Retail, in the eyes of the everyday customer

Back in the day radios had two dials, one which moved quickly between channels and another which was used to fine tune a channel.

For years I have been hearing about the magic of testing and how retailers like organize.com are seeing improvements in conversion rates by simply changing Buy Now to Add to Cart.  These amazing stories emphasize the power of the fine tune dial.  There has been so much buzz about testing that retail CEO’s who’ve picked up the gossip in magazines and conferences believe that by simply changing their site’s head banner from blue to orange will somehow make more people convert.  Look, I am a huge fan of testing, testing is critically important but sometimes you have to look at the main dial before fiddling with the fine tune.

As a small retailer you have to resist the temptation of playing with the fine tune dial till you’ve crisply articulated your unique value proposition and defined core strategy.

I’ve been a big fan of the Road Warrior segment in Fortune magazine for a long time.  It’s such a clever idea: interview frequent travelers on their favorite travel companions (items) and publish it for readers.

I would launch an ecommerce store that played on this idea.  The site would be very similar to the Fortune segment but customers will be able to buy products.  First time visitors would get an introduction like:

“We only sell travel items real people recommend.  Our opinion counts for squat, but once an expert reveals a gem we do a test run to make sure our fine customers are buying the best possible product.  That said, if for whatever reason you don’t love it just send it back”

I would have intuitive categories:
— light travel
— weekly travel
— local travel
— international travel
— travel mode (air, train, cruise, drive)
— new items
— customer favorites
— top sellers
— top items from last year

Imagine for a moment what happened here.  I would start off by interviewing road warriors (free and original product testimonials), from amongst the interviews I would build a product list, then build an online store (for approx. $3,000) and organize it such that it satisfies the four buying modalities, and finally, I’d source products for shoppers.  A traditional retailer would have to go about this in the exact opposite way, starting off with first renting a retail location.