Tag Archives: Retail

Purchasing Embarrassing Products

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Self-service is better service. This is especially the case when it comes to self-serve checkouts. Yes, they can reduce labour costs. So too can they ease line congestion. But what is often overlooked is the ability for self-serve checkouts to alleviate the awkwardness felt by purchasing embarrassing products.

Products that may be perceived to be embarrassing include condoms, pregnancy testers and adult magazines. Yet without self-serve checkouts a customer has to rely on a range of coping strategies in order to reduce embarrassment. One such coping strategy is purchasing other “non-embarrassing” products in addition to the embarrassing product/s. Current understanding is that customers do this not to distract the register staff and take away attention from the embarrassing product, but rather to balance out the shopping basket in order to portray, on the whole, a more desirable image.

What is important for managers, however, is knowing just what sort of products a customer typically buys to mitigate the unease. Contrary to what may appear true, these products are chosen with care and not randomly. For instance, a person buying antidiuretic tablets would not choose to combine this purchase with new underwear, as to do so would portray a negative image that would only exacerbate the felt embarrassment. In each context, products need to be neutral in nature. With this knowledge in mind, it is the responsibility of store managers to not only position potentially embarrassing products in more secluded areas where there are few onlookers, but also to position such products in areas where more “normal” products are readily available.

Queuing in Stores

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAQueues. We hate them. Yet lining up has become a reality that we have come to expect when shopping in retail stores. However, there are queues and then there are queues. What happens when stores fail to confine their lines to a reasonable level?

Put simply, customers get PISSED OFF when they are stuck waiting in line! There are few things people hate more than having their time wasted. Yet what is particularly fascinating about queuing is that it is the last thing that customers do before exiting the store, and therefore queues strongly influences a customer’s last impression. So it is bemusing that companies often focus so heavily on customer service interactions within the store only to have all the good work undone in a clogged up line.

There are two simple solutions. The first is to actually invest more heavily in resources to reduce queue sizes. However, sometimes, especially in peak periods, large queues are inevitable. This leads to the second simple solution: if customers do not like queues because they feel like their time is being wasted, then find a way to occupy customers’ time whilst they queue. Avoid having customers staring blankly at the person in front of them, occasionally looking up to assess the speed of the current transaction being put through at the counter. Just like waiting for the kettle to boil or watching a clock tick, everything becomes SLOWER! Instead, here are a few tips to keep customers satisfied.

  1. TVS. Choose channels less reliant on sound. Sport is a good option
  2. Display “novel” products near the counter that capture attention. Not only will customers have the perception that they are still shopping rather than being stuck in line, but the store may just sell more too!
  3. Provide water- It costs next to nothing to purchase water dispensers, so why do stores not provide free water to their customers?
  4. Talk! So long as staff are available, talk to customers as they are lining up. The power of conversation as a distraction should not be underestimated.