Lauren Freedman: The Transformation of the Customer

Guest Blogger: Lauren Freedman, President, the e-tailing group

Are merchants listening?

Don’t Kid yourself. The multi-channel customer is savvy and while they used to say buyer beware, the customer in many ways has turned the tables and merchants must pay attention. We recently participated in fielding a survey of 2500 consumers entitled “The Multi-Channel Shopping Transformation Study.” The most interesting aspect of the survey to me was the open-ended question that asked consumers to identify their best and worst multi-channel shopping experiences. The consumer’s passion and zeal for e-commerce indicates how important e-commerce is in their everyday lives. More importantly though is how they have learned the landscape, knowing where and how to find the deals, clip the coupons, strategically scouring the web. Their expectations for the customer experience are high, their demand for consistency among channels universal and their clamor for exceptional customer service a requirement not an option. When all goes well, the web as a channel is unbeatable, but exceptions and errors are not always resolved as they should be to maintain and upgrade current satisfaction levels.

The Customer Speaks

Merchants should be listening to the voice of the consumer, factoring in their words of wisdom and thinking about optimal yet profitable ways to evolve their cross-channel experience. When asked to speak about the best and worst of multi-channel shopping, I find that the words of the consumer offer the best lesson for exemplary cross-channel selling. Whether favorable or frustrating, they come direct from your customers and certainly they’re worth hearing out.

I LOVE THE WEB AND WHY

• “I feel like I get better deals and do not have to deal with pushy salespeople.”
• “I have used the Internet to comparison shop on everything from automobiles to televisions and then I use my knowledge to make an educated purchase at the store of my choice”
• “I love being able to check for store availability-no more running from store to store to check pricing and availability.”
• “I love shopping online-no waiting in line and customer service at the store is mostly
horrible.”
• “I mainly search online for product reviews and information-and then I go to the store to
buy it.”

IT’S ABOUT THE DEAL, STUPID

• “I was able to pit online pricing against the store’s pricing to get the best of both. I got the Internet price match and the convenience of getting the item right then.”
• I end up with choice: higher price + no shipping/handling fees + get it now or lower price + s/h + wait time from the SAME store. I have viewed things online before but didn’t purchase only because shipping was so expensive; other than that shopping online is very convenient and very easy.”
• “Browsed an online catalog, found item I wanted at a third of the price and ordered. Item came in just two days and also had a free unexpected gift enclosed and detailed instructions on how to make returns (which we didn’t do since it was just what we were looking for)”
• “I found several books at a bookstore, wrote down the titles; online I was able to buy 6 books for less than what 2 would have cost me at the mall.”
• “Being able to use a coupon code is great and free shipping is always a bonus.”

CROSS-CHANNEL CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

• “Get email about a great sale only to attempt to make the purchase and find out that they are out of stock the same day as sale.”
• “Ordered online from a mass merchant, returned to the store-they acted like it had never been done before, even the supervisor was confused and had to call their corporate office to figure it out…then it did not take long to get the situation straight.”
• “The salesperson assisted me ordering what I wanted online using a computer in the store-I was able to get the sale price and have the item sent to my home.”
• “I printed out the registry of a friend and went to the store to purchase something but found that the few things I wanted to get were not available at the store.”

Customers are Talking

Today’s customer understands how to manipulate multi-channel shopping to their advantage and as our survey reports online satisfaction rates are high at 87% versus the store channel’s rating of 72%. The convenience afforded by the Internet is well documented where surgical shoppers are typical (90% of those surveyed) and impulse shoppers still looking to be satisfied in the web’s browser-challenged world. The reality of the web is that it’s role as an influencer is growing as when asked, “how frequently do you shop in the following ways?,” 37% of those surveyed indicated that they browsed a website then bought in store, while 60% received a coupon then bought in store. The online newspaper circular sent 34% of folks to the store to make a purchase while the receipt of a catalog led to an online purchase for 36% of individuals and an in-store shopping trip just 25% of the time. This behavior alone indicates the influence of channels and tools for these shoppers where their intertwined natures suggests that merchants take an even more “holistic” approach to the channels, while still leveraging each for the opportunity that it truly affords.

Consumer expectations are high and savvy shoppers see the reality of the searching for deals online desiring free shipping wherever opportunities lie. The web today is used as a price checker, an inventory look up tool, a deal seeker, and a side by side channel comparison vehicle where all roads optimally lead to price and time-savings and ideally both. Products should be in stock and priced smart with channel consistency to meet the needs of these customers. Try to surprise and delight the shopper because it’s still shopping and experiences are remembered long after the price is forgotten.

ARE YOU LISTENING?

Lauren Freedman
President, the e-tailing group

In 1994, Lauren Freedman leveraged her 15 year retail and catalog career and passion for merchandising to found the e-tailing group, inc. The firm’s mission was, and continues to be, providing strategic and e-commerce solutions to online merchants as well as businesses targeting that market.

An extensive client list has included Fortune 500s and start-ups. From involvement with the initial launch of sites like Toys “R” Us, The Vitamin Shoppe and Kodak to specific initiatives for clients including Scholastic, J.Jill, Orbitz, USA Today, CTW and MSN, her role becomes Strategist, Merchant, Facilitator, Educator and Spokesperson.

As a veteran and visionary within both the Retailing and the Internet industries, Freedman is a frequent resource to the trade and business press and her speaking engagements have spanned the globe. Freedman most recently completed her first book, It’s Just Shopping, which provides a comprehensive; behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of multi_channel selling. The book served as the basis for her foray into teaching at Chicago’s Roosevelt University, where she was nominated for Most Valuable Teacher award in 2003.

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