Shopping is still one of the premier leisure activities, which means customers want less frustration and more ease at every step of their journey.
In retail, complexity means frustration and even if your background processes and systems are complex, everything the customers sees and interacts with should be about ease, simplicity, and excitement.
The most successful modern retailers are the ones who have two key attributes:
- A clear proposition
- An easy checkout process
The reason? Shoppers like to browse, and capturing their attention for long enough to convert eyeballs in to sales is becoming an increasingly difficult task.
If the proposition isn’t clear, customers don’t know what they can expect from you, and you can’t be certain they will engage for long enough to find out. In a world of choice, complexity often comes from having to make too many decisions.
If the checkout process is lengthy and full of hurdles, they will go elsewhere because there is almost always an adequate alternative that’s only a click away.
The solution is to innovate by going back to basics and making simplicity the cornerstone of your strategy, much like Apple, Amazon, and IKEA who all deliver on their promises and make shopping with them easy and predictable.
How can you do the same for your brand?
- Know what your customers want, and deliver it to them in as few steps as possible. Go through your process and ask yourself if there is anything you could change to make it easier.
- Keep your range simple and logical; trying to be everything to everyone never works
- Make sure products are available when the customer needs them by streamlining your logistics
- Go above and beyond by adding in extras, discount codes, or giving loyal customers access to a private community with added shopping benefits
- Be predictable. This is an underrated tactic that many retailers could benefit from. There is a difference between introducing new innovative products that surprise and delight existing customers and adding in newness for the sake of it when it doesn’t fit your brand story.
Life is busy, which means customers increasingly being drawn to simple solutions which are easier to fit in to their lives.
Ask yourself how can you innovate through simplification.
Do you need help to innovate? Is your business facing challenges?
Whatever area you’re looking to shake up, I can help you build your ideas in to your business in a way that makes operational sense.
Here’s how:
- Sign up to my FREE weekly newsletter “In The Loop” and I’ll send you practical strategy advice (no fluff here), case studies, and all the resources you need to know about to keep your business ahead of the competition.
- Sign up to my Business Health Check and I’ll analyse your business as it is, and identify where you could grow or change before problems arise.
- Sign up to my Strategy Intensive and I’ll help you create a business strategy that captures your goals and turns them in to an actionable strategy that will give you the confidence and clarity to move forward with ease.
- Contact me for other services including competitor analysis and market research.
Timing matters, so don’t take your eye off the ball.
“Let’s collaborate, I’d love to help you innovate.”