By Steve Rowen, Partner
7/8/2008
Our respondents to this year’s Customer-Centric Store Survey were clear: they recognize the need to offer more customer-centric initiatives, and their store-floor associates are a significant component to such initiatives' success. In direct excerpt, “On the one hand, (Winning Retailers) focus on empowering employees with tools and technologies to improve customer interactions, and on the other, they provide customer-facing touch points to allow for self-service alternatives. Most retailers miss a very important opportunity however –arming their store managers with information on the selling floor.”
This week, Macy’s further proved that the message has not fallen on deaf ears. The once-struggling department store retailer has, through a steady succession of brilliant technology-enabled moves, begun to turn its course to that of a truly Winning Retailer: one from which we can all learn. Although the change is far from complete, its move to differentiate itself and create a degree of "one stop shopping" is something we have not seen in a department store for quite some time.
This latest maneuver involves a more significant migration toward automated retail. Cloud computing? Not quite. But in our opinion, just as cool.
Macy’s will outfit at least 250 more stores with e-Spots: in-store kiosks dedicated to selling branded consumer electronic items without requiring a (knowledgeable or otherwise) store associate to assist in the purchase.
Here’s how it works. The kiosks are manufactured (and sales are tracked) by San Francisco-based Zoomsystems. Once at the kiosk, customers use a touch screen to shop for products in an interface similar to eChannel shopping. Once selected, they swipe their credit card, and a robotic arm (ala penny arcade) selects and dispenses the product.
Macy’s has been running a pilot of the e-Spot program in 180 stores during the past two years, and its decision to continue the rollout realizes 400 stores offering the “channel within a channel” by year’s end.
There are a couple of factors that make this story compelling. First, there is the sizeable profit Macy’s envisions. Zoom estimates that the average “vending machine” pulls in $360 a month, while mall retailers average $330 per square foot on average. By way of comparison, Zoomshops claim to provide between $3,000 and $10,000 per square foot in mall-based locations.
But just as important, the decision shows that Macy’s understands its customers – and its core competencies. Why wouldn’t a consumer want to purchase a new iPod for the gym that color coordinates to the workout clothes, travel bag, and coat she just purchased? And why wouldn’t she want to buy it in a simple and entertaining fashion? But would a Macy’s employee be the best person to answer questions she has regarding the differences between the 2GB Shuffle at $69 and the 4GB Nano at $149?
By offering a (slightly whimsical) self-service kiosk to its customers, Macy’s clearly understands the answer to this last question as “no,” and that to dedicate consumer electronics training to its staff would be an inefficient use of resources. The move is a clever way to enhance product mix, while greatly reducing the risk of “shifting gears.” Perhaps the retailer will gain more market share of consumer electronics from impulse buys, but it won’t ask its employees to play where they can’t. And that’s what true Customer-Centric Store thinking is all about.
|
