At the moment of purchase a shopping-consumer’s world is all about one SKU, with potential access to all possible alternatives, literally at their fingertips…
Meanwhile, a retailer is coming from a perspective that covers the entire shop’s offering, a world of up to 50,000 SKUs, an expert in selection.
This classic case of depth vs. breadth can be synergistic in that the shopping-consumer can be reassured by the assumption that the retailer, as expert, has surveyed the entire market on their behalf and is now presenting the best offer available. Moreover, the shopper is also taking for granted the implied endorsement i.e. that the product contains ‘what it says on the tin’, especially given the fact that the shopping-consumer may also be making the purchase-decision on behalf of family, etc.
One can only imagine the shopper’s reaction when even a cursory check reveals they have been misled, or even short-changed, either financially, or in terms of what they expected to receive for the money... Moreover, they have a hand-held means of communicating their dis-satisfaction well beyond the walls of the store…
Whereas, if the retailer plays by even the rudimentary rules of consumer marketing, and meets or even exceeds shopper-expectation, they can harness the positive aspects a shopper’s ability to ‘tell a friend’, endorse a purchase and even recommend a visit…
Meanwhile, a retailer is coming from a perspective that covers the entire shop’s offering, a world of up to 50,000 SKUs, an expert in selection.
This classic case of depth vs. breadth can be synergistic in that the shopping-consumer can be reassured by the assumption that the retailer, as expert, has surveyed the entire market on their behalf and is now presenting the best offer available. Moreover, the shopper is also taking for granted the implied endorsement i.e. that the product contains ‘what it says on the tin’, especially given the fact that the shopping-consumer may also be making the purchase-decision on behalf of family, etc.
One can only imagine the shopper’s reaction when even a cursory check reveals they have been misled, or even short-changed, either financially, or in terms of what they expected to receive for the money... Moreover, they have a hand-held means of communicating their dis-satisfaction well beyond the walls of the store…
Whereas, if the retailer plays by even the rudimentary rules of consumer marketing, and meets or even exceeds shopper-expectation, they can harness the positive aspects a shopper’s ability to ‘tell a friend’, endorse a purchase and even recommend a visit…
1 comment:
Hi Brian
Yes, and it can be really easy to do this, since actually expectations of the retailers performance are so low. 17% of shoppers are ‘not satisfied’ with the frequency that promoted products are not in stock when they want to buy them (IGD Shoppertrack survey.
The Easter Egg fiasco this year and the resulting furore shows how far there is to go.
There is millions of pounds to be made by brands from retail relationships simply by understanding how, and where they are going wrong.
Colin Harper MD RetailVitalStatistics
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