We are in week 4 of Is Retail Dead? We talked about know your brand in week one. In week two, was how to utilize your brand. In week three, we talked about how retailers with national recognition do it. This week, let’s consider some parallel universes, which leads to knowing your customer.

When you go to the car dealer, getting an oil change or shopping for a new car, you walk around the showroom. I’m just getting an oil change and I end up wanting a new car… You can’t help that feeling. You sit inside the cars. Touch the buttons. Feel the seat. Play with the mirrors. You picture yourself in that car – not the beat up old one that you brought in with you that has grass in the floormats, dust every where, the wrong lights lighting up on the dash, and that smell… You want THIS one. You are one step closer to a new car. Then you walk outside and walk around the lot. I wonder if they have what I want? You find a section with 73 Chevy Malibu’s that are all almost the same. They’re all locked. No more touching. No more visuals. So, you look at window stickers. It’s like looking at a spreadsheet. You finally get frustrated, say “whatever”, and leave – without a new car. From one of the best shopping experiences to a no sale. Terrible.

Imagine shopping for a TV in the warehouse at Best Buy. You get to look at boxes, not TV’s that are on and working – showing off their brilliance. Not the same experience, is it?

I’m a watch guy. I love the stories behind the watches. The history behind them. The intricacies of a wound watch with springs. The craftsmanship. If I buy a watch, I need to feel it. Not the watch, the bond with the watch. So, I go to a jewelry store. Everything is locked down. I understand why, but what an awful shopping experience. I pass. I go to a watch retailer. It’s like the PGA Tour Superstore of watches. There are hundreds of them. Too many choices, too many decisions to make. What if I put this band on that watch, but I want a blue dial. I have a headache. No sale. A few months ago, I went to a Tag Heuer Boutique. Where is everything? They had 14 watches on display. Literally, I counted. 10 for men, 4 for women. Under 5 display cases. Tag has 4 families of watches. They had each family in a separate case, with a couple from each family in it’s dedicated family case. They merchandised the Formula One watch (based on auto racing) with auto racing pieces and pictures. The Aquaracer is a divers watch. Guess how that was merchandised. Carrera and Link are dress watches. Guess how those were merchandised. Less was more. I wanted to see things they didn’t have out. I had to talk to someone and ask questions. I put them on my wrist. I got that feeling. I bought a watch. I didn’t need another watch. I couldn’t help it. Tag knows it’s brand, and it displays it in a way that was easy to understand.

Using the examples above, you can see three distinct ways to retail. EACH knows it’s brand, and EACH does what they do the way they do it. EACH consumer will find comfort in a way that suits them. This is how you retail.

They each create a demand. In my opinion the car industry is a broken system. The lot outside should be covered and locked. No one goes in there except employees. You want to see this car? I’ll bring it to you (like Best Buy). They need to do whatever it takes to keep that excitement at peak levels. The watch industry? You can see three different ways to shop. Each will appeal to different types of people. Even if I didn’t buy a watch that day, that would have been my first stop when I was ready to buy.

Here’s an extension of that. My wife needed a watch battery, so she found a local jewelry store online that said they did watch repairs. She called, they said they could take care of it for her. She went in, and the store was laid out similarly to the Tag Heuer store above. As they worked on her watch, she looked at diamond earrings. When the woman came out with the repaired watch, she asked if my wife had any questions about the earrings. She didn’t, but the woman asked if she could add her email address to their system. My wife said yes. I am cringing. Four days later, she got an email about diamond earrings. She doesn’t need those, but she said if she did, that would be the first place she’d go.  That sales associate not only added in her email address, but also added in details about her. They did an email to her that was relevant to her. That is special. 

What is the takeaway? Does your shop look like a new car lot or maybe like a boutique style watch store? Maybe it’s somewhere in between. It’s Ok however it is as long as you know your brand and your customer.

How well do you know your customers? Well enough to know that Mr. Yeager wears Donald Ross Shirts, he takes a medium in the Classic, and a Large in the Sport? Mr. Yeager likes funky prints and fluorescent colors. Well enough to recognize this and send him a specific email when that new inventory comes in? Do you know Mr. Yeager well enough to know that he is playing an older set of Apex Irons and he might like to try the new Apex irons at our next club fitting event? THIS is knowing your customers. When they see you looking out for what they want, they will support you.

We spoke about your brand. If you know your customers, and you know their preferences, you can begin to refine the brands within your brand. Do you need club company X if none of your members play there stuff, but you are on staff with that company? Maybe that relationship doesn’t make sense. Maybe it does, but should it be looked at. Would a car dealer in Watertown have the same mix of vehicles as a car dealer in Florida? I would hope not. Their mixes depend on their customers. So should yours.

I hope this helps!!