Customer Expectations Start to Push the Edge of Technology Envelope
During the Holiday shopping season, I had an experience that illustrates how much the Web is changing customers’ shopping expectations.
It took place in a department store that has a number of branches in our town. I was standing behind a woman at the cashier station waiting my turn. The woman had scoured the housewares department looking for an advertised special, which was nowhere to be found. Even though the ad had just run, the cashier told her she was pretty sure they were sold out, but she offered to get on the phone to help find one in another store.
The shopper, in total amazement, said, “Get on the phone! You’ve got to be kidding me! I’ve spent 20 minutes looking at everything in this department. I could have done better to look it up on the Internet. Aren’t your stores connected online?” Needless to say, another unhappy shopper left the store.
For many brick and mortar retailers, the investment to do what the shopper expects is enormous. Yet as companies like Circuit City, Best Buy, and JCPenney—to name a few—offer online or phone ordering and in-store pickup, we can see shoppers’ expectations becoming more and more forward thinking—and, in some cases, well ahead of the stores in which they (used to) shop.