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ivity

DRIVES THE

NEW SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

The key may be transforming their stores to

offer shoppers a value-added experience that

goes beyond simply distributing groceries,

he said in an interview with

Alabama Grocer

and in a presentation at a recent grocery

strategic conference. Stephens is the founder

of Toronto-based Retail Prophet.

“Many consumers today view grocery stores

simply as warehouses that hold products

they need,” Stephens said. “But with online

options growing, what’s to prevent the

majority of consumers from passing up

the supermarket completely by subscribing

to AmazonFresh and getting groceries

delivered?”

With a growing number of online operators

offering ever broader shopping options,

retailers need to figure out how to create

experiences “that are so amazing that people

will pay to come to your store,” he said.

Speaking at the conference, Stephen said

retailers will have to re-focus their stores

to make the trip an experience if they hope

to motivate future consumers to make a

physical trip to a supermarket rather than

ordering online.

“Shopping is both a social and physiological

experience,” he explained. “Thinking about

going shopping (in general) is similar to

taking cocaine for many people – it gives

them a dopamine rush.”

However, the prospect of shopping with

online operators who add more products and

give consumers more certainty about finding

what they want offers less of a rush, Stephens

told conference attendees.

“When people come to a store to shop, that

dopamine effect goes through the roof,

which works in your favor,” he said. “In a

world where people’s lives are being ruled

by algorithms – where sellers are making

suggestions to consumers about what

they may want to buy based on previous

purchases – consumers can have a burst

of exhilaration going into a store and

interacting with sales associates.

“That doesn’t mean retailers have a free pass,”

he added. “While brick-and-mortar stores

will continue to exist, everything about

that space – and how you think about why

people go there to shop – will have to change,

and rapidly.

“You must look beyond simply selling

products in order to create such galvanizing

experiences that a consumer won’t think of

buying what you offer anywhere else.”

Unless supermarkets begin rethinking the way they do business to meet the threat

of online competition, they could end up as “Blockbusters in a Netflix world,”

according to futurist Douglas Stephens.

Continued on page 26 ▶

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