How Can the Retail World Best Manage the Smart Customer ?

In the heady world of economics there is the conceptual idea of a “Perfect Market” wherein the buyer and the seller have equal knowledge. In some commodity markets both the buyer and the seller know the status of the supply situation, the specification of the product and the costs of distribution. Therefore the negotiation settles very quickly to price being the only differentiator.

Enter the internet and the tools to access it anywhere at any time. ” Smart” is a word being attached to many things at present, telephones, televisions, tablets and here and now to the customer.

 So what is a Smart Customer? In the past gaining access to knowledge could be tedious and time consuming and subject to potential distortion from the less scrupulous members of the selling fraternity. Today knowledge is freely available, technology gives the smart customer the capability of researching not only an organisation’s product and services, not only the same information about their competitor’s products, not only the various channels available but also and, increasingly influential, the experience of others who have already made a purchase.

Is technology creating a paradigm shift  in customer behaviour? New descriptor terminology is an indicator that customers for the well-established growth in online sales are increasingly using offline as a part of their research process. Terms like “ROBO”– Research Offline Buy Online - some research suggesting that 28% of customers already do this to compare prices once the product selection is made, “Showrooming” where customers use barcode reader apps and  on smart phones to check prices and local availability where some research suggests that up to 47% of customers shopping for clothes scan barcodes in store. Even if that number is greatly exaggerated it still indicates an interesting trend. Free apps like “ShopSavvy” seek out best prices  and “Smoopa” also links customers with fellow shoppers to  bring greater power to the consumer. No wonder the Wall Street Journal states “Bargain hunters have never had it so good”

So what could that mean for customer service ? Clearly it raises a number of issues at various levels.

At a strategic level does it means that shops become showrooms where customers go to satisfy the touch and feel of products and then buy online? That is clearly not a sustainable independent retail model. So will brand and price become the key drivers, and if so will manufacturers where touch and feel are important inly creasing become “showroom” operators? What would that mean for the size, stockholding and layout of such premises and what service skills would the people require?

At a brand level will the communication of product or service benefits shown in comparison to competitive products become a bigger trend and will honesty become the last great gimmick in marketing. How will price point decisions be managed and how can service quality influence brand loyalty?

At the face to face customer service level where the customer may well be expected to have a high degree of knowledge of competitive options how can service quality be used to intervene in the buying process? Do customer service staff need a wider range of skills that embrace not only product knowledge but greater skills at qualifying customers’ needs? After all if the customer is managing their own buying process which does not involve retailers staff then ways of getting staff involved and engaged may need to be re-thought. Is the time approaching where sales and service skills need greater integration?

After all the term “Shop Assistant” has been around for 100 years perhaps it is time to ask “Assisting the customer to do what?”

Philip Forrest