The Biddle Blog

Read this article this morning, found the link in my Garden Center Magazine ezine: Four Keys to Surviving the Future of Retail

So, is retail REALLY changing? The basic fact that the end goal of retail involves a monetary transaction for goods or services shall remain static (IMHO)…but where and how that transaction takes place surely is. And why is it changing? I feel it’s mostly generational. The Boomers changed retail completely as they came of age, started families, as their families grew, and as they have begun to retire from the workforce. The shift from department stores, hardware stores, drug stores and grocery stores to shopping malls and strip malls where all could be found is all relative to the way the Boomers prefered to shop at any given point as well as where they chose to live. In addition to the retail store itself, the Boomers and their buying habits dictated what types of products were available and sold well.

At some point, the changeover to Big Box Retail happened. Since I recall being in my early 20′s when the WalMarts started poping up around these parts, I guess as a GenXer I have to shoulder some of the responsibility…but the transition couldn’t have happened without the Boomers and their then fortysomething wealth driving the market. Big Box Retail changed EVERYTHING. I don’t need to tell you that, do I? Nope, you’ve lived it. I can’t pinpoint the reason the planet went Big Box perfectly, but I think it has a lot to do with a shortage of personal time and a quest for the ultimate shopping convenience. Think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s Veruca Salt and her lovely ‘I want it NOOOOWWW!’ song.

Then came the internet. The day I received the hard to find novel I ordered at Amazon in 1996 was one of the best days of my life. Before the internet, I would have had to drive 50 miles in any given direction and hope the bookstore would have what I wanted. If they didn’t, it was back home and 50 miles the next day somewhere else. Usually, I came home empty handed and dissapointed. Gen X embraced the internet en masse first, and though the Boomers got on board it took quite a bit longer. Gen Y…most of them really can’t wrap their minds around a world without the internet, or texting, or iPods, iPhones, or iPads. The internet evolved over a decade into real time, on demand everything, and as a result retail consumers expect much, much more from a store than just a place to buy something. We expect an EXPERIENCE, one that provides us with additional knowledge of the product we seek, human interaction to make us feel connected with the product and technological innovation (like a video of a product we want to buy, showing how to use it right there in the store) to seal the deal.

So what ARE we looking for? Speaking as a GenX gardener, I expect your store to have a website that contains detailed information about every product you sell in your store. Allow me to buy online at a discount with reasonable shipping costs, and a site to store option would be much appreciated if you’re large enough to do something of the sort. I’d like there to be a coupon for me to use if I decide to come into the store, just a little incentive to get me off the computer chair and come in and see you. I want your store to be organized so I can find what I need right away, because I am busy, busy, busy and am always in a hurry. If it’s not organized (I totally support ecelectic designs, it makes your store YOURS and keeps me interested), I want you to have employees that are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable who can point me where I want to go without having to ask six other employees. Customer service is KING in my book, and if your employees aren’t up to snuff, I am REALLY going to go down the street and give the other guy my money. I also want to be welcomed in your store if I come in just to ask a question and then place my order online. Or not order at all until a point when I’m ready. If you’re flexible and meet my needs and expectations, I will be a loyal customer for years to come.

Consider offering free WiFi, with an area for folks to sit to use their portables even if they have their own connection. An ATM is also helpful, as well as a computer setup to allow browsing of your website in your store. Always remember that most likely, I can order what you sell online at any time without having to leave my house. It’s up to you to give me a reason to come see you!

What kind of products do I want to see? Well, it may be easier to tell you what I DON’T want to see first. Since I’m visiting your store and not a Big Box, I want to see unique, interesting things. I do NOT want to see a store filled with the same things that I saw at the Big Box for a much lower price. Nor do I want to see the same thing I saw at a rival retailer down the road. Find buyers who choose at least a few things that aren’t EVERYWHERE. Your ability to be DIFFERENT is SO IMPORTANT!

I like products that are colorful, useful, and innovative. I like to color match my pruners, my gloves, my watering cans and even my shoes. I’ve been gardening for a long time, and when I’m not gardening I’m doing something techie (like surfing or playing video games) and I want nothing more than to have all my hobbies combined. More tech in the garden, please! If someone could come up with a waterproof, handheld combination garden database, journal, map, and camera…you’d be my hero. How about some customizable solar LED plant markers? Garden hats with iPod speakers/buds built in? Traditional gardening items are still needed and wanted…but if you can make my Hori Hori purple, I’d love it even more than I already do. I’m not a total stickler for the whole Eco movement, but many folks my age are, so you really can’t miss with products that are reused and recycleable. And they want to know what YOUR store is doing to help the movement, so plan accordingly!

Yes, we shop very differently…the only thing I buy in the store without looking at it online first is FOOD. You need to adapt and get online if you haven’t already or you will be left behind. We are also at a turning point with product. The past two years when reveiwing new items Karen and I will say ‘oh, that it so cool we need to add it’ and Lynne will look at us and say ‘why would someone need this?’ There is a disparity there that you need to account for, most certainly. However, the single, most important thing that stands out for GenX shoppers…most of us are darn tired of the whole Big Box experience (and the ‘customer service’ they provide) and prefer to shop online instead…BUT we’re all trying to be ecofriendly and local friendly. We want to shop local and buy local if we’re NOT buying online. We don’t want to go to the mall anymore…we did that enough when we were teenagers, and it’s just more of the same. We want to find new and interesting things we haven’t seen or used before, and it’s up to you to find them. That means this is YOUR TIME TO SHINE! Don’t fear the shift…embrace it instead and you’ll be just find and dandy.

I should mention that here at Dorothy Biddle Service we choose product for the catalog with the intent of making it simple for you find those new and interesting things, while at the same time maintaining a traditional selection of useful, well priced product that all gardening, houseplant and flower arranging enthusiasts always want to buy. And we have a $50 minimum. AND we ship within 24 hours. Really cool stuff from really nice people…who are happy to help you navigate the Retail Road with all its bumps, twists and turns.

-Amy

Share this: