James Tenser

The Shopping Experience Gets a Tech-Up

August 27, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Consumers don't like shopping in stores as much as they once did and that's a problem for retailers with most of their dollars invested in brick and mortar outlets. What do you think are the biggest factors leading to consumers' unhappiness shopping in stores?      [more...]

It's not the technology. It's the practice.
It's not the employee training. It's the practice!
It's not even the hiring practices much of the time. It's the PRACTICE!

In-store technology should not be a primary feature of retail interaction. It should be an enabler of a superior merchandising practice and shopping experience--define "superior" in the terms that shoppers tell us.

In my opinion, most technology should operate smoothly behind the scenes to make merchandising more dependable and accurate, staff more competent and shoppers more consistently successful.

Yes, a few clever devices have their place in some retail environments. Magic mirrors work great at makeup counters and in eyeglass shops. Smart phones can come in handy for shoppers who want to do their own competitive price checks on high-consideration items. Mobile devices can help improve merchandising performance and enable associates to access helpful information for shoppers.

Ultimately though, in retail it's the practice that counts. The technology is just something our associates use to make it happen better, like pens and paper, telephones and vacuum cleaners and deodorant.