You've got an exhausting workday behind you, your stomach is rumbling and the children are tired. You get off work, swinging by the day care and the grocery shop on the way home. You end up buying what you always buy. What's written on the shopping list attached to the refrigerator door. You just want to quickly find the products you're looking for, get good value for your money, pay up and be on your way.
Sound familiar? This is how we think as consumers. As marketers, we often end up thinking that getting to pack the entire family in the car and go shopping at the local Happy Market is the absolute highlight of Mr and Mrs Möttönen's day.
We end up thinking that consumers are first and foremost interested in what marketing messages we are telling them in different interfaces at the shop. But do consumers actually care how beautiful the in-store poster that tells them how cheap bananas are here compared to the shop next door is? Are customers willing to go through the trouble of scouring the shop searching for our new products?
What if we were to ask the customers what they think are the most important factors for a successful shopping experience? Or if we asked ourselves as consumers? When it comes to everyday shopping, most customers appreciate the ease of finding products and convenient service most of all. The fact is that we speed past most marketing materials without paying much attention, and there isn't much variation in the everyday contents of our shopping baskets, with new products seldom finding their way into them.
But what could we do to improve the typical shopping experience? Personally, I'd like to receive information about offers and new products in the form of communications tailored to me and my needs. I'd like to be able to use my mobile device to pull up a map of whatever shop I'm in and use it to quickly see where the products I'm looking for are located. I'd like to receive convenient messages on my mobile device about new products or surprise offers along my path while I'm walking inside the shop. I'd like to be able to pack my purchases into an environmentally friendly, re-usable shopping bag and leave the shop without having to conduct a separate payment transaction. For a start, that is.
But wait, this is all possible already! In fact there are many places in the world where this is how things work already. So why are we lagging behind here in Finland? Isn't it time we stop being mere passengers, and instead take control and start improving customer satisfaction by developing a better customer experience, thus achieving what we're really striving for – increased sales?
If you need help with your in-store marketing, we'd be happy to help! Let's take control together.
