A while back I heard a retailer explain that most of the customers that walk through the door usually have two questions:
“Where is the…?”
“Do you have…?”
Yet, the retailer has not executed digital signage that can answer these questions. The ideal place for this digital concierge is in the store’s “landing zone,” or the first 20 feet or so inside the doors. Some retailers prefer to keep this area free from a lot of noise and promotion as a way to allow the customer to decompress and transition from traveling to the store to the experience inside it.
I believe this is the very place where customers expect to be directed. Customers enter and orient themselves with the new surroundings. Those that are short on time do not walk to the back of the store and then ask, “Where is the…?” They would prefer to ask up front and get their shopping finished.
In February, 2009, Herb Sorensen wrote “Deconstructing the Shopping Trip (so far!).” Mr, Sorensen states that these questions are actually an effort by customers to break down barriers erected by the brands and retailers. The two questions he sees (closely related to the two above) are:
Where is the . . ?
Which one of these . . ?
“The first of these plagues the shopper when store layout does not match the shopper’s natural navigational practices and the second when it is unclear which of many options is the right one for the shopper.”
So why is it that retailers have yet to fully embrace this as an opportunity to assist the customer’s path to purchase?
The holiday shopping season is rarely the enjoyable treat we see played out by so many retailers in their holiday campaigns. Instead of jingle-bell laden happy music, fluffy snow, rosy cheeks, and beautiful store employees, we have bad weather, empty shelves, muzak, and employees who would rather hit the local tavern than help the umteenth customer find the batteries. This is a terrific mixture for stress.
This year will be another “make or break” season for some retailers, and they are pulling out all the stops to make sure they don’t push daisies next spring. One plan is not adding employee head count in the store, the part-time seasonal workers that come in to help with the customer traffic rush. This is an easy way to avoid costs.
Providing a solution to the most basic questions a customer has would solve two challenges: It would alleviate stress on the shopper to search and discover the item of choice was out of stock; and it would reduce the stress on an employee to help every single customer that walks through the door, instead focusing on customers that need detailed help. The ideal state finds the navigational interactive device tied to the local POS system to indicate whether an item is still in stock.
Interactive navigation is ideal in situations where customers can shop on their terms, and the holiday shopping season provides no better time to execute this type of digital interactivity.
Maybe that’s why the internet is so attractive for holiday shopping. You can search for something and find it without leaving your comfy chair as the fireplace crackles, the fluffy snow mounts outside your window, and your iPod rattles the ornaments with “Winter Wonderland.”
Paul Flanigan’s passion for the customer experience grew from working in baseball. Most recently, Paul developed, managed, and deployed Best Buy’s in-store network to over 1,000 stores around the world. When he arrived in 2005, he proved the network’s value to the brand, not just in selling the products it played on, but as a customer engagement experience for the entire store. Prior to Best Buy, Paul spent seven years in professional sports, managing video boards and marketing departments for professional and college sports. Paul often speaks at conferences and writes his own blog about digital signage, shopper marketing, and customer experience at Experiate. Having managed content creation, technical deployment, measurement, and business models, Paul’s experience gives him deep insight and a unique perspective on the industry. 
