In his blog post, Create "Choosing" (Not “Shopping”) Experiences in HBR, former Harvard marketing professor John Sviokla explains how retailers can increase their competitive advantage by examining their sales process to find out if they are promoting "choosing" behavior (i.e. buying) or merely generating increased "shopping."
What I thought was most impactful was the idea of “Getting People to Talk.” Products tend to move more quickly when people are talking about them with information exchange consistently serving as a major influencer in decision making.
Stores can facilitate this transfer of knowledge using five simple strategies:
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Provide customers with product samples or “freebies”.
The most obvious and effective example of product samples are eatables/drinkables, but offering anything for free generally leaves a positive perception in consumers' minds. Companies like Costco are the king of sample offers. I walk out of there with way more items than I intended and feel like I had a full three course meal (check out a “The Definitive Guide for Food Grazing (for free) at Costco”). While this may be a little more challenging for other retailers, companies with online channels like LivingSocial offer incentives for customers to share their purchases with peers through the “Me+3” promotion.
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Display a store poster or website banner that shows customers the best seller, a new product offering, or something unique about a product.
When a store gets busy and has a shortage of available employees, providing every customer with a product recommendation is virtually impossible. Having a visual “Best Seller” or “New Product” advertisement helps guide consumers’ decision making and sometimes even sparks interest in products that they had not and otherwise, would not have considered (see “Visual Merchandising Tips and Basics” for ideas).
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Provide staff favorites and recommendations.
I love it when I’m browsing a bookstore (yes some still exist), and I can see which books the staff liked or when a waiter provides me with a firsthand opinion on a good menu item. Why can’t this translate to other retail settings?
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Include product reviews.
Less is more does not apply here! Providing more information for shoppers to reference is always better. Why make me whip out my cell phone to find out how other people feel about the product? Most likely I’ll just lose interest and keep “shopping” instead of actually buying! Depending on the product category, people will engage in varying degrees of information-seeking during the purchase process. For example, purchases that involve a significant investment by the consumer such as electronics or cars frequently prompt consumers to search for feedback from fellow consumers, especially when absent of the security provided by a brick-and-mortar setting. Consumers rely heavily on reviews when shopping online. Pull positive reviews and make them available to the people who are already showing interest in your product.
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Offer suggestions when faced with complex or numerous choices.
For example, when choosing a wine, tell consumers what goes best with certain foods or which ones are from local wineries. Price is not the only factor people evaluate when choosing among different brands/products, but it can be if left with no other factors to consider. I almost always choose the cheapest or highest discount when considering wine choices simply because I have nothing else to go off of (my wife hates this). Having something other than price to help consumers make a better informed decision when faced with so many choices could have a huge effect on profits. Bottom line, when I have no other information other than price, then I am shopping. If I am provided information, then I am choosing, and I may choose a higher priced item or a higher margin product.
