2012: The Year of the “E”
by John Stanley
The Year of the Dragon, the Last Year of the Mayan Calendar, the Year of Aquarius, the Year of Order, the Year of the Personal Brand… 2012 has been given more tags as a year than any other. In my mind, this is the year of the “E.” Many of the business challenges and opportunities that face retailers this year seem to start with the letter “E.”
The “E” Words
If you want to have a successful year, think about the”E” factors below that can help you and your team make a difference in 2012.
1. Enthusiasm. More and more consumers are shopping online. The Christmas of 2011 was the year when online shopping became a normal shopping habit for many consumers. One of the reasons for this shift was that in the eyes of the consumer, many retail shopping journeys had become boring. They would walk into a store and be confronted by sales staff who seemed disinterested in helping them or the products they were selling. The retailers who did have a successful Christmas are the same ones that will have a successful 2012 − they understand that enthusiasm is contagious. If retailers are enthusiastic about dealing with the consumer and the products they sell, this will become infectious and the consumer will start talking about that store to their friends.
2. Experience. This leads onto the next “E” word. The consumer is time poor, and when they do go shopping they are going for the experience. Many of the products we sell can now be purchased a lot easier online. If they are going to come to your store to purchase the product, they are looking for an experience .A memorable journey that they will want to repeat.
3. E-Retailing. Time limitations have become a major problem for our multitasking consumers. They have their favourite brads and stores, and they do not want substitutes. They want to come to your store when they have time for the experience, but when time is limited, they want to go online and order the product from the same store. E-Retailing is now part of the retail mix. The retailers who do not have an E store will start to lose market share.
4. Entertainment. Successful retailing has moved on from just selling “stuff.” The consumer now wants to be entertained. If they have a young family, they also want you to entertain their children. The stores that provide the best all round entertainment will be the ones preferred by the savvy customer. Entertainment needs to be varied; this means working closely with a range of local entertainers to provide a variety of styles of entertainment that are in keeping with what you do and what the consumer will enjoy.
5. Events. This means that to keep the customer coming back, you will need to create events to keep your store “top of mind” in the consumers mind. Event planning based on the seasons and local activities will become crucial. The American retail scene now relies on up to 13 events a year to keep the customer coming back to the shopping mall.
6. Education. Consumers want to learn new skills. The new consumer is a “Do It Yourself” person prepared to experiment. They want to look on you as their local expert who can teach them new skills. Your education program can become a new profit centre for the business. Education can be developed on site and off site using social media to enable the consumer to learn from you at a time that suits them.
7. Expert. Over the last few years the retail scene has become overcrowded; there are too many retailers selling the same thing. The retailers that will take the high ground are those that become the experts in the consumer’s mind. There is only room for one expert in your niche in your community, and this is a position you must focus on obtaining.
8. Evangelist. You need to become the advocate for what you do .Consumers are looking for leaders that are passionate; you need a team of enthusiasts, but as the team leader you need to be the Evangelist and sell the message to your team and to the community. You need to be recognized by the media as the expert, an expert s who is passionate and providing new ideas and solutions and understands the consumer’s challenges.
9. Experiment. In the year of the “E,” you will need to experiment; try new things. The old way will not work; we will all need to find new ways of doing what we used to do. The winners will be open to experiment and to finding ways of creating new journeys for the consumer.
10. Emotion. In January, William Taylor of Harvard Business School gave a talk at the ANLA Clinic in Louisville, Kentucky; he introduced the word Emotion a number of times into his presentation. He talked about the fact that emotion and social contact with your customers are more important than price. To be memorable, you need Passion+ Emotion+ Identity. He mentioned that there was a shortage of businesses that are delighting the consumer, and that retailers need to get a lot more emotional with their consumers if they are to survive the Age of Disruption.
Think about how the above factors can help you develop the year of the “E” and how you can make a difference in the consumer’s mind.
John Stanley of John Stanley Associates provides conference presentations, workshops and consultancy to the retail industry in 30 countries. He can be contacted at john@johnstanley.com.au.
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