The largest and most trusted source of product information for customers is other customers. Customers no longer walk into stores looking for information to help them decide on a purchase; they now walk in with a more complete product story in mind.  People go to the store to buy a phone knowing which model to buy a full month before the purchase. The best way for retailers to address this is not by creating and pushing more content about the products into different online and offline channels. Read the full article to get the full story. Download, share, and be merry :)

1. A!lied Storytelling in Marketing
Storytelling for retailers:
Hauling and showrooming
Product and brand storytelling happens beyond the confines of retail space.
The modern customer’s journey isn’t linear like it used to be. Rather than a
journey punctuated by a definable end-point, it’s a process involving multiple
consultations with peers and online reviews. Customers call peers for advice
and check video reviews on their smartphones while in store. Retailers need
to build around existing behavior and redefine how they deliver this
experience.
People don’t buy alone
Shopping is a social process. Churn, brand
What’s showrooming?
and purchase decisions don’t happen in
isolation but as the result of long term
consultation and influence. Customers call Techopedia’s definition:
friends and family while in-store to consult It’s when a shopper visits a store to
about their purchase, with youth leading the check out a product but then
pack (58% of them - source Pew). Instead purchases the product online from
of viewing this behavior and showrooming home. This occurs because, while
as a threat, retailers need to find ways to many people still prefer seeing and
leverage these activities for their benefit. touching the merchandise they buy,
After all, the end-to-end retail experience many items are available at lower
plays a crucial role in defining which brands prices through online vendors. As
are recommended and purchased. The such, local stores essentially
closer retailers get to the customer, the become showrooms for online
more insights they will gain, which shoppers.
translates to more leverage for the retailer
Find articles, case studies and podcast on the role of storytelling in marketing: http://GhaniKunto.me

2. both with the customer and the supplier. Retailers with the best insight will
win.
Traditional offline retailers face a significant online challenge from 2 areas:
1) Showrooming:
The growth in customer showrooming behavior popular with youth shows
that retailers not geared towards a multi-channel delivery end up becoming
the physical front end for online competitors. Youth often research products
in store before taking purchases online, both to check product reviews and
to compare prices. According to latest data from Pew Research, 50% youth
match prices online and 56% look up reviews on their mobile phone while
in store compared to 27% and 26% respectively for older customers.
2) Upstart Advantage:
New entrants have been able to redefine retail from the bottom up to better
suit the modern customer. Retailers geared towards multi-channel delivery,
like Apple, are able to turn showrooms into a positive brand experience and
a generator of both recommendation and revenue. Some retailers have
improved their customer engagement practices, increasing showrooming
and in-store purchases. In recent ACSI surveys, Apple ranked #2 (behind
Amazon) in terms of customer satisfaction. Apple’s ability to re-engineer
retail beyond traditional confines has enabled it to become the most
profitable retailer per square foot in the US ($6000/sqft vs $3000 next
placed retailer Tiffanys). Apple understands that retail isn’t just about selling
boxes but supporting the customer in the discovery and education process.
Retailer’s story doesn’t matter
Retailers need to curate rather than create stories about their products.
The largest and most trusted source of product information for customers is
other customers. Customers no longer walk into stores looking for information
to help them decide on a purchase; they now walk in with a more complete
product story in mind. People go to the store to buy a phone knowing which
model to buy a full month before the purchase.
The best way for retailers to address this is not by creating and pushing more
content about the products into different online and offline channels. With the
multitude of product reviews and hauling videos on YouTube, retailers should
Find articles, case studies and podcast on the role of storytelling in marketing: http://GhaniKunto.me

3. focus instead on curating the different stories customers already have out
there to help the discovery process.
As Apple’s CEO Tim Cook puts it, “There’s no better place to discover,
explore and learn about our products than in retail. It’s the retail experience
where you walk in and you instantly realize this store is not here for the
purpose of selling. It’s here for the purpose of serving. They are the face of
Apple for almost all of our customers.”
***
Discussion points:
1. Some retailers are coping with showrooming trend by offering price-
matching offers. What are short-term and long-term impact of such
strategies on the company’s brand and profit margins? Can offline retailers
be simpler, faster and cheaper than their online competitors?
2. Showrooming and hauling are actually old behaviors that are redefined by
new media. How can companies use these phenomenon to their
advantage?
What’s a haul video?
Wikipedia definition:
A video recording, posted to the Internet, which displays items recently purchased,
including product details or even the price.
By late 2010, nearly a quarter of a million haul videos had been shared on the website
YouTube alone. Some of the individual videos have received tens of millions of views.
Haul videos rarely ever have anything negative to say about the products. The rationale for
those positive reviews is that the buyers wouldn't typically purchase something unless they
really wanted it. Hence, the owners generally report positive experiences, after having
selected which products to buy.
Find articles, case studies and podcast on the role of storytelling in marketing: http://GhaniKunto.me