Experiences are paramount to building any brand. These memories influence and even form the perceptions we have.
This is exactly why PTSD and minor trauma can greatly affect your perception of something. Perhaps a fear of dogs after a bad experience with one in your childhood or a fear of driving if you experienced an awful car accident. As you can see, experiences can have great impact on our perceptions of quite common things like a dog or car.
Similarly, the feelings you have going into an experience can alter that experience. Oddly, this effect happens in reverse as well where an experience will change your feelings toward that certain thing. Just as trauma can change the way you feel towards a dog, car, etc.
Simply put: Feelings > Experiences > Perception
This gives many brands hope as now we can break down these three segments into identifiable elements.
What does this mean for Retailers?
The main takeaway is to focus on the feelings of your audience. Not only how they feel about your brand, but how they feel going into your retail experience or how they feel after experiencing it.
How they feel walking down your aisles or scanning the shelves will directly impact the experience they are having with you. As obvious as this may seem, it often feels neglected because we often experience a less-than-stellar time shopping which leaves us feeling exhausted, frustrated, and just bleh. These feelings feed directly back into our perception of the retailer and start to create reactions to the experiences.
I’ve seen this with brands like WalMart or Ross where shoppers have bad experiences which then leaves them feeling certain ways. This is projected on the brand which erodes the perception leading to shoppers not wanting to experience it again. Like that trauma, we discussed where the survivor avoids the pain because of the feelings they experienced we will do the same with retailers.
WalMart continues to try and change this perception and I personally think they are doing so incrementally. it could take another 5 years, but the brand can be salvaged if it continues to invest in a better shopping experience and improve the feelings it evokes.
By focusing on the state of your shoppers before they shop, while they shop, and after they shop, retailers can better assess how their experience improves the lives of their shoppers. If it’s not improving their lives then there is a deeper issue.
—> On Brandy Podcast ep 23 I discuss how brands sell feelings: Listen Here
Feelings of Retail
The main takeaway is to focus on the feelings of your audience. Not only how they feel about your brand, but how they feel going into your retail experience or how they feel after experiencing it.
When we think of retailers, some shoppers may even feel dread having to go park, go into the store, look for what they’re shopping for, then check out. Other retailers have made the shopping experience enjoyable for their visitors. I’m a big Costco fan so I love going there and even look forward to it. This “good” feeling I have toward Costco enhances my experiences because I’m delighted to be there and probably a lot more forgiving when something unfortunate happens. You can see how this would create an upward spiral of great feelings, great experiences, and great perception.
This “upward spiral” is much like the flywheel effect we have seen as an effective solution for brands like Amazon. By investing in one aspect(the feeling) we propel the flywheel to continue to gain momentum that furthers the same aspect that feeds the momentum further.
The empathy involved with may not show up as a line item or something that can be nailed down. I admit that it is a bit abstract and intangible in more ways than one. This doesn’t mean we should shy away from it. I believe a retailer like Trader Joe’s has cracked this and through experience design created a flywheel that generates good feelings(and sales).
Trader Joe’s has been brilliant in the theming of the experience and the training of their staff to encourage a good experience, but also by setting a standard of how we act in a Trader Joe’s. it is upbeat, kind, and helpful. It is fun and engaging. I’m not dragging my kids (or myself) down the aisles, but I am engaged in the experience of shopping. Almost as if I should be paying an admittance fee to experience this! Now that sounds funny, but I do pay admittance. I pay it with my attention, preference, and eventually my dollar as I choose Trader Joe’s as my experience of choice for grocery shopping simply because of the way I feel going there, during it, and after.
Retailer of Feelings
Let’s face it, retail is more than just SKUs.
If it were just about SKUs then Trader Joe’s wouldn’t exist.
The retailers of the future look beyond the logistics. They look beyond just convenience. These retailers see the experiences they are creating for their shoppers. They craft narratives that capture the reasons their shoppers are there. Costco does this. Whole Foods does this. REI does this.
When you look at these brands, they don’t just move products, they relate to their shoppers by understanding their feelings. As they invest in helping shoppers remove pain points or improve their lives to reach aspirations, the retail experience is wrapped in that narrative and improve the feelings.
Retailers are about feelings. They encourage certain feelings while compensating for negative feelings. They help shoppers feel taken care of or even help them feel like the internal narrative they tell themselves.
To give shoppers a great experience, it’s about their feelings and how your brand comes alongside them.
It’s more than aisles, racks, or self-checkout. It’s about empathy.