A strategic lesson from Star Wars that every offline retailer should know -because it could be the key to survival in the tech disruption of the near future.
Before you do, check out these 2 facts:
- If a page takes 4 seconds (or more) to load, it loses most of its visitors, according to Statista.
- Most people’s offline waiting time (in a shop, queue etc.) is between 6-15 minutes – according to Waitwhile.
It’s tempting to draw the wrong conclusion from good data.
How easy it is to say: well, online they expect immediacy, but offline customers are patient.
It’s a growing strategic mistake to think this way, and Star Wars shows why.
Remember the prequels? Crisis after crisis: a separatist movement, war, a constitutional coup, and the near total destruction of the Jedi Order. The Republic falls, the Empire is formed.
The reason for the fall was a strategic error: the Jedi had been preparing for ~1000 years to fight the previous war again. But in the meantime, circumstances have changed completely.
Today’s customer expectations are not what they were 30, 20, even 10 years ago.
Let’s look at an example: a customer walks into your store, the data shows they are willing to wait 6-15 minutes. They have their smartphone in their hand. A few months later, customer is wearing an Apple Vision Pro. They know that they are literally at arm’s length from REALITY, so they are getting impatient. Your store is under increasing pressure to justify the effort of walking in with higher added value and a more complete customer experience.
But how can you be there for every customer?
A walkout can be prevented (with a good chance of success) in the following 4 cases.
- The customer didn’t find what they were looking for, or had a question – but didn’t get help in time.
- He didn’t know when a colleague would be there (sub-optimal information)
- They want to come back later, but forgot, and we didn’t record any of their details (so we can’t reach them).
- There is a blockage between your offline and online systems. If your store doesn’t have something in stock, your customer could order it from your online store. The more intuitive the process, the more customers you save.
You probably can’t hire more people (due to the current labour shortage in the market). You probably don’t have the budget for it either.
The good news is that you don’t have to expand.
We’ve developed a “sales caller” or “non-buyer conversion” system that helps your colleagues see where they’re needed. Your customers don’t have to wave, chase colleagues around the shelves, they can ‘call’ you with their smartphone. Your staff can work more efficiently, your customers wait less. Our experience so far is that up to 5% of visitors who leave without buying are “saved” into “customers”. A huge result!
We would be happy to show you a demo of the system.