Knowing your customers and giving them what they want...
Andrew Field
SVP, Sales Leader, Outsourcing Evangelist, Future Thinker, Family-Oriented, and Regional Chair for TP Men, dedicated to driving business growth, innovation, and empowering diverse teams.
When I talk to my children who are 15 years and 11 years old, the way they buy is so different to how I bought something at their age. My daughter still loves to walk around the shops, but still buyers 90% of what she wants online (because in her mind its cheaper); my son realises that he has so many more options online that the traditional bricks and mortar shops can’t compete.
Last month we all went to watch our beloved Harlequins and decided to make a weekend of it and stayed in Richmond and then scooted into central London for a bit more fun. My son had two shops (yes only two shops) that he wanted to go in, Nike Town and Adidas.
Anyone who’s been into Nike Town knows how noisy, hyper, full of every product you every wanted, it’s vibrant, exciting, full of staff waiting to help you, a DJ blasting funky tunes through every floor. This is a place that you will pay more for what you want, but boy do you get the whole experience and this is by far my sons favourite place to shop. I know it’s not for everyone, but if you know your customers, you know what they want and how they want it.
On the opposite scale is Adidas and probably Nike’s main worldwide sports brand competitor and just a few hundred yards along Oxford Street. Adidas (in my personal opinion) was boring, uninteresting, quiet, hardly any staff to help (we counted 4 across all floors), not many product lines in store and just so different from what we wanted or expected. My son wanted a pair of rugby boots and Adidas had maybe 6 different styles in store and on display; none of the ones he wanted or the most current models. We asked for help and we were told they only hold a few lines and its always best to buy online; I thought this was their UK flagship store. Guess who got our business??
Creating an experience for your customers in any way they need it, has to be the only way to survive in todays economy. Whether its online, in-store or just calling someone in a contact centre, make your customers the centre of everything, give them what they personally want and leave them talking about you in a positive way.
Well done Nike, you answered my sons call.