Housewares Report: Let Your Customers Help You

A Survey Concept Which Works

Retail sales are running below downward revised forecasts. Only the known elite are meeting previous year's comps. Everyone is struggling. Predictions of inflation are arising, which reduces consumer purchasing power.

Except for energy products, I see little evidence of any real inflation, so long as China behaves, resource relations remain calm, and the Mideast does not explode as did the Balkans.

Sooner or later, America will wise up and develop 100 percent self-sufficiency in oil, gas, nuclear, and other energy products, just as we have in agriculture, food, cars, and planes. By doing so, prospects of future inflation will be greatly lessened.

To Arms, To Arms

Paul Revere and The Sons Of Liberty warned our colonists that the British army was coming. These actions eventually led to American independence and changed the world. Recent articles by this former son of Revere's heritage have focused on the disappearing kitchen and the hockey stick growth charts of out-of-home, quality prepared foods that sharply reduce the need for home food prep products. Other nagging has emphasized the need to find new revenue areas to replace income losses from traditional categories.

Find The Facts

Why do potential customers visit your store? How many buy during that visit and how many leave without making a purchase? Why? What will it take to increase visit purchase sales? What do customers recall a week later regarding their experience in the store? How about their satisfaction with the product(s) bought? Did they find value, or just acquire without value? Were they pleased?

Consultants will recommend doing a customer survey to discover the facts. But what facts? The challenge is to define and clarify questions which you need to ask and from which new information can be derived. You may focus on prices, value, product scope, service, attitudes, reasons to shop, etc. All may be worth asking, either all at once, or over a specific time period.

Most communities have competent market research firms to help you phrase questions and data reliabilities; however, they seldom can suggest the right questions without your more experienced input. Fact: Surveys often present results identical to what the respondents think the surveyor wants to hear. Seek new insights, not confirmation of what you already know.

When customers claim that they would buy more if only your prices were lower, bet that other factors exist. Many times, especially with better/best goods, price is not the determining factor.

How Do We Start?

By Talking to People — In person, face-to-face is the best method to learn. You hear a voice and see manner and demeanor. Ask your patrons if they have a few minutes as you need their help. Chat over a cappuccino and maybe thank them more with a discount off of a future purchase. This info is valuable, so do not be cheap.

By Phone — The next best method is calling directly to the consumer decision maker. Don't be afraid to ask if they can make the decision to buy a $400 cook set by themselves or with family concurrence. Pick out any week and call everyone who bought something during that period. Keep your checklist handy to ensure covering all subjects desired. Establish yourself as the local retailer who needs some help in thinking through tomorrow's business and keep in mind that you are competing with every obnoxious direct seller during this time.

By Mail — Unless people know you, the return rate is low. Two pages of questions are not excessive, especially if you ask the respondent to bring the completed survey to the store and receive a gift or discount on purchase, which should aid returns and also permit a face-to-face opportunity for more discussion.

Subjects To Consider

Location — Neighborhoods and malls change. Customers age. Older America can no longer walk from a crowded parking lot to two hundred stores in a big mall. How accessible to the store is your parking? Is the store easy to find or deep in the "burbs"? Does the area have a known crime rate? Is the parking patrolled? How well lit are areas? If gangs congregate nearby or darkness surrounds the entrance, forget about evening sales and close up.

Attitudes — Customers return because they are made to feel comfortable and appreciated. They wish to be greeted but not trailed, helped when desired, and informed when wanted. Curt or disinterested clerical replies are big turnoffs and probably cause the loss of more sales than higher margins ever have.

How do you reply to stockouts? "Sorry," "Tough luck"? Suggest alternatives?

Turn cartwheels to get that item in two days? Your response defines your store's philosophy. Customers treated carelessly walk away, seldom complain, and bad mouth your store for months.

Product — Your inventory is what you believe your customers want to purchase. How many stockouts do you suffer in a month, a year? Any record kept of this nebulous negative? Sales lost to out-of-stocks on best-sellers are repetitive.

Prevent it, for the loss of one sale will lead to loss of another and you will never know. Do you respond like furniture and promise it in six months or find it today? Don't lose the sale! Is a proper alternative recommended?

How easily are items, categories, and brands found? Are displays clear, neat, helpful, and suggestive of multiple purchases? Can the shopper compare quality, value, and durability?

Service — Poor service is a walkaway. Good service is expected. Superior service surprises and delights, leading to favorable attitudes toward the store. Can you provide spare parts, help in getting them, help in making repairs, provide home delivery for items too bulky to carry or too large to fit in a car? How does that gas grill get home? Who can carry a big set of anodized pots?

Which credit cards do you decline? Have you done a risk/reward analysis to judge the possible lost business? Will you gift wrap during holidays or for that special purchase? Do male shoppers require a different approach than female ones? Do your clerks know your sale pricing?

Ambiance — Too much is made of decor and look. Clean, neat appearance helps sell. Decor is also fixed overhead. Huge businesses are done from garages, warehouses, and elegant settings. Your look should be what you want it to be — casual, friendly, haughty, formal. All work as long as your "look" signal squares with your "attitude" signal. Cartier and the Beverly Hillbillies together does not compute. Plan what you are and act it every day.

Direction — What else would your customers wish to purchase from you, if you made it available? What items might make their lives easier if you carried them?

What products do they presently have difficulty obtaining or are poorly serviced? What do their friends think? You are a retailer, which means you sell products made by someone else or provide services for certain activities. What else might you be doing?

Summary

The buggy whip, abacus, and comptometer sellers possibly asked the wrong questions. Not what color or what price. They might have asked, "What's next?" What about these newfangled horseless carriages, calculators, and electric lights?

In specialty, what follows cookware, bakeware, and gadgets? How can you foresee what is evolving? What did the trade papers talk about in 1960, '70, '80, and '90? What will they cover in '05 and '10? Customer data can help point out some future directions. Otherwise, month by month the market slowly evolves and change occurs, but the path to success is seldom vivid and clear.

Kindly let me know if and when you elect to increase your inquisitiveness. T