With a treasure trove of exciting, tasty, differentiated products to try, love and buy, I believe everybody is a potential customer. True? Then why do over 85% of people walk right past our doors?
Of course, we must aim to be ‘trusted advisors’, educating customers about health, wellbeing and ethical issues, but before we can educate, we must attract and engage with the 21C consumer.
The 21C consumer has changed. Key behaviour factors influence what they try and buy, and who they buy from.
The 21C consumer wants challenges, interaction and fun. The app puzzle game Candy Crush, with 44 million users per month, proves this. These are not just children – all ages are engaged with this phenomenon.
A key part of the revival and demographic explosion in gaming retailing and the popularity of Vistaprint is founded on giving the 21C consumer challenges, interaction and fun.
Consumers want interaction – fact, yet many retail shops remain inanimate, one-dimensional product ‘stores’, focusing more on aesthetic precision than engagement and interaction. In attracting the 21C consumer into your store, how well do you deploy the four T’s – Touch, Think, Try, Talk? Think of how you can introduce and develop interactive, engaging activities that stimulate interest in both your business and your products.
World class retailers are introducing ‘activity zones’ to stimulate social experience shopping. These don’t need to be hi-tech, they can be simple, engaging activities.
One retailer I visited had a simple ‘activity zone’ with a popcorn maker where customers made and shared popcorn with other customers. This simple initiative created interaction and magnetically pulled customers into the store. This is just one simple example. Tell me what activities you introduce and let me know how you are attracting and engaging the 21C consumer in your business. I want to hear from you!
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By John Silvestro
Business coach and speaker
John Silvestro started his career in the 1980s as a health foods retail consultant. Since then he has become an acclaimed business coach and speaker, having worked with consumer-focused companies in Britain, the USA, Canada and South Africa.
