How Convenient Is It to Shop in Your Stores? (Do You Really Even Know?)

Here are some ways to objectively assess your convenience rating (from both a shopper and associate point of view).

If sales are holding steady or even growing, you may not realize that your convenience rating is dropping with shoppers and that, at any moment, they may decide you're no longer the best option for them. Every time they come into your store, they're judging you. They're deciding whether it was convenient or not to browse your inventory or buy what they needed. If it wasn't, they may not choose you the next time, even if they spend money with you on this trip or have shopped with you for years. They have tons of choices now to source the goods they want, and price competition is pretty tight. So, now, they're comparison shopping with "convenience" and other experience-based factors at the forefront.

That's why it's so important for you to objectively assess your convenience rating right now.

You must figure out how well you score in their minds, not just transactionally.

"Is it even possible to objectively assess something like this? Wouldn't someone's perception of the shopping experience be subjective, and the data limited to a small sample group, at best? How do we avoid over indexing on a few people's opinions that may not be representative of the broader shopper experience in the market?"

Those are the questions I pondered with Tony DiPaolo from Manhattan Associates recently.

Zebra's latest Global Shopper Study data made it clear customer satisfaction is down this year, so if there was ever a time to critically assess shoppers' experiences in your stores, it's now. You need to figure out why your customers are reporting more friction.

So, I asked Tony how he and his team have worked with retailers to assess the shopping experience, and I like his suggestions:

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What's worked well for you? How have you assessed the convenience of shopping in your stores? Let me know on LinkedIn or send me an email.