco Underhill is responsible for bringing anthropology and retail together. His first book - Why We Buy [see Recommended Reading on Flooring The Consumer sidebar] - is amazing in its observations, practicality and insight. It changed my world, and my appreciation for the retail experience. [Many thanks to Peter Smallman and Doug Ehrlich from Image Zone for setting me on the Paco path!] I reread it regularly, and preach its lessons at every opportunity!

Paco is fascinating to read, projecting strong passion for the people whom he observes and what they go through as they maneuver the retail world. He wants their retail experience improved. He is amongst the first to notice signs of changing consumer habits, and, most important, his observations withstand the test of time....

Consider this 10/1999 Fast Company article titled How We Sell by Keith H. Hammonds. It gives you a flavor for how Paco's company Envirosell operates [i.e., with googles of video tapes of consumers in action!], and a firsthand feel for the "incredibly valuable facts... [that] are also significant observations about business, work, and the act of finding -- or being -- a customer."
Some extracts:
+ "Increasingly, in our time-pressured culture, retailers are recognizing the importance of purchase decisions that are made or that are heavily influenced at the point of sale."
+ "...Consumers are eminently more cynical ... more experienced. Our tempers are shorter, and our patience is thinner. As consumers, we are becoming aware of our power -- the power to pick up our toys and go home, or to go to somewhere else to play."
+ "There's still something called "retail magic," where someone is able to put something out there in a way that makes us fall in love with it and have to have it."+ Retailers can do a better job addressing the needs of several "ignored groups": seniors, women and ethnic groups. "Often, marketers have no real sense of the ground. Where is my store?.... who's coming into [my] territory."
+ "There are a number of ... small ideas that are fundamentally clever, that cut through the clutter, and that work." [e.g., chairs -- see below]
+ In terms of the web: "it can play an important role by forming a bond between the cyberworld and the physical world so that they support each other."

Paco's Principles for Retailers encourage getting shoppers to spend more time inside a store shopping [i.e., the longer they stay, the more likely they are to buy!]; not providing too much information to shoppers within the 'transition zone' [i.e., your entry foyer], rather letting them decompress and get the lay of the land; remembering that shoppers have Two Hands, and need to use them to interact with your goods. Did you know that mirrors slow people down [and banks hurry them along]? Men like to get in/out of stores expeditiously, so help them do so! And, "by 2025, nearly one-fifth of the American people will be 65 or older." Have you considered how to meet the needs of these wealthy consumers? [Start with good contrast on your signage and make sure the font isn't too tiny!].

CBC marketplace shares this 11/7/2000 article titled Paco Underhill: Shopping Scientist summarizing comments Paco made while speaking with the Retail Association of British Columbia: "the retail industry is undergoing a fundamental shift - it's all about the consumer.... Retailers have to cater to the behaviours of the consumer in order to increase their chances of selling successfully."

"Underhill's research has shown that 70 percent of shoppers are women. It has also shown that retailers don't always make their shopping experience rewarding.... A store can do something as simple as providing a chair in a convenient location.... "A chair is not an amenity," Underhill observes. "It's a marketing tool." And, don't forget about kids! "The important role for the store is turning kids into allies." His "biggest complaint about the shopping experience, is the lack of it, in some stores." And, finally, be sure to respect the consumer!

The article includes Shopping Facts about shopping surveillance findings, what shoppers love and what they hate.

Entrepreneur's 12/2001 article titled Attention Shoppers! Paco Underhill knows what they look at, what they buy and why.... explains that "converting browsers into spenders greatly depends on store design and displays, because 60 to 70 percent of purchases are unplanned." Pay special attention to sightlines as they affect how successful a retailer is in drawing a consumer in.

My favorite: "A store window needs to communicate beyond the people immediately in front of it. Windows should have one message, not 15. They need to change no less than every two weeks to get people coming back. People should look forward to window displays as a place to have fun. MTV has shown us the importance of focusing on icons rather than words, using visual puns and symbols of having a good time."

Paco refers to the "butt-brush" factor and the importance of avoiding narrow aisles if a retailer wants to appeal to women consumers. Some other factors to consider: good lighting, strategically placed chairs [and reading material], and not forcing consumers to bend over or get on the floor to interact with product [I have had to sit on the floor, even while pregnant, just to examine merchandise -including carpet samples- and I really resented having no other option. ]

Don't forget about extending your merchandising into the register area. Can you create an opportunity for an add-on sale or a reason to extend the relationship beyond this one transaction? According to Paco "everything should be for sale in the store... even if they don't buy, you want them to walk out with a better sense of what your store offers..."

Finally, "if it isn't fun, people aren't going to come back."

Eric Mattson at MarketingBlurb posted Paco Underhill Chimes In On Branding which pointed me to Liz Danzico from Boxes and Arrows. She shares this 11/28/2006 interview with Paco Underhill titled From Data to Wisdom.

He refers to these fascinating consumer changes afoot:
+ "our visual language is evolving faster than our written and spoken word." In other words, we respond faster to symbols than we do to spoken or written words. Compounding this is the disconnect between the average age of consumers [above 40] and of those designing communications [under 30].
+ "we live in a world that even in 2006 is owned by men, designed by men, managed by men, and that we expect women to participate in." In other words, for the majority of retailers, it's critical to consider how female-friendly your store experience is, and if it isn't how can you fix things?
+ "the perception of ease is as important as the reality of ease" given how time-stressed most consumers are. Although Paco give an online example of this, it is just as relevant in-store: is your store as inviting and exciting to a new customer as it is to a repeat customer?

The challenge for retailers today is figuring out how to differentiate themselves to the consumer, how to make products relevant to each individual who comes through the doors, and reaching interested customers more efficiently than ever before.

I was particularly excited to hear that Paco is currently working on a book about "how the changing aspect of women is affecting the design community." I bet that will be an interesting read!

Experience Paco for yourselves via any of these 3 recent video clips of Paco Underhill where he encourages retailers to treat shoppers well and build a relationship with them. Also, recognize that a neophyte will have different needs vs. an expert shopper and that a successful store needs to recognize and accommodate both. Paco makes specific points relating to the Gap and Best Buy in these clips, and generally shares his fascination with retail as a dipstick for changes in our culture.

The 12/4/2006 Los Angeles Times features a really fun article titled Hunter-gatherer, bargain shopper by Janet Cromley which draws strong parallels between modern day bargain shopping and prehistoric hunting and gathering.... Remember that times are a changing and roles may be shifting! "It used to be that we celebrated what we purchased," says Paco Underhill... "Now it's a celebration of what we paid for it ... [and] how little they spent." "The prey is a sale item." And, 'extreme shopping' is an opportunity to bond.

[The other person referenced is Raymond Burke, business professor at Indiana University, whose 10 Principles of Retail Shoppability I often refer to in presentations.]

If Paco were observing your store, what would he notice? Do you have chairs in-store? How woman-friendly are you? What about the kids? How fun a retail experience have you created? When was the last time you updated your windows? The answers will determine how successful a carpet/flooring business you have and will have for years to come!

Technorati Tags: Paco Underhill, retail anthropology, marketing to women, retail experience

Retail Experience Of the Future

Lookıng ƒor rhızomıng lınεs . .

originally uploaded by jef safi.

Do you think much about how the retail experience might look by 2015? Or even once we emerge from the current economic mess? I do. In fact, I believe that the new retail experience will be one of the most exciting results of our mess.

According to Paco Underhill, as reported in Transworld Business' summary of Envirosell’s The Science of Shopping Conference: Paco Underhill Presentation, retail will change more in the next five years than it has in the past 100.

Strong words. But, then again, Paco spends considerable time observing and analyzing shopping behavior around the world. Methinks he should know.

The post explains: "Underhill believes that global economic factors, innovations in technology, and a dramatic increase in vacant retail space in the US are creating a paradigm shift in shopping behaviors, and that the world is entering a new era of consumer behavior."

Intriguing, no?

Do read the entire summary and think about the changes in consumer shopping behaviors and how mobile technology [primarily smart phone related] is affecting shopping patterns. On the retail side, think about all that vacant real estate [remember that we've been considerably overstored]. What will become of it? How will it add value to consumers' lives? What about size? [To that I add, what about connections to local places vs. generic national entities?] And where is innovation happening?

Paco Underhill's suggestions on what retailers might do:

-Revisit Format
-Recognize Value, Significance, and Value
-Don’t Get Lost In Technology
-Make Financial Offering Consistent With Location/ Customer
-Be Careful To Cater To Local Tastes

I attended the 2006 Envirosell Science of Shopping Conference during which Paco introduced many of these themes. They sound further developed during this event. At that event, I had the opportunity to spend time with Wendy Liebmann from WSL Strategic Retail. Talk about delightful, clued in and totally passionate about retail! She presented at the recent conference and Transworld documented that presentation, too, in Envirosell’s The Science Of Shopping Conference: Wendy Liebmann Presentation.

She says: "nothing will be the same again." Her suggestions:

1. Know your shoppers.
2. Keep them in the store, keep them in the brand.
3. Value your customers' values.
4. Be where your customers want to be, and reach them where they are
5. Create emotional real-estate, not just another store
6. Innovate, innovate, innovate.

Here's more food for thought: according to Retail To Shift by 2015 by Debra Hazel of GlobeSt.com retail will be greatly affected by an overall customer base becoming both younger and older, richer and more cash strapped, tech savvy and not.

Talk about an intense dichotomy, which - to me - further reinforces that the middle is gone.

The article [and conference] suggest that the older [i.e., boomer] segment of the customer base will want "small, closer stores that are easier to shop, with large signage or lettering for convenience." Furthermore, stores will need to be more connected with consumers through technology.

Not too surprising in my mind. What about to you?

Take a younger consumer perspective -- particularly if s/he might have been exposed to a program like WANT from the University of Washington Environmental Design class which is designed to help college students develop smarter shopping habits that take into account frugality and sustainability. Imagine the implications for retailers... and the opportunities.

At the heart of the retail experience - now more than ever - is delivering a truly memorable customer experience, defined from the customer's perspective. Certainly, helping to put a purchase into a value framework makes sense.

So, how might we enhance that experience, particularly in complex categories [like flooring]?

In high end shopping experiences, a personal shopper plays a role, asking questions, offering suggestions, listening for feedback before making recommendations.

Think about your Amazon.com experience. Do you 'see' similarities? As in suggestions, or product reviews and recommendations? Read Personalization: Putting the “A-Ha!” into Online Shopping; the benefit? "Personalized product recommendations ... create cross-sell and upsell opportunities." Now read Enriching Retail Product Relevance. Recommendations help customers find products more quickly. "If I have a store that's easier to navigate for my customers, I get a higher degree of engagement and loyalty from those customers," and revenue.

My take on all this?

+ Online an offline will need to be fully integrated. [Be sure to read Marketing to Digital Moms: How To Reach Out To Today’s Tech-Savvy Moms and how important it is to be engaging with customers online.]

+ Start thinking about how to capture customer feedback on what you offer so others can benefit from the information and you can benefit from the increased engagement. Do you encourage reviews of your products and experience?

+ What do you stand for? It had better be distinct, memorable, and relevant to your customers because the middle is gone.

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Retail Experience Issues & Paco Underhill

As you can tell from this picture, I have met Paco Underhill, founder of Envirosell, author of What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly and accomplished retail experience anthropologist. This wasn't the first time, but it was the first time I had the presence of mind to ask for a photo!

Time spent with Paco Underhill is grounding. He reminds you of what matters in the retail experience and does so based on extensive observation. This most recent meeting took place in NYC in March 2010 as he discussed with Rich Relevance "Respect the Shopper. Harmonizing the Cross-Channel Experience." [White paper available for download via this link.]

In this meeting, Paco noted three levels of consumer convergence:

1. Mobile phones and the online world create a multi-channel world for consumers.

2.The economic crisis has acted as an accelerant for customers who are scrabbling to use technology tools to get more out of the money they have available, especially since the fixed costs in our lives - housing and healthcare - are out of our control and continue to increase.

3. Customers see one brand regardless of whether they seek us online or offline. This means that we must be consistent and unified regarless of the medium.

Paco Underhill brought up additional retail experience issues.

• We live in a world designed by men, but intended for women.
• We face intense time poverty and look for efficiencies online.
• What is global vs. local? What drives customers globally to a brand? Is it online or is it brick-and-mortar?

Given that customers see one brand regardless of the medium through which they interact with retail, it's really important to consistently spend time walking in their shoes offline and online. At the same time, it helps to actively listen to customers - offline and in-store - to understand their world and how they use mobile and digital tools to interact with us.

Ideally, as we do this, we are keeping track of the information in some manner that tracks the range of options that customers have for interacting with us... and integrates - or harmonizes - all of those conversations.  Check out Time to Harmonize Your Cross-Channel Customer Experience for added perspective.

What's your take on this matter? How do you address these customer retail experience issues in your business? How do you track these conversations across different media?

Retail, the Dipstick of Social Change

Not Going Anywhere - Day 10 originally uploaded by MarkAllanson.

"Retail continues to be the dipstick of social change."

Those are Paco Underhill's words. He stated them during the 2006 Envirosell Science of Shopping conference. He states them again in the March 2008 issue of DDI Magazine in his 'shopping with Paco' bimonthly column.

Those words catch my attention. Inevitably, Paco's words make me think.

His March DDI Magazine column, titled "A tale of thirds," makes the following points about retail being the dipstick of social change.

+ One third of the American population lives from one paycheck to another, with little savings [note this includes middle to upper income households]. For them, "...shopping is going to come to a standstill. Forget the organic produce at Whole Foods; they will buy food at ALDI, Trader Joe's and Wal-Mart."

+ Another third "is not at immediate risk, but they are scared... This group of Americans is taking pride in spending their money well..." They are the ones doing tons of research on the Internet, asking questions and making sure that anything they purchase captures the full bundle of value that they expect.

+ The last third is financially secure with mortgages paid off, retirements plans fulfilled. "The recession will have limited effect on them.... They'll go to Trader Joe's because they like it, and to the department store whenever they want."

Paco predicts that "the world of shopping is on the edge of a new form of chaos." Why? Because despair from one-third will mean little to no shopping; frantic bargain hunting from the middle third means a lot of channel churning, and from the last third you can expect disinterest because they essentially have all of the stuff they need.

He says "It will get ugly. North America is over-stored, and most merchant organizations will be healthier shedding underperforming locations... [with] the contraction vary[ing] from 10 percent to 30 percent." [Read Why Starbucks is hitting the wall.]

Having gone through the dismal scenario, Paco lays out what we can expect. Please pay special attention. I consider these three points vital to our future:

1. "American merchants have to get beyond "The Sale" as a promotional tool of choice. Improved supply-chain management and inventory control is the proven solution to discounting." [Note: The WSJ recently described in Logistics Are in Vogue With Designers from 06/27/08 how even high-fashion houses are focusing on improving logistics.]

2. "The offering and service proposition need to get matched up. Having hip ads and dirty stores doesn't add up."

3. "Decision-making needs to get closer to the actual floor of the individual store... We are an entrepreneurial culture. Give store managers and district managers more control and incentives, and they'll make their numbers."

By the way, this 6/02/2008 article, titled Luxury retailers realize it's a new shopping scene. When times get tough, even top-shelf retailers break out their red tags and clearance signs by Sandra M. Jones, says that "luxury pricing power has eroded" and "price has never been as important to the consumer's shopping level as it is today no matter what the income level."

The article describes the factors at play. Namely,

+ "At the core, the blurring of luxury and moderate and discount lines has created a savvy shopper who moves between Target and Barneys New York with ease and is proud to crow about finding a deal..."

+ Younger 'aspirational' shoppers have started watching their spending while their parents prefer to spend on experiences rather than more stuff.

+ And, "an undercurrent in American culture that is dampening the allure of materialism and status as environmental and social concerns take center stage."

Reminds me of Paco's thirds.

Related posts:
+Paco Sightings... and Rubber Soled Shoes
+'Tis the Season to Cite Paco

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Paco Sightings... and Rubber Soled Shoes

Well, not only 'Tis the Season to Cite Paco, but 'tis also the season to share sightings.

I sighted Paco Underhill earlier this year at the Science of Shopping Conference that Envirosell put on. I even shook his hand! Here's what he had to say about the current state of retail:

+ Retail innovation is happening in those places with a young affluent population base [e.g., Moscow, Dublin, Sao Paolo, Mexico City, Shanghai, Mumbai, Seoul...]. It is not happening in the US where our retail culture is overly focused on stock price rather than on what happens on the floor [or 'ground']. We are overly focused on the short term and getting results from opening new doors rather than from same store growth. We are overstored and for the most part reluctant to shed underperforming properties. Mergers [e.g., Kmart/Sears and Federated/Mays] have nothing to do with customers, and muddy the waters around the actual needs of consumers.

+ Design alone is NOT the answer. The fastest growing retail channel today consists of "anti-design" stores [e.g., dollar stores, Aldi, ...].

+ Category management perfects the status quo, and prevents category reinvention. So many aisles are at risk of gravitating to another form of distribution [e.g., the center sections of grocery stores are showing 5% loss per year. Where is it going?] and this isn't being addressed. What about new approaches to distribution? [E.g., What if you purchased a detergent plan when you bought your washer/dryer, and never had to go to a grocery store ever again for detergent?].

+ Consumers are time-poor and not willing to spend more time to accommodate larger formats. Interestingly, consumers routinely over inflate by 50% their reported time in-store vs. their actual time! Their perception of time spent is greater than reality and the ease of getting in/out matters to the overall retail experience.

+ As the 'first world', we face the following retail challenge: shopping cart use is declining as shopping missions change; for mass stores, 10-15% of customers are walking out with nothing; deep discounting is on the rise; and too often, the seminal object on the shopping list is NOT there, and consumers wind up making a decision to take EVERYTHING on the list elsewhere.

+ Failing Gender model: we live in a world owned/designed by men and expect women to participate in it. We must make our stores more woman friendly!

+ The service model is changing from one that has been nose to nose [i.e., across a counter] to hip to hip [i.e., next to one another] . This is the Sephora model [Starwood has implemented this, as well as some banks [e.g., WaMu].

+ Technology in-store: make sure it is bullet proof! The only 2 winners to date have been ATM machines and self check-in at airports. Technology that doesn't work in-store is worse than no technology at all.

+ Our relationship to consumption has changed: our symbols of success are in transition. It's no longer about gold, silver and stones which over history represented transportable wealth, particularly in times of war. What is indulgence and what is necessity?

+ It's vital to re-think the labor model, market by market. We live in a shrinking world and need to balance global vs. local identities. Shopping has strong social ramifications: people matter to the overall retail experience and if you and your staff have fun, customers probably will, too!

+ A fundamental shift is taking place with landlords becoming place makers. It's not longer just about real estate and collecting money, but also about programming good public spaces, etc., to encourage people to visit the space and interact in it and with it.

Given all of this, we must recognize that the realities of the setting [e.g., where is the real entrance? where does the experience start?] drive strategy. Amenability and profitability are inextricably linked, and operations, product, design and marketing must work together. That will drive successful innovation at the point of sale. Be sure to wear rubber soled shoes. That way you can think standing up and have a strong connection to the floor [or ground] to understand what is really happening.

Some other thoughts:
+ Windows are powerful: they both attract and repel! [e.g., Victoria's Secret] Make sure your windows create the effect you desire.
+ Aisles: respect body bubbles. Leave sufficient space.
+ Use language appropriate to customers rather than industry jargon.
+ For end caps and displays: sightlines and access are critical to success.
+ Our visual language is evolving faster than both written and spoken words. How we communicate messages is critical. We also need to understand how eyes work and age.

Paco showed us many examples of retail innovation from around the world, including Zara [see What Makes A Destination?]. Four of his other examples -- Roppongi Hills/Tokyo [which sounds a lot like a lifestyle center [see An Architect's View of Better Lifestyle Centers], Sao Paolo's Higienopolis, Three Minute Happiness/Tokyo, and Ibn Battuta/Dubai -- you can read more about in Susan Abbott's sighting of Paco Underhill during the Qualitative Research Conference: Toronto - October 2006.

One last reference from the 6/23/2006 issue of AIArchitect: an article by Russell Boniface titled I Spy A Shopper!. Not only does it feature numerous Paco pictures, but it also recaptures many of the points made in these last two Paco postings - including rubber soled shoes!

Paco refers to shoes to encourage us all to spend time observing firsthand what our consumers do and what they go through when interacting with our retail experiences. After all, how else than by Walking In Her Shoes can we ever create an environment that is more friendly to women?

Technorati Tags: Paco Underhill, retail experience, marketing to women

The Retail Experience Roadmap

This article, titled "The Retail Experience Roadmap," appeared in the February 9/16, 2009 issue of Floor Covering Weekly, in my column "flooring the customer."


What serves as your retail experience roadmap? Three resources ground me when I think about the retail experience: Paco Underhill’s "Why We Buy," Raymond R. Burke’s "10 Principles of Retail Shoppability," and Pamela Danziger’s "Pop! Equation: Field Guide to Shops That Pop" from her recent book Shopping.

Paco states that amenability and profitability are inextricably linked. To that end, he applies the tools of an anthropologist to retail environments, examining how shoppers behave and interact with product, displays, signage, and people in stores. The more comfortable and convenient a store, the more likely a shopper is to spend time and eventually buy. Makes sense.

Raymond R. Burke, professor of business at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, studies retail including marketing research, retailing, shopper behavior, and data mining. His "10 Principles of Retail Shoppability" represent the common elements he identified across a range of successful retail formats. Although the 10 principles may seem basic, they are critical and yet often aren’t addressed in the retail environment.

Show the product
Provide effective navigational aids
Simplify product organization and presentation
Minimize clutter
Maximize product affordance
Showcase new items and new ideas
Make the shopping experience convenient
Make the shopping experience enjoyable
Speak with authority
Maintain flexibility

Pamela Danziger’s "Pop! Equation: Field Guide to Shops that Pop" captures the soul or magic that great stores infuse into their retail experience. Her equation assumes that the basics have not only been covered, but also elevated to new heights to deliver more for the consumer. Such stores should:

Offer high levels of customer involvement and interaction
Excite consumer curiosity to explore & experience
Exude contagious energy & excitement
Represent a fine synergy between tangible and intangible elements
Capture an authentic concept
Offer superior value at a reasonable cost
Welcome all with an inclusive [not exclusive] attitude

Let’s take a visit to the Apple Store as an example. You position yourself first outside the store and watch to see how subjects approach the store, what they look at, how they enter. You follow. Once inside, what do they do? Where do they go? How do they interact with displays? How long do they stay? Do they buy?

Then, step back and observe the store itself. Remember that a store is about bringing people and product together, so both can interact. Successful store experiences engage the senses, as a store is about the product seducing the shopper into making a purchase.

The Apple Store is a sparse contemporary environment: plain white box; bright ethereal lights; very clean. The product, though, shines! It is available throughout the store on simple, accessible rectilinear tables. Shoppers are encouraged to play with it, interact, consult MapQuest, listen to music, ask questions, consult a Genius, obtain training. Bold graphics celebrate the beauty of the product, its stylishness, its newness.

If you need help in an Apple Store, you can easily consult the Genius Bar or an employee dressed in uniform t-shirt with an identification badge hanging from his or her neck.

Listen to the buzz of the store. It’s alive with energy, excitement, enthusiasm. Not only are shoppers involved with product, but they interact with one another. They are curious about what they don’t know and eager to share with others. It’s contagious! It also demonstrates the value associated with Apple products. An Apple product welcomes you into the Apple community. Whether you buy or not, you are invited to spend as much time in the store as you’d like.

Now, leave that Apple store. Keep that template or roadmap in mind and go back to your store. What do you now see that would improve your retail experience?

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Walking in Her Shoes

"Sexy feet in b&w" originally uploaded by la vista de aca. From the "Take a Walk in Her Shoes" fundraiser for Chrysalis city, a women's domestic violence resource center in Gainesville, FL. In color, it is known as "Men in Heels".

Taking the time to walk in your customer's shoes is vital. It gives you a chance to view the world from her perspective, to see things with a new set of eyes, to experience what she experiences without blinders.

An article from the 7/30/06 Gwinnett Daily Post titled "Retailers look at what triggers consumers to spend their money" offers a fascinating look at what Paco Underhill , author of "Why We Buy", referred to as the "Science of Shopping" in his recent conference on the topic. The article states: "More sophisticated then ever, retail is a science that uses psychology and anthropology to find what shapes consumer behavior."

This has become more critical as retailing has gotten increasingly more competitive. Those retailers not taking this seriously [i.e., think traditional department stores] are falling by the wayside; those that do are generating buzz, loyalty and profits.

The article is a fun read -- bringing up examples of how music, mirrors, lighting, wooden tables, aroma [men prefer the smell of cinnamon rolls!] can enhance the shopping experience -- and references Paco Underhill: "Underhill thinks retailers have to be innovators. After all, consumers are becoming older, wiser and harder to please. At the same time, the retail playing field gets more crowded every year."

Walking in your customer's shoes is not limited to retail. Many other industries are getting into the act. For example, banking! This article, titled "Talk to Our Customers? Are You Crazy?" by Ian Wylie from the July 2006 issue of Fast Company describes the process that Credit Suisse is taking via "experience immersion", created by customer-experience renegade David McQuillen, to make itself more relevant to its customers.

It seems that too many companies "simply assume that customers are just like them. No, they're not, says McQuillen. And the problem with thinking they are is that companies end up creating products and processes that suit them, not their customers. "You need," he says, "to go out and talk to customers to find out what they want."

The result has generated changes in bank branch design, projects to reduce wait time, and generally make it easier for customers to do business with Credit Suisse. Wow!

Another example, chipmakers! This article by Bary Alyssa Johnson titled "How To Build A Better Product—Study People -- Anthropology Moves From The Classroom To The Corporation" offers another fascinating glimpse on how walking in your customer's shoes provides you with priceless insight. Indeed, "consumers have so many choices today, so you have to work hard to understand what people want and need."

So, what size shoe is she?

P.S.: If you haven't read Underhill's "Why We Buy", you should do so. It will forever change how you look at the retail experience. I reread it every 12 to 18 months and have included it in my Recommended Reading section under Retail Trends.

Tags: consumer experience, retail, retail experience, retail anthropology, customer experience

Kizer & Bender - First Impressions: The Art of Store Layout & Design

Surfaces 2008 featured a workshop titled First Impressions: The Art of Store Layout & Design by Rich Kizer & Georganne Bender.

Not only did the session address my favorite topic - the retail experience - but it also included a walking tour of 3 Las Vegas locations: New York, New York, the Mandalay Place - a skybridge between the Luxor and the Mandalay Bay - and Caesar's Forum Shops.

Before we set off, Kizer and Bender offered advice:

Retailing should always be viewed in terms of the shopper's perception of your environment and retail experience. Consider becoming your own customer and walking in her shoes. For example, think how Disney creates and controls guests' perceptions of the experience.

A customer's first perception begins in the parking lot. You own the parking lot! Is it easily accessible? Do employees take the best parking spot? Is it clean, well lit? How comfortable would a woman be walking your parking lot after dark?

Does the front of your store make sense? Is it distinctive? Can you tell what it sells? Does the exterior need attention? Can you add shrubs, etc?

Have you positioned exterior signs for best visibility from different directions? [Did you know that blue is hard to see? It looks fuzzy unless you outline it in white.] Signs must be readable in 3 seconds or less. Otherwise, they are useless.

Walk inside your store: what impression does it offer? Those first 10 seconds determine how your customer will feel for rest of the visit. Do all of the design concept components work together in harmony to tell a story? Does it look fun and easy to shop?

The decompression zone takes up the first 5 to 15 square feet of the store. Don't try to do too much in that space other than refocus the customer.
+ where ever customers look, they should immediately be drawn to something intriguing
+ 90% of shoppers will go to right as they enter. Therefore the right front wall should be the power wall, featuring new, seasonal, hi demand, hi profit items.
+ locate the service counter in the center or to the left, but not to the front right.
+ pay attention to what is visible at eye level.
+ use a speed bump or display/fixture to slow customers down and showcase new products or colors

[I found this delicious Malcolm Gladwell article from an 11/04/1006 New Yorker article titled "The Science of Shopping. The American shopper has never been so fickle.What are stores, including the new flagship designer boutiques, doing about it? Applying science." re: Paco Underhill, the original retail anthropologist.]

Kizer and Bender mentioned two ways to set up a store:
+ the Free Flow Layout [often seen in upscale stores and boutiques]
+ The "V and the Vista" [form a 45 degree angle with your arms. That represents the most important wall of the store. Everything inside the V needs to be focused on.]

[Note: About.com describes these different types of store layouts.]

Look fresh!
+ Completely makeover your store every 3 to 5 years. At the very least, paint the walls. Their store decor rule: use neutral colors for 80% of your store, and limit an accent to 20%.
+ Re-merchandise your sales floor at least once per quarter.
+ Change your window displays frequently. Windows are the eyes of a store. How attractive are they? Are there any dead flies? List your phone number and website address on the windows in large white reflective letters.
+ Update your speed bump displays every week.
+ Check for burnt out lights every day.

Store lighting matters! It sets the mood, focuses attention on product or communicates store function.

Music in-store encourages shoppers to spend 18% more time in-store, leading to a 17% increase in purchases [per Muzak]. Also, your store seems friendlier and waits seem shorter. Play softer/slower music when you first open in the morning than later on when store traffic increases.

Appealing to the senses: consider using sensory merchandising to draw people into and through your store. The right scents can relax, engage shoppers in your store and make them more likely to buy. Scentair.com features interesting examples and case studies.

What about older people? America is ageing. This represents a significant retail driver. Think through how comfortable a consumer suffering from arthritis, or wearing bifocals or reading glasses will be shopping your store. Did you know that at 60, we need three times more light to see than we did when we were 23 years old?

The tour itself was both fascinating and overwhelming, each stop worthy of its own post [e.g., FAO Schwartz]. What stood out, as Kizer & Bender suggested, was the variety of speed bumps we encountered.

New York, New York we visited for the consistency and breadth of the branding examples [from manhole covers, to the carpet patterns, to the cobblestone streets.] The resort even features, outside, a 9/11 twin towers memorial and embodies the essence of this quote from Adrienne Weiss: a brand is "a country, complete with its own language, rituals, culture and customs." Everything within your store must go through your cultural filters.

Did you know that the Forum Shops represent the highest grossing mall in the world? Fascinating [also frustrating if you are tired] to experience the paths [including dead ends] you have no choice but to take through the mall.

Do ask yourself what kind of impressions does your store offer? What about your speed bump. Does it stop them in their tracks?

What are you waiting for?

---------------------
In addition to the Gladwell article mentioned above, consider reading this Display & Merchandising Guide from George Little Management. It offers descriptions, sketches and resources to put store merchandising into perspective.

Check out, too, this PowerPoint from the University of West Georgia on Store Layout and Design. It includes a section on Free Flow Layout with a Disney example, a visual of the 45 degree sight line, and many visual merchandising examples.

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Book Review: Chocolates On The Pillow Aren't Enough

How seriously committed are you to reinventing your customer experience? If you aren't, you may want to reconsider as Jonathan Tisch's latest book titled Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience offers many compelling reasons to do so.

"Today's consumers are looking for something more - a relationship with an organization that will truly enrich their lives." That means providing them with experiences that are "unique, memorable, delightful, comfortable and deeply rewarding" - something that an accomplished hotelier like Tisch is committed to!

We've certainly heard before how many of the tried and true ways of doing business just don't work anymore. We live in a world where consumers feel diminishing loyalty towards many brands, increased price sensitivity, and innumerable choices. Furthermore, she's newly empowered, armed with information and greatly suspicious. No more taking customers for granted. No more assuming they will be satisfied. No more assuming they will stay with us 'til death do us part!

Not only does traditional mass advertising no longer work, but our traditional methods of keeping track of our customers' attitudes [i.e., intrusive surveys, focus groups and diaries] are simply ignored. After all, who has the time?

However, IF we craft customer experiences of such caliber and amazement that our consumers willingly return for more and zealously promote us via word-of-mouth recommendations, they will then generously offer their opinions, suggestions and attitudes. So why not focus on creating better experiences to forge stronger and longer lasting ties with our customers?

So explains Tisch using a multitude of wide-ranging examples.

Tisch refers to Proctor & Gamble's efforts to better understand how consumers live, and identify their frustrations/irritants. Armed with that information, they can develop products that absolutely delight consumers. This article from the May/June 2007 issue of THE HUB titled Moments of Truth focuses on Dina Howell at P&G, and the company’s shopper marketing efforts. It discusses efforts to not only understand how people live, but also how they use products. Note the reference to 'shopper marketing'.

Tisch's emphasis on the total consumer experience delights me. If you refer back to STORY Brings Brands to Life, and the statement 'it may not be my fault, but it is my problem', you start to capture the mindset that the book describes. Refer, too, to Stephanie Weaver and Customer Experience Definitions - Finale. The opportunity is to transform the thinking about customers into considering them as guests. Which means that we need to act like HOSTS and welcome our guests at every opportunity.

As I read the book, I can't help but have flashes of Paco Underhill's insights... Luckily, Tisch refers specifically to Paco in a section about the Art of the Welcome. However, before that section he makes points about the need to be a consumer [or a retail anthropologist for that matter] and pay attention to how you interact with your experiences. In other words, become totally customer-centric; understand every aspect of your experience, including those of your employees. After all, they are the ones to deliver the experience to customers.

Here is the wide range of companies that Tisch highlights: In N Out Burger, Dell Computers, Tufts University, Sephora, and Commerce Bank. He touches on the reinventation taking place via Lifestyle Centers and the influence of New Urbanism [see Southlake Town Center: A Lifestyle Center, Atlanta's Atlantic Station - A Lifestyle Center and An Architect's View of Better Lifestyle Centers]. He addresses healthcare transformation with new models like Virgin Life Care, and Revolution Health that borrow successfully from hospitality to offer patients a more holistic approach.

He considers spaces that welcome referring to Morris Lapidus and the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. Here is how Tisch codifies Lapidus' rules:
- eliminate corners
- use sweeping lines
- create unusual effects with light
- use plenty of color [my personal favorite]
- create a sense of drama
- keep changing the floor levels
- keep people moving
- remember that people are attracted to light [the moth complex]

About Paco Underhill he says: he captures the "fascination with the challenge of creating great public spaces and an intense curiosity about people, their emotions and behaviors." Tisch brings up: Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People all retail environments that are "less about selling to customers than about welcoming them and enveloping them in a world that is relaxing, engrossing, surprising, and rich."

He examines the news world, made familiar through his experience with Open Exchange. CNN has successfully challenged viewer assumptions. The Harrisburg International Airport, Target with their new approach to prescription drug packaging, and Microsoft's focus on security have all successfully anticipated users' needs.

EZ Pass, NYC 311, TripAdvisor, and FlyerTalk represent examples of organizations that not only facilitate the dissemination of information, but also are transparent in how they make information available. In fact, the transparency eases the dissemination.

Examples of companies that have embraced customization include Tc2 or Textile Clothing Technology Corporation, Land's End and My Virtual Model, PhotoStamps, and Build-A-Bear Workshop. In so doing, they delight their customers.

Models for community building [which by the way leads to unbelievable loyalty and word-of-mouth endorsements] include Harley-Davidson and its HOG members, eBay and PayPal, MySpace, and politics as exemplified by Howard Dean and the Democratic Party's site.

Tisch talks about the publishing industry and it just so happens that the New York Times ran this article titled The Greatest Mystery: Making A Best Seller By SHIRA BOSS on 5/13/2007. There's an opportunity waiting to be discovered!

The museum industry also represents opportunity to redefine the customer experience The Children's Museum of Manhattan [interestingly, in the Tisch building], as do Starbucks and HearMusic.

Here are some of the followup questions I submitted to Mr. Tisch. I will post his responses when I receive them.

+ How has the book affected the evolution of the Loew's customer experience? Did some examples/cast studies hit home more than others? Which ones?

+ Re: the chapter on diversity. Some hotels have made a big effort in recognition of women's changing roles in business [and increasing work-related travels] to attract them. How is Loew's reacting? Has that caused any friction and how have you addressed that? What about other non-traditional groups?

+ Consumers' value equations are changing across categories including hospitality. They expect more for less money, and are getting it. How is Loew's reacting?

+ What are the various tools that Loew's uses to monitor consumers and changes in the marketplace? Which are most valuable? How do you manage all of these tools? How do you transfer the insights to the organization? How do you keep the process fresh?

The book title generates discussion. When I brought it with me to a dentist appointment, I wound up in an intense discussion with my dentist's sister who had been an avid viewer of Now Who's Boss? [this is a program transcript CRM Mastery E-Journal].

Chocolates on the Pillow is an excellent read, filled with non-traditional and wide-ranging examples that will definitely get you thinking about the customer experience in general, and your customer experience specifically.

For other perspectives on the book consider the following:
+ Customers Rock! Are Chocolates On The Pillow Enough?
+ Customers Are Always Jonathan Tisch Helps Reinvent
+ Experience Manifesto's Chocolates On The Pillow and Amazon.com: Chocolates on the Pillow
+ Converstations' Review Chocolates On The Pillow
+ The Orlando Sentinel Chocolates On The Pillow
+ Ad Age's Bookstore Review of Chocolates On The Pillow.

Finally, this Forbes Magazine from 2004 provides a background on Tisch's previous book, "The Power of We".

Disclosure - I received a free review copy of this book.

Technorati Tags: Jonathan Tisch, Chocolates On The Pillow Aren't Enough, customer experience, word of mouth marketing

Retail Experience Basics: Bathroom Blogfest 2010

What I appreciate about Paco Underhill is how grounding his observations are.  In Back to Basics with Paco Underhill in the March 2010 issue of DDI Magazine he makes several points that we should all pay attention to particularly with respect to the retail experience and our very important woman consumer.

More specifically, he addresses safety and cleanliness and how much women consumers appreciate, expect and need these in their retail experiences.

Safety because for the most part "guys are physically stronger, not to mention bigger, than the average woman. Thus, females are conscious of their own personal security in ways most males really can't fathom, whether it's the lighting levels in the lobby, the burned-out bulb in the parking lot or hotel window that isn't locked... Women often feel vulnerable...."

Same goes for cleanliness.  "For a majority of the world's females, determining whether they are in a clean environment is an intuition, an undercurrent, a sixth sense, a vibe they puck up about every room in their house, every retail establishment they frequent, every dressing room they try on clothing in, every restaurant they dine in, every hotel they plunk their suitcase down in, ... and every bathroom they enter."

Safety and cleanliness represent necessities for women.

Interestingly, Back to Basics by Beth Freedman [same title!] in addressing the minimum requirements for travel refers too to the need for "a safe, clean and friendly environment."  In his article, Paco refers to travel and even a hotel where management consulted with its cleaning staff in anticipation of a redesign to make cleanliness easier to achieve.

Safety, cleanliness. Friendliness, too.  Important to the retail experience. Hmmm.

Consider Buc-ees with locations in Texas. I learned about them shortly after Bathroom Blogfest 2009 ended. Guess what?  They pride themselves on having the best and cleanest bathrooms in Texas. They believe in having bathrooms as destination and if you don't think their retail experience strategy experience is right on, they check out the Buc-ees Testimonials Blog, the Fan Photos, or their YouTube videos. By the way, close to 200,000 fans like them on Facebook.

Retail experience basics: safety, friendliness and cleanliness especially in bathrooms.

What are you waiting for?  Don't be stuck in the 60s!

Happy Bathroom Blogfest 2010!

Reinventing Retail

In The Changing Customer Retail Experience. Data Vs. Insights, I mentioned an article titled "Minding the customer" by Janet Groeber with perspectives from Herb Sorenson,Paco Underhill,Vince GuzziMarcie Merriman. It's in DDI Magazine's March 2010 issue. From that article, comes another topic that I'd like to explore with you: reinventing retail or at least rethinking it.

Here the quote that got me going on this topic:

From Paco Underhill, "...the basic design of the American supermarket has, for the most part remained unchanged since the 1930s. Much of that design was based on the weekly shopping trip, but also on construction and energy management costs. So, we understand why milk (historically) is in the left hand back corner, where it's more efficient to run power lines for refrigeration. But that has changed, so there are more possibilities now."

There may be more possibilities, but the retail store design hasn't changed all that much - be the store a supermarket or another type store - in the past few decades. Or has it?

We have seen retail salespeople emerge from behind a counter where they were gatekeepers between product and shopper. Product is now readily accessible in most stores. Self-service is common.

We've seen store windows change [see A. Alfred Taubman: Overcoming Threshold Resistance] becoming powerful means for drawing shoppers in [see Retail Window Displays Matter.]

I love the glimpse of the 1880s retail world that Emile Zola describes in  The Ladies' Paradise where a personal shopper escorts every shopper throughout the store. Nowadays, that's more of a high-end or specialty approach to retail.

Apple has used The Apple Store concept to address problems associated with its product category. Do other similar examples come to mind?

What changes have you noticed in retail? Which ones seem most effective? Which ones least?

If you weren't constrained by energy management or other paradigms, how would you go about reinventing retail?

I'd love to hear!

The Changing Customer Retail Experience. Data Vs. Insights

No surprise, the Customer Retail Experience is changing. It's due to technology, the economy and also the consumer. From what I can tell, the change is exciting. However, like all change, it's also disruptive and disconcerting. Will you join me as I explore some of these changes? I'd love to hear your perspectives.

First topic to explore: data.

More specifically customer retail data and how to glean customer retail insights from the data.

After all, there's a ton of data available nowadays.

How do you use all of that data?  How do you make consumer meaning from it? How do you interpret point-of-sale measures to determine how customers behave in-store?

It's a question asked of 4 retail experts in a discussion about retail trends and shopper marketing in DDI Magazine's March 2010 issue. The article is titled "Minding the customer" by Janet Groeber and includes perspectives from Herb Sorenson, Paco Underhill, Vince Guzzi and Marcie Merriman. The article includes a multitude of other gems worth addressing separately.

Back to data.

The question about retail data had me thinking intensely about data vs. information and insight. And about what sales data don't tell us, particularly about customer behavior in-store.

If I think through some of my shopping expeditions and the ones where I opt for self-service vs. live service, I guarantee that no retail executive can understand why I choose one over the other simply based on my sales data.  I bet it's the same for you.

Marcie Merriman explains "this data can't tell the retailer why things are working without elaborate testing, which still may not provide accurate or definitive feedback."

Paco Underhill says "Gathering data is easy, but figuring out what it means often requires going into the field." He should know. For perspective on that, read In Bid to Sway Sales, Cameras Track Shoppers from The New York Times.

What's your take on data vs. insights and the changing retail experience?

How often do you find yourselves going into the field and spending time in-store watching what actually happens so you have better context for interpreting the mounds of data? And, when you do, don't you emerge filled with ideas and insights?


[P.S.: This question also reminded me of my Surfaces 2008 Presentation: What Your Register Tape Doesn't Tell You.]

Surfaces 09 - Retail Experience Seminar

Will you be attending Surfaces 2009, which takes place February 3 through 5, 2009 in Las Vegas? If yes, consider participating in the educational sessions which focus on the future of floor covering. In fact, I'd love for you to attend my retail experience seminar titled "Your Customer's Experience: How Much Is It Costing You?" It takes place Wednesday, February 4 from 4pm to 5:30pm in the Sands Convention Center.

I guarantee that you will bring something actionable back home from the session. Despite the economic environment - actually, because of it - your customer's retail experience matters now more than ever. If you don't believe me, step back and observe yourself as consumer. You may not be purchasing right now, but you most certainly are considering and researching and making decisions. I bet your decisions are 'negative' decisions. In other words, you are scratching resources off your list. You are narrowing the choices of those you will patronize and doing so based on the ease of your interactions and the overall quality of your experience.

Andy Sernovitz, in Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, says that You [i.e., your brand, your store, your service] are the User Experience. Paco Underhill says "amenability and profitability are inextricably linked." I see the two statements as totally relevant to today's retail experience.

Think about it. How convenient and enjoyable you are affects the experience your customers have interacting with you. You are the user experience. Your user experience affects your profitability and the success of your business.

In addition to looking at trends affecting the marketplace [for example, marketing to women, trading up and ageless marketing], we'll examine the retail experience and how to improve it [think Paco Underhill type observations], and review examples of retailers doing it right - including flooring retailers!

What I'm particularly excited about is that I'll be weaving social media into the discussion. After all, social media allows you to extend the customer's experience beyond the physical store as well as engage the community and offer added value. It allows your traditional marketing tools to work that much more efficiently.

[I've also found a wealth of articles referring to the criticality of focusing on customer service, empowered consumers and the customer experience. To be detailed here soon.]

If you have successful examples you'd like to share, I would be delighted to highlight them during the presentation as well as include them here in a followup post.

Also, don't forget to attend the Flooring Industry Wake-Up Call panel discussion general sessions on February 3rd.

I look forward to seeing you then!

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Next Issue: Dizzying Choices

"Wide Selection of Food and Fresh Fruit" originally uploaded by ecteam.
As you know, My Mom Is In the Market for Carpet. Although she has postponed making decisions, it's not that she hasn't tried. Each time, though, she was overwhelmed with the choices available and simply walked out.

For my Mom -and for so many women consumers in North America - when shopping for carpet the choices are dizzying and difficult to understand/visualize.

Selecting product wasn't any easier this time especially with the aggravation of my Mom's sales guy. If it hadn't been for my Sister, she would certainly have walked out again.

I spoke to my Mom shortly after this visit -- you should have heard how she enjoyed sharing the gory details of her encounter with her sales guy [i.e, remember from I Can't Get No Satisfaction how powerful negative word-of-mouth is?]. But, she also talked at length about the dizzying array of products and how difficult it was to visualize how product would look in her home. How could anyone in their right mind expect a consumer -even one with glasses- to make a significant decision for their home based on a postage-sized carpet sample? Good question! Now, granted, she did have larger samples to look at in a generic color, but most of the interesting color choices were only available in small swatches.

"Why is it," she asked "that in this day and age of sophisticated technology there can't be an easier way?" She proceeded to describe to me her vision for a solution.

Eerily, it matched something I had just experienced at NEOCON in the Bentley Prince Street Showroom called the "Zoom Room" - an "innovative simulation technology system... Developed by Tricycle, this 3D visualization tool provides customers with instantaneous life-sized recreations of custom color carpet products in an actual room environment." Can you imagine how that would have revolutionized my Mom's experience? Can you imagine how she would have talked about this tool to ALL of her friends? What a source of buzz! of fun word-of-mouth!

The Zoom Room led me immediately to another NEOCON inspired experience also made possible by Tricycle [check out the Tricycle blog about "sustainable design in the interiors industry, especially carpet."] I learned about this during a fascinating panel discussion titled "Hybrid Carpet. Cut/Loop Cars." that my company's Ultron carpet fiber division sponsored about 'dematerializing the creative process'. In other words, make the creative process more virtual, use fewer precious resources, and come up with the right solution faster and more efficiently.

What if my Mom could have brought home some large size simulated paper samples of her carpet choices, in the right colors, that she didn't need to sign her life away for or have to return in 48 hours? This is what Nood now offers the commercial world. Kimberly Gavin in the July 3/10, 2006 issue of Floor Covering Weekly in an article titled "Newcomer: Nood is the un-carpet company" describes the company as the "un-mill" and explains that "the supplier aims to dematerialize the commercial carpet process".

Not only are there huge environmental benefits -which Kimberly Gavin details in another FCW article titled "Tricycle sampling saves time, resources" in the August 21/28, 2006 issue- , but for consumers - like my Mom - imagine offering them a large sized, user-friendly, realistic sample that could actually help with the purchase decision. For now, these options are for the commercial rather than the consumer world, but imagine the possibilities!

The lesson from this: figure out how make it easy for your customers to visualize owning your products. In "Why We Buy" [see Recommended Reading/Retail Trends on right hand sidebar of Flooring The Consumer ], Paco Underhill explains that shopping is about seduction - helping the consumer experience the merchandise in their possession before buying it, helping them become emotionally involved in the choices you offer. So, if you don't figure out a way to make that painless, and ideally enjoyable, then you will prevent your consumer from buying from you. Is that what you want?

Tags: Tricycle, Bentley Prince Street, Nood, Zoom Room, carpet, Paco Underhill, Neocon, Ultron, retail experience