Why experience trumps product

Last year I was on holiday in Cornwall. A regular visit for our family. We hired an AirBnB near the coast and noticed there was a pub in walking distance - winner.

A few nights in we decided to take the kids for a meal to the pub. I poked my head in the day before to see if I could just turn up or needed to book. No-one seemed to be able to confirm, but suggested unless I had a time we wanted to eat it would be ok to turn up.

On arrival it was busy. A beautiful country coastal pub in a stunning setting, we weren't surprised. We were met with a distressed face 'have you booked?' he asked.

'No we haven't, but we can come back another day if you're too busy.'

"It's ok, I'm sure we can find you space, follow me". We proceeded to be paraded through the pub, past the diners (loads of couples, no families weirdly) with their beautifully presented meals, flashy napkins and brass tableware - a proper upmarket gastro - what are we letting ourselves in for, bringing our noisy kids here, I thought!

We got taken through the entire pub and into the back, sat down at a undressed pub table, squeezed in next to the pool table and dartboard, clearly in the pool room. It looked different, felt different, in fact was completely different to the rest of the pub restaurant.

We ate our meal eventually, often being forgotten about (one waitress even literally said 'oh my goodness we'd all forgotten you were here'). We had no table service, yet had the same menu, paid the same prices as everyone in the main restaurant with their cosy candlelit tables and waited service. Whilst the food was tasty, our overall experience was awful. We won't be going back.

The product we got (the meal) was probably the same as everyone else. Yet the experience we had was worse than a fast food restaurant.

Experience trumps product. Every Time.

The beautiful opportunity? This is true across every sector!

But why am I writing about a Cornwall pub?

New retail/business/accounting/marketing... its about experience & brand relationships

For too long, retail has just stayed the same, it's squeezed people in the back and given them any experience they can to sell their products. Larger retailers are struggling to cope with the scale of competition from both digital and smaller retailers, and with a lack of digital and brand transformation they're dying out.

Clever retailers and brands are offering more and more seamless transitions between in-store, digital purchasing and consumer experiential events. To keep in the game, physical stores should adapt and change to include a similar dimension of the personalisation offered on the web. Self checkout, returning loyalty consumers being welcomed through digital channels, NFC, and more can enhance the relationship that a consumer has with a brand.

The rise of the independents

This morning Sky News wrote an article about the high street isn't dying, it's reinventing itself. I wrote a similar article earlier this year. The reality is - the high street IS dying. The massive department stores, the big complex layouts, the impersonal clinical feel to the massive scale stores like Debenhams, House of Fraser and others will continue to fade out. But whilst the large dept store high street is dying, the wider high street is being reinvigorated all the same - and I believe will continue to do so - with three core areas:

1. Repurposed uses of property - away from retail
2. POPups and short term trial leases for retailers to try new ideas and startups to get their foot on the ladder
3. Independents moving from one to multiple locations, and more independents rising up

However ALL of these need to promote experience over product.

If you can buy the same shoes in 4 shops, where do you go? Probably the most convenient and the cheapest.

If you can get the same shoes in a new shop but provides a time to book a car park slot right outside, allows you to book a shoe fitting and provides a live stock check to see if your size is available in store, whilst sending a message to a store rep to meet you when you arrive - which shop do you go to?

Consumer motivations are influenced by brand behaviour that enhances the shopping experience.

Again, this is across all sectors, not just retail!

If we provide an awful experience as an agency, and someone finds a great one elsewhere - who will they recommend if asked?

People want more than just the product. As accountants, as retailers, as web designers, as marketers, as shoe makers, as coffee shops...

There's more shops now than ever before in our high streets. And we know people are happy to go to them. What's important is giving consumers a reason to go to specific stores, in specific locations.

At Shapes, we create better customer and digital experiences within accounting and marketing space for SMEs.

If you need a better experience in either accounting or marketing, or need some help with your Xero transition - give us a shout, and we'll help you find your shape. :)