Retailers, the Elephant In The Room Isn't The Weather Or The Web... It's This

November and December online retail sales figures showed that 42.7% of online shopping occurred with Amazon according to Slice Intelligence. That compares with 24.8% share for the next 10 biggest retailers combined, including Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Best Buy.

Let that sink in...combined.

Yes you can make gains from where you are but those gains will be very hard fought with significant headwinds.

The elephant in the room could be found easily for many retailers who are showing lower sales figures for the holidays...and it is clear to anyone who tried to buy something during the holidays...

I was in Vegas the week before Christmas. It was a coldish night around the dinner hour. The mall was anything but packed.

When I went into Neiman Marcus looking for a particularly nice gift, I passed two cosmetics girls who didn’t even glance at me but continued to talk about their personal lives. I went into their gift area where a woman stood behind the counter. I looked around for about four minutes. It wasn’t until I was leaving that she shouted to my back, “Good evening sir.”

Geez.

At another department store,  almost every employee I passed was looking down to their smartphones as shoppers walked by.

Sur La Table looked like a distress sale with signs for 30% off this and buy one get one free that all over the place. I looked to find someone to ask if they could ship. No one came over to help me.  As I was leaving, a guy walked up to the front to fix a display.

Geez.

I went into Macy’s, a store so crammed with merchandise and decorations, I couldn’t even see where the housewares department was or of if they even had such a department.

Next I went into Nordstrom and got the usual zero interaction from two young guys on their smartphones chillin’ at the counter while I was looking at Robert Graham shirts.  Those guys also ignored a woman considering a Burberry coat while their one good salesman worked with a young couple.

I found a great guy at the Robert Graham boutique down the way who recognized me from a few months before when I had purchased a shirt. He then went to his computer and confirmed which shirt I had purchased, then showed me a few similar shirts.

Smart.

I walked into another luxury boutique where I expected an exceptional experience but was only greeted with, “Would you like a bottle of water?”

Really?

That’s your opening line?  It’s winter. It’s 20 degrees. There are a million places I could get something to drink in the mall. If it were August and you were in a strip center maybe, but really? That’s the best you can do?

Heck, when I picked up my Hertz rental car, they offered a bottle of water at the booth. Are you no better than them?

Geez.

Sorry retailers, practically all of you showed that customers are not your concern.

You think you have time.

That we’ll wait.

That we are mesmerized by watching your untrained employees, bored out of their minds, lean on your counters and play with their hair.

Does anyone stop to think what the hell a customer sees when we walk in and see things like that?

Those of us who DO have money, DO want customer service, and DO expect our discovery experience to be fun won’t be buying anything from you.

The elephant in the room is your customer service,  we simply won’t be coming back when we have these types of forgettable retail experiences.

But you’re probably not paying attention to that truth because you're too busy decrying the death of the luxury shopper.

Or saying that omnichannel is the only way forward.

Or offering yet another loyalty discount program.  

How wrong you are...

The day of reckoning is coming for many of you.

You think we don’t notice your rotten attitudes, your one-person coverage, or how your chummy crew treats us as an inconvenience?

Oh but we do.

You think your supervisors and managers don’t have to be on the floor watching all the time?

You think your employees will do fine on their own?

They can’t and they won’t.

You think customers are disposable and fickle?

You are so wrong.

When a customer makes the effort to get in their car and drive to your mall, your center, your store, you’d better respect the fact they did that.

If you work on the floor of a retail store, you’d better respect the fact it is something you have to work at.

It is not your living room where you can talk to your pals any time you want to.

Or that shoppers are there to entertain you and ask you to help them. We’re not; you’re there for us.

Be grateful.

Because I can tell you retailers…and I’m talking luxury retailers in particular…you have been weighed and are left in the balance.

There’s no there there.

Is your marketing department, your social media, your PR claiming cache, exclusivity, personal service?

Don’t make me laugh.

You’re Walmart without grandpa greeting me at the front.

You’re Kroger with your begging us to join your loyalty club.

You’re Dollar Days with your 40% off entire store.

There’s nothing special about your merchandise and really nothing special about the people you’re letting define your brand.

Are there so many levels of management that no one sees what I see?

A lot has been written lately about how consumers are increasingly looking for experiences. Too many falsely believe this only means ziplines and thrill-seeking.

Shoppers want experiences in your stores.

See also, The 7 Essentials Of An Exceptional Experience

In Sum

Stop phoning it in.  

Your shoppers are out there again. They might give you just one more chance before swearing off your brand forever.

Don’t screw it up.

Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor?, has helped thousands of businesses in hospitality, manufacturing, service, restaurant and retail since 1994.  His clients have ranged from multi-national luxury brands to small business mom and pops. With over thirty years experience beginning in the trenches of retail and extending to senior management positions, Phibbs has been a corporate officer, franchisor and entrepreneur. His speaking presentations are designed to provide practical information in a fun and re-memorable format. His newest product is SalesRX, his online retail sales training.