It is clear that the continuous improvement we have seen taking place with our online shopping experiences has affected our expectations for shopping in the “real world”. The ongoing refinement of user experiences by talented UX designers has increased our expectations for what a shopping experience in the “real world” should be.
I, for one, am glad to see this. I enjoy shopping online, as it not only gives me greater opportunity to research products while I shop, but it also lets me skip some of the more frustrating aspects of shopping in the “real world”, such as long, slow-moving checkout lines.
Now, just like we find on mobile apps and websites, we are starting to see businesses consider user experience in real-world retail experiences. In much the same way that UX designers are creating well-thought out e-commerce websites, where visitors find shopping easy and checking out smooth and seamless, we are seeing physical retail outlets striving to improve the shopping experience and working to create convenient intuitive shopping experiences.
In this day and age, it is essential that physical retail outlets make these changes as that average shopper is now accustomed to smooth, convenient user experiences. If a shopping experience is poorly designed and unintuitive, they will just shop somewhere else, looking for a convenient shopping experience.
Make it intuitive
If you look at the modern shopping experience, it is obvious that today’s consumers are used to being able to quickly find what they are looking for on well-designed mobile apps and websites, they are used to being able to find information on the products they are looking at with a couple clicks and finally, once they have made their decision, they can finalize their purchase quickly, without friction.
With this process, we have all gotten used to going through these steps in an intuitive fashion, proceeding without wondering what to do next or where to go. The modern online shopping experience allows for instant gratification, with shoppers able to complete the process as conveniently as possible.
Due to our familiarity with smooth, seamless online shopping, we now naturally gravitate towards real-world shopping experiences that offer us the smoothest, most convenient path with the lowest amount of friction.
The retail experience
Based on these changes in our expectations, the retail shopping sector is already undergoing significant changes to improve the experience. Unfortunately, while this seems like common sense to many, a large percentage of retailers clearly aren’t catching on.
As more and more retailers make the shopping experience more intuitive, retailers that haven’t improved their processes will find it difficult to compete as shoppers will be less and less willing to endure the friction of their dated and cumbersome processes. Regardless of what the reason is, such as long, slow-moving checkout lines, people will start gravitating towards businesses that offer better, more intuitive shopping experiences.
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One current example of innovation in the retail space, is a “Scan, Bag, Go” option that is offered by my local grocery store. With “Scan, Bag, Go” I can scan items as I take them off the shelf and then simply place them in the bags in my cart. When I am done shopping, I can quickly pay using my smartphone, avoiding standing in long checkout lines. It’s quick and convenient.
As nice as chatting with a cashier may be, we are used to quickly completing our purchases in a frictionless way so now that is what we expect from physical retail outlets as well.
Digital, self-checkout systems are not only economical but they give shoppers a UX style shopping experience in the physical world. This type of shopping allows shoppers to skip over pointlessly standing in a long, slow-moving line at the end of their shopping experience.
What does the future hold?
By offering consumers better shopping experiences, real-world retail outlets can increase customer loyalty and expand their customer base. Retail processes are going to be improved upon because they have to be. If you look at the number of retails stores that have closed their doors over the past few years, it is obvious that retail, in general, needs to improve if it is going to stay in the race with online shopping.
One of the most critical areas that retailers need to look at is that customers are becoming much less patient when it comes to standing in long lines and waiting for one or two open check stands to check them out. These customers will just end up going to different stores that offer them more convenient check out options, or end up making their purchase online.
Technology has been working its way into nearly every aspect of our lives for more than our entire lifetimes. It is continually improving our lives and changing how we do things. When I was young, I remember going to music stores to buy CDs from my favorite bands, now I can easily stream almost any band I want at almost any time on the smartphone that is often in my hand. Technology makes our lives more convenient and there is no reason it shouldn’t make shopping more convenient as well.
Technology, at this point, has begun to shape and formulate various aspects of our lives; no longer is it just sitting on the periphery, but instead, it is now a factor that determines patterns within our everyday lives. Going back to the smartphone example, think about how the mobile apps on your phone impact your life on a daily basis. We rush from meeting to meeting based on the calendar on our phone, we answer email on our phone, we chat with friends and family via chat apps and social media, we do our banking on our phone, we stream music while we work or exercise, and we are entertained by mobile apps as well. This one device is incredibly important in determining the patterns of our daily lives.
Apart from the devices themselves, the techniques used to improve the software on those devices are now being used to improve our everyday interactions in non-digital environments. Our user experiences in the “real world” are now being impacted by the principles and techniques of UX design.
I anticipate we will see ongoing movement in how we interact with the world based on improving user experiences. Being acclimatized to good UX design, consumers will force retail businesses to adapt and improve their shopping experiences. If they don’t, more and more consumers will simply choose better shopping experiences.
Image: Fuzzy Mannerz (Flikr) http://bit.ly/2wb8lYN
