Published in this week's Knowledge@Wharton is a very insightful study conducted by The Verde Group, Wharton & The retail council of Canada on the - "Discovering 'WOW' -- A Study of Great Retail Shopping Experiences in North America".
The article points to five major areas that contribute to a great shopping experience:
- Engagement: being polite, genuinely caring and interested in helping, acknowledging and listening.
- Executional excellence: patiently explaining and advising, checking stock, helping to find products, having product knowledge and providing unexpected product quality.
- Brand Experience: exciting store design and atmosphere, consistently great product quality, making customers feel they're special and that they always get a deal.
- Expediting: being sensitive to customers' time on long check-out lines, being proactive in helping speed the shopping process.
- Problem Recovery: helping resolve and compensate for problems, upgrading quality and ensuring complete satisfaction.
