Resolve to Enhance the Shopping Experience

1/9/2015

While pondering Bon Jovi’s wishful 1992 anthem, “I Wish Every Day Could Be Like Christmas,” during the recent holiday season, I found myself thinking about how the lyrics meshed with something that’s been on my mind for several years, which is how I wish every shopping experience could be like Christmas.

Prior to proceeding, I think it’s appropriate to reveal that I sincerely enjoy shopping, which, as fate would have it, works out quite well with how I make a living. And though I don’t get to do it nearly as often, or for as long as I would usually like, I can’t help but believe I was predisposed from birth to take shopping more seriously than most. For starters, my father — who worked two jobs his entire life, not out of necessity, but rather because he wanted to — did all of the grocery shopping for our household of six between his two jobs, here again, not out of necessity, but because he liked to grocery shop. (Little wonder my mom would routinely tell us she was the luckiest woman on earth to have married my dad.)

Then there was my mother, who, when not dragging me into bore-war fabric stores (which, in my youth, were a far cry from today’s far more engaging JoAnn and Michael’s) for patterns, material and notions for the handmade clothes she often created for me and my siblings, had me accompany her, much to my delight, to her other favorite shopping outlets, including department stores, boutiques and artisan shops.

So it’s little wonder I’m a bona fide, dyed-in-the-wool retail enthusiast. Indeed, even when I’m not on a particular hunt for something, which is actually quite often, I get an enormous kick out of browsing the aisles, racks, shelves, counters and enclaves of any number of disparate retail outlets to behold the bounty, peruse product sets, discover interesting displays and marvel at the latest well-done merchandising concepts.

Much to my chagrin, however, my adventures in retailing invariably find me fretting under my breath about the many missed opportunities I frequently encounter in the forms of poor service, lackluster presentation, uninspired selection and inattention to small but important details.

Given that mindset, imagine my joy during the holidays, when, for the most part, all is right with retail: The majority of stores are robustly staffed with visible, generally pleasant associates, and crammed with unique products, bundled gift packs, perfectly positioned seasonal specialties, samples of special treats, and countless treasure-hunt trinkets and treats around every bend. I positively relish and applaud the extra mile retailers go to generate every single extra buck to be had with bang-up holiday efforts.

Just as there are opportunities to improve the penetration of locally sourced, free-from and authentic ethnic foods across the entire store, I believe there’s also ample room for improvement for many grocers to accelerate the excitement and pick up the pace with hiring and training, more meaningful merchandising, greater attention to detail, and supplementary special surprises throughout the entire year.

While I’m well aware of the realities of the retail business, as well as my largely Sugarplum Fairy-like aspirations, I’m convinced — particularly as more online retailers are poised to seize exponentially more business from traditional merchants for the foreseeable future and beyond — that 95 percent of physical retail establishments could use a little more Christmas in their stores throughout the remaining 10.5 months of the year.

Meg Major
[email protected]

Twitter @Meg_Major/@pgrocer

I’m convinced that 95 percent of physical retail establishments could use a little more Christmas in their stores throughout the remaining 10.5 months of the year.

X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds