A stat from a recent study from Oracle says that one third of consumers will not shop a brand again if they have one bad experience. That’s a lot of pressure. And it points to the amount of choice shoppers have today.
Retailers haven’t evolved as fast as consumers, particularly in apparel and footwear. As important as it is to have the right product and prices, shoppers require a shopping experience that’s simple, easy and foolproof. Beyond free shipping and returns, the industry must adopt tools that pair goods with consumers’ specific tastes, enable them to try pieces before they buy and eliminate the need for them to even reach for their wallets. It all sounds easy in theory, but it becomes difficult in practice.
In our Friction-Free and Foolproof webinar, Jeff Silverman, president, Steve Madden Global E-commerce and Justin Kerzner, president & co-founder, Naked Retail Group, discuss how to make shopping easy and engaging.
Silverman on why consistency matters to a consumer who is all about convenience:
“If they go online and they want to pick [their order] up in store, then that website needs to be able to show them it’s in the store in order to avoid inconvenience for the customer [like] buying something they thought they could get but became unavailable. That’s something that they won’t put up with if it happens on a frequent basis, which means that the wish and hope of real-time inventory is something retailers need to work very hard at. It’s a real issue to know that that inventory is really available.”
Kerzner on the value of face-to-face interactions:
“Finding great staff is really challenging and educating is really hard to do. One of the things that we do a pretty good job with is motivating and most importantly simplifying. To begin with, we focus on the bare bones of a brand because it’s almost like going back to school every time a new brand comes into the store. We start with [answering] what’s special about the brand, what it is, who founded it, why and how it is different. That covers a good portion of the knowledge that a consumer needs to appreciate it. Beyond that, it’s going above and beyond and incentivizing the team correctly and helping the customer appreciate the experience. A lot of it is just being friendly.”
Watch the webinar to hear how Steve Madden makes the mobile experience as easy as possible and why simply adding an alternative payment method has really paid off. Kerzner will also share how to beat the retail doldrums and the simple in-store experience Naked Retail offers that creates the most buzz.