My how we have come a long way since I first began in Retail,
goodness that was over 20 years ago!
Back then we had no internet, comparison shopping was walking down
main street, or the emerging shopping malls.
Social Commerce was listening to what your friends had said about a
product or store, and whatever the store had information on.
Social Media was trying to remember what I had to do or had forgotten
to do that day, and only had myself to blame!
Taking photos in a retail store was…. well a big NO NO!! I remember
working in a well known Entertainment store and we had created some
great instore displays. So much so that we attracted a small hoard of
avid fans that had come to see our media creation… (Social Media there
was the original - a txt message) so when the kids arrived and started
to take pictures, to my surprise and horror - they were told to stop or
they would be asked to leave the store. There even was a sign that
stated no photography allowed in our store!!
The fundamental reason why our “footfall” had just increased was our
own “marketing” method of creating something unique, inspiring and
created by the same passion, that drove the kids to our store - a love
for the product that we were selling… How crushing then to slam the door
of opportunity by alienating these people, fans, collectors or
enthusiasts by telling them that they can not take a simple picture of
the display!! Subsequently, our “conversion” rate of our footfall
dropped that week as we drove away those very same fans that would end
up buying the product.
By the same token, there was spying on your competition, we all do
it, but back then, it was subversive, where we would sneak some pictures
of their latest marketing designs, or new store layout, to report back
to our HQ team what they had done. Of course, the fear of getting caught
was both enthralling, as well as… well a bit cheap!
Fast forward to 2010 - and there are more and more apps appearing now
where you scan a barcode, take a picture of a cover (see Google’s
latest announcement http://tinyurl.com/madmans-tumblr1)
to get the best price, availability, or any kind of competitive
edge from the very retailer that you are currently in.
So what happened? At what point did taking photos inside a retail
store suddenly become the norm? At what point did we decide that I like
the look of that book, but instead of buying it, I’m going to spend the
next 10mins snapping, scanning, searching, indexing and browsing through
the best possible results - because I just saved myself $1.01 by
getting it from Amazon!
Well did you really save $1.01? You just traveled into the store
(either on Main Street, Mall etc…) you have gas costs, maybe some lunch
or coffee, you may end up being the victim of some very clever marketing
and have some “impulse purchases” that just cost you $10 for something
that you actually didn’t need but felt compelled to buy!!
I love technology, I love the way that the technology is pushing our
experiences and real time innovation, I love the fact that augmented
reality will give me even closer, more personal recommendations and
information with my immediate surroundings - but sometimes, just
sometimes, you have to wonder how far and how much $$ we’ll go to save a
buck?
Now get out of my store…….