Inconvenience Store
Covid Beard
Like many guys, I decided to grow my beard during Covid and see how long it would grow. It grew for a while and then just went wild. And with my crazy hair, well, I looked like the Unabomber and frankly, it wasn't a flattering look.
So I went off to buy my first electric razor in decades. Stopped into a major retailer and discovered that the case where they kept the electric razors was locked and I needed to find the person with the key to open it. I finally did that but they were helping lots of other folks, so it wasn't the relaxed, educated, shopping experience I wanted.
Yep, we've all been there. Looking for something we need in a store and when we finally find what we're looking for, it's locked up in a case. You push the button and wait and at some point while you wait, you'll have to decide if you keep waiting or just order from Amazon. That's a forced error on the part of the retailer.
A recent article in Axios, Shoplifting deterrents drive down sales, shows how this trend is hurting physical stores.
According to GlobalData retail analyst Neil Saunders - The inconvenience of locked cases — and having to find an employee to open them — end up driving customers to shop online. (Full article)
Grab & go technology is a great answer to this dilemma and as we do here at the Lab, we're developing a full range of solutions for both coolers and ambient set-ups. If you're interested in learning more, please reach out to Paul or Jim and they can give you all the details and arrange a visit to see our solutions yourself! And yes, I did have a beard that made me look like Santa!
This is just one example of the current state of convenience stores, something we've all experienced.
In today's e-commerce world, creating the best in-store experience isn't just a nice to have, it is critical to success.