Well, the easier question to answer is to ask "what keeps them away from the store?” Honestly there is very little understanding amongst retailers about the exact reason why consumers stay with a store and why they leave it. Dip stick studies and research has shown that there is little agreement on what the causes are. This is true because, reasons will change from country to country, and profile of consumers.
I can talk in the Indian context, and let me hazard a guess, (hazard is the right word since opinions that are not data driven always have Nay Sayers, even data is never conclusive).
It is my understanding that different categories have different drivers to sales
Basically, there are two relationships that determine what the drivers of sales is-
(1) the Involvement of the mind (read –“thinking” or “mind-set”) and
(2) the frequency of purchase
There is an inverse relationship between the two - Frequency and Involvement.
The Drivers of sales for each category varies, for example
Grocery - High Frequency, Low Involvement - Drivers are - Quality, Location, Price (in that order)
Jewellery - Low Frequency, High involvement - Drivers are - Trust, Price.
Electronics - Low Frequency, High involvement - Drivers are - Price, After Sales Service, Trust, Location.
It can be seen, therefore, that the success factors of each category is quite different. The mistake that some retailers make is in not understanding and applying the basics of Category Management, and trying to apply the success criteria for one category onto another.
A good example is the electronics category. There are many chains today who are majors. But the service levels are very different in each one of them. Some are price-fighters; whilst others believe that they want to play in the Price+Service+Experience segment. Clearly even in Electronics there cannot be uniformity of approach across - to sell an Electric Iron does not require a great amount of assisted selling, but a Cell phone and Video Game takes more (a) time (b) skilled salesmanship to close a deal.
Grocery on the other hand sells on presentation. If it is available then it sells if the quality is right and price is competitive.
So what keeps Consumers coming back? My take.
I can talk in the Indian context, and let me hazard a guess, (hazard is the right word since opinions that are not data driven always have Nay Sayers, even data is never conclusive).
It is my understanding that different categories have different drivers to sales
Basically, there are two relationships that determine what the drivers of sales is-
(1) the Involvement of the mind (read –“thinking” or “mind-set”) and
(2) the frequency of purchase
There is an inverse relationship between the two - Frequency and Involvement.
The Drivers of sales for each category varies, for example
Grocery - High Frequency, Low Involvement - Drivers are - Quality, Location, Price (in that order)
Jewellery - Low Frequency, High involvement - Drivers are - Trust, Price.
Electronics - Low Frequency, High involvement - Drivers are - Price, After Sales Service, Trust, Location.
It can be seen, therefore, that the success factors of each category is quite different. The mistake that some retailers make is in not understanding and applying the basics of Category Management, and trying to apply the success criteria for one category onto another.
A good example is the electronics category. There are many chains today who are majors. But the service levels are very different in each one of them. Some are price-fighters; whilst others believe that they want to play in the Price+Service+Experience segment. Clearly even in Electronics there cannot be uniformity of approach across - to sell an Electric Iron does not require a great amount of assisted selling, but a Cell phone and Video Game takes more (a) time (b) skilled salesmanship to close a deal.
Grocery on the other hand sells on presentation. If it is available then it sells if the quality is right and price is competitive.
So what keeps Consumers coming back? My take.
- Present each category in the store in a manner that accounts for its own success factors. For example, don’t be stingy in putting skilled and trained people in the apparel and furniture section, whereas the dry grocery needs less help in shopping, but the wet grocery (fruits and vegetables) needs assisted selling. Respect the Involvement x Frequency matrix of each category.
- Every category has goods that require special handling- tomatoes, to suits, to cameras. Train and train the staff till they drop!
- The word “marketing-mix” is rarely used in retailing; it should be. It is the sum total of everything that the consumer wants from each category, including the smiling staff.
Hence retailing is about “managing unity in diversity”. The one who understands that wins the consumer; and keeps them coming back. And those who drive their retailing business mainly using their P&L, will forever wonder what they did wrong!