The consumer purchase path today is a Byzantine maze of web research, social media scouting and, with a little luck, a store visit or two, the latter often coming toward the close of the process. A retailer’s failure to deliver value at any point along that path is likely to result in its removal from the consumer’s consideration set.
A brief sidenote here, in this instance “value” is independent of price. It is instead the ability to provide information, insight or inspiration … to make the process more enjoyable, simpler or more productive. In fact, delivering exceptional value during the consideration and evaluation process often makes the consumer willing to spend more, not less.
Conversely, if at any point consumers determine that their time is being wasted, that they can accomplish the purchase without the retailer’s assistance, the journey will continue, but the retailer’s involvement will not.
This point was driven home with stark clarity recently during my own purchase journey. My wife and I are shopping for a new range to replace one that’s seen better days. It is our preference, whenever possible, to shop local and to shop brick and mortar.
With that in mind we began the process of scouting reviews, checking websites and narrowing down our options. On a side trip to the local big box home center, we took the opportunity to see a few models in person to check their fit and finish. However, our intent was to close the sale in a local appliance specialist.
Our first effort was unsuccessful as the store closes every day at 5:30, and normal working hours prohibit shopping earlier than that during the week. We set aside time the following Saturday during business hours and ventured into the store, a remarkably small location with an even smaller selection.
After shopping for quite a while unattended, we were able to locate a salesperson who redirected our questions around brand reliability and instead told us for which brands it was easiest to get repair parts. Coincidentally, they were the models on the floor. That’s concerning on two counts. One, the reliability question was about minimizing or avoiding repairs, and two, if the models on your floor are the easiest to get repaired, the implication is they often need repair.
We asked if there was a larger selection we could view since none of the three models on display fit our needs. And this is where the sale was irretrievably lost.
He said, “We have a lot of models to choose from on the website. You can just look for whatever you want there.”
“So, we should shop the website and place the order there?” I asked, trying to give him a chance to provide anything resembling service or assistance.
“Well, after you pick what you want, you can call me, and I can place the order for you,” he replied handing us his card.
The result is we will make the purchase online not in a local store. It didn’t have to be that way. But if there’s no selection, no service and we need to go to the website to buy anyway, there’s no reason to go to the store. Hopefully, that would never happen in a furniture store. Would it?