Every so often I have an experience in the bricks and mortar world of business that reminds me how much I truly love e-commerce. From a business perspective of course......I'm not that much of a geek.
The most recent example of such an experience occurred during my attempt to buy a pair of new Adidas shoes. Quite typically, the story begins with me (the consumer) having the requirement for a new pair of shoes. I have already spotted a pair that I like in a recent look at everything and buy nothing shopping trip with my girlfriend.
So a few days later I march into the said store. I ask the shopping assistant a couple of questions about the shoes I like. The answers are good so I decide I'm going to try a pair on. I let the helpful girl know my size and suggest that she gets a size either side to save a second trip. I know which shoes I want, I have just given her a massive buying signal. I just want to buy the shoes and get outa there!
So up to this point the bricks and mortar shoe shop is kicking arse! The service is great and I'm getting the shoes I want at a price I'm happy with........
This is where things take a turn for the worse. The girl returns from her trip to the store room. She has got three boxes as expected. Would you believe that the contents of these boxes contained not one pair of the shoes I asked for? The girl apologizes and to cut a long story short this happens three more times....
It was only at the point that I suggested that, "Hey, the girls version of the shoes I want look just like the mens, do you have large girls sizes?", to which I got the response, "Oh yeh- these are uni-sex we have your size in the womens".
Funny huh? Genuine unintentional human error can really punish your conversion rate in a bricks and mortar store. If I hadn't have spotted the fact that the shoes were unisex it would have been no sale.
Whilst e-commerce is still relatively slow in providing the first part of the story above (the part up to the assistant having to actually find the shoes), it kicks the brick and mortar models arse on the pick and pack :-)
In an e-commerce store I would (and should) have found the shoes, put them in my cart and paid for them. Whilst at the physical store, there was so much selection and variables (like uni-sex) that even the store assistant struggled to provide acceptable service.
E-commerce will take over.........services such as live help will improve and pretty soon online stores will be able to better replicate the experience that one has in a real physical store. then we simply will not have any reason to visit shops as we know them today.
Big call I know, but I can see it on the horizon and I truly believe it will happen. Not only will you buy all your stuff online but you will tell those most close to you about your proud new purchase, thats what facebook business solutions and specifically the facebook beacon technology are all about. Facebook are introducing the social aspect of e-commerce that further enhances the virtual online experience of shopping to be more like a physical shopping experience.
I love e-commerce.
Comments