What About the "Demanding Customer"?

I have seen many articles touting the "New Demanding Customer" and how their "Expectations are higher". Almost every-time I see that phrase it generates an uncontrollable eye-roll for me. For starters, I think the phrasing is tired and should be put to rest. More importantly though, I think the context misses the mark on what is really going on. We are all customers as well. As a customer, what I want is to trust the companies I do business with. I want to know they will hold my information safely, will not see me as just a transaction and will add value and convenience to my purchase decision. If you are an apparel retailer, I want you to know my tastes and inspire my fashion choices appropriately. If you are a grocer, help me break out of a meal rut and recommend recipes that are inspiring and healthy. Don't make me weed through carpet bombed promotional offers and diaper coupons. I haven't needed diaper coupons in 18 years; know that.

I don't believe it is "demanding" to want trust, relevancy and convenience in the modern, tech enabled world. While it may feel demanding to the retailer who lost focus on their customer, it is the norm and is how the luxury or consumer focused brands have been operating for years. The issue I have with the "New Demanding Customer" context is that it makes it sound like customers suddenly woke up one day and became more "demanding" when instead, customers have always had a desire for trust, relevancy and convenience. For some retailers, you may have provided convenience based on your location and price. Other retailers provided convenience through assortment choices. I as a customer, have not become "more demanding". Instead, your world as a retailer has just grown more competitive. You now need to find a newer and perhaps better way to deliver to your customer, because your competition is doing just that.

 The real dialogue should be how your business will maintain its edge in a more competitive space. Stop blaming this reality on your customers and accept that all businesses must remain competitive through consistent assessment and reinvention. How will your company build a culture of reinvention keeping the desires for trust, relevancy and convenience of your customers in the center of your decision making process? This is the real question. If your competition is testing, learning and refining their business model and offerings faster than you, not only will they gain market share but they will gain momentum faster. Once they overtake you, it will be that much harder for you to ever catch back up. This is why I believe there is an urgent need in the Retail space to focus on a culture of Innovation as a priority. A culture built around the spirit of continuous testing, learning and refining.

One of the groups doing this exceptionally well is RILA’s (r)Tech Center. They have published an Innovation Management Model that is well worth the time reading. You can find it at (https://rtech.org/tools/). There are a lot of tools for building a Culture of Innovation out there. I think the tool or process is less important in the early phases than the importance of seeing the need to put both focus and money behind the first step to getting into the change. For top Retail disruptors, Innovation is so much a part of their culture that they no longer use the word in their company to describe their actions. Think about how much advantage a company has if quick iteration test, learn and refine are at the root of their culture. This to me should be what really keeps executives up at night, not the ever “Demanding Customer”. What is your company doing about Innovation?