Today let’s keep the blog simple and explore a couple of shopping experiences oh so perfectly aligned to a current retail trend I adore – being uncomplicated.
If your days are like mine, they are filled with constant distractions, lists of things to do, multi-tasking and noise. Against this backdrop, retailers who curate, simplify and refine the buying decision-making process will be successful.
Simply beautiful
The design of Woolworth’s new beauty retail format in Sydney showcases premium hair and beauty brands in a surprising and delightful way for a supermarket. They understand their target market, a harried woman with a to-do list as long as your arm who doesn’t tend to put her own needs first and may only interact with these products during a tiresome weekly grocery shopping trip. Woolworths Beauty is a first; a strategic shift away from grocery’s traditional model of hair and beauty to one that reflects a shopping experience. And what an enjoyable experience it is.
Dedicated consultants at beauty bars offer treatments, tips, advice and samples. LED screens with beauty TV create an integrated, experiential consumer destination.
Recent international research from POPAI (Understanding the role of the Human Shopper 2012) supports the role of interactivity with product in the retail environment:
Touching a product increases the likelihood of sale by 50%
68% of instore purchases are impulse driven
1/3 of those surveyed said seeing a product in-store had more impact on a purchase decision than any other media
Back in NZ I visited a pharmacy recently to take a closer look at their advertised “Genuine Parallel Import” Premium Fragrance offer, only to find that look was all I could do as their testers were behind locked glass. A highly unusual strategy for selling fragrance. Sure, I understand the need to protect product in an environment where theft is a real problem but the tester? The cost of replacing, or having multiple testers for shoppers to touch, smell and try must be far outweighed by the cost of lost sales.
I turned heel and went upstairs to Farmers where I spent a pretty penny on a bottle of Jimmy Choo.
Life’s simple pleasures
Nespresso is the Apple of coffee companies. Modern, minimalist, uncomplicated design with snob appeal which keeps people upgrading. And once you buy a Nespresso machine you are locked in to the exclusive Nespresso ecosystem.
Insisting, quite smartly, on controlling the user experience, Nespresso create the ultimate coffee experience. A little bit of luxury in my day; an experience of perfection, pleasure and simplicity. Very uncomplicated.
I think all retailers would do well to spend more quality time understanding how they are going to provide their point of experiential differentiation so customers feel they have enjoyed a simply divine shopping experience.
