When Retailers Can’t Afford to Be Strategic - ' ' (
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Consider self-checkout. Just like drivers miss true full-service gas stations ("We in the petroleum industry have a great new consumer improvement for you. When you pull into a gas station now, you can get out of the car in the rain and pump your own gas. Pretty exciting, eh?!"), most grocery customers aren't thrilled with slowly scanning and bagging their own purchases.
As I type this in New Jersey, I can report to you that this is one of the few states where self-service is prohibited. Regardless of the reason for the prohibition, it's one of the few reasons to stay here in the Toxic Waste State, although living in a jurisdiction that has its own nationally recognized state stench is certainly worth something.
To be honest, the "full serve" at most New Jersey gas stations is not the "full serve" from years ago, with windshield washing and oil-level checking, but it's something.
The motivation behind grocery self-checkout is mostly to address labor shortages and—depending on who you ask—to reallocate personnel to more labor-intensive services, such as at the deli or bakery. If that truly happens, I guess that would be semi-strategic.
The loyalty cards are also not for the convenience of the customer but are merely attempts to house CRM data for the retailer. (OK, very few retailers actually use it as CRM data, so let's just call it market-basket analysis in aggregate and move on.) To placate the customer, they are typically offered small savings on various items, which often are promotions for consumer goods manufacturers wanted to promote anyway, so even that consumer benefit is also a tactic to make buyers spend more money. *Sigh.*
A less cynical—and arguably more strategic—use of technology comes from our friends at Wal-Mart, who are experimenting with having robots help visually impaired customers.
If it's deployed as initially discussed, this could be a wonderful example of strategic retailing. The expensive robots serve no direct purpose other than to help customers be independent. They're not pushing certain brands of cereal, using their strength to allow the customer to purchase more products or noting what items the customer longs for but hasn't purchased.
No, it's merely helping the customer in a manner that few retailers have the financial wherewithal to offer. But as a consequence, visually impaired consumers—and their friends and relatives—may develop a fondness for Wal-Mart, which could translate into far more additional sales than anything that is more profit-oriented could be. Hence, it's strategic.
Of course, assuming Wal-Mart ends up deploying its R2D2/Hymie (for Get Smart fans) strategy, it would always have the option of indeed getting the robot to push the customer to make certain preferred purchases, in which case that technology would quickly become tactical. Oh, and stupid, too.
Retail Center Editor Evan Schuman has tracked high-tech issues since 1987, has been opinionated long before that and doesn't plan to stop any time soon. He can be reached at Evan_Schuman@ziffdavis.com.
To read earlier retail technology opinion columns from Evan Schuman, please click here.
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