Shopper Blindness: A Cautionary Tale of Retail Gone Wrong.

Once upon a time there was a small band of business brothers who opened a store in what they thought was the ideal, high traffic location. It was on the only major street in a southwestern Michigan resort area – a prime location to catch all of the eyeballs of not only locals but the thousands who come visit the town in 2-3 warmer months. It was the highest vehicular traffic area in the town, and the owners had put plenty of parking right in front of the establishment. There’s no potential for pedestrian traffic, which would be a big negative if the location weren’t so convenient for drivers.

Alas, I predict this store at best will underperform and at worst go out of business within a few months, and it has nothing to do with the quality of their products or services. The owners were blind to the key wants, needs and desires of their customers, and it will cost them. It’s as simple as that.

The store I am describing is Aficionado, a medical cannabis dispensary that recently opened on Blue Star Highway in Douglas, MI. It is across a parking lot from a realtor, 300 feet from the local hardware store, and 100 yards from the one and only speed trap in town.  If a patient (or in the future, a recreational user) was to pull into the parking lot of the establishment, everyone in the small town and surrounding community will know it before he/she got to the front door.  

The owners of Aficionado failed to address the most important need for the vast majority of their potential patrons – Discretion. Without that, it won’t matter what products they have in the store or the excellence of their customer service. A big chunk of potential clientele will never walk through the doors for fear of being shamed in a small town. (In fact, for this very reason, I predict delivery to significantly outpace any/all retail establishments in the area in the short and long term).

Unlike an urban storefront let’s say in Chicago or Los Angeles, non-urban environments for cannabis must be planned with the care of a discrete strip club or a day drinking bar. At the bare minimum, the establishment needs parking in the back. There should be an entrance far away from the road, rather than up the large wooden steps of a reconfigured farmhouse. Patients (and recreational users when its legal) will find the location with a simple Google search, so no need to call too much attention to establishment as a cannabis store.

There’s the little issue of the police car that's regularly positioned a stone’s throw from the establishment. Most patients, I’d guess, don’t want to buy at a place where they think they may be pulled over as they leave the parking lot. That one probably can’t be overcome.

Lastly, there’s the name. Aficionado is obviously going for an audience with a discerning pot palate and a higher disposable income. What would work for a store on Melrose in LA will not play in the beach resort town of Douglas, MI and surrounding communities. The wealthy tourists who might be drawn to the highbrow name don't travel with medical cards, so that hope is dashed until if/when the establishment gets a recreational sales license.  For the other 8 months of the year when the medically licensed tourists aren’t patronizing the store, the name simply doesn’t fit. Instead, the Aficionado positioning alone will tell locals that they can’t afford the medicinal remedies being sold inside the store.

Avoidable retailer mistakes can be catastrophic to what would otherwise be a very profitable business venture. The owners of Aficionado have sunk a lot of money into their efforts. The enlistment of a smart shopper marketing firm early on could have been the difference between financial success and underperformance.

Enjoy the article? Please share it!

Sarah O'Leary is a shopper marketing expert and the author of "Brandwashed: Why The Shopper Matters More Than What You're Selling."

#marketing #shoppermarketing #retail #consumers #sales #advertising #products #services #entrepreneur #store #owner