Whether it is variety, speed or convenience, there is magic in why Jack Ma( the founder of Aliababa) became the richest man in China – e-commerce. I tell you this story because my sister-in-law and her friends no longer go to the mall for fashion items anymore. Except for groceries, everything else is purchased on-line.
My ex-marketing staff also uses Tesco online to buy his groceries because they cost the same – sometimes even cheaper – and there is no hassle with traffic jam, finding a parking bay or queuing up to make payment.
Recently, there is a rise of logistic companies that I have never heard of. These companies are there to serve one market – the on-line market. My wife buy lots of her cosmetics online as well. She recently bought a dozen or so Korean brands without sampling any of them. Why is this so?
She reads the review at her own pace, she compares product at her own leisure, and the best part? It’ s cheaper.
I love a China brand called Seven. A pants cost around 800 renminbi. I can buy the off- season ones through Tmall and get it shipped to me in less than ONE day. And if I don’ t like the pants, I can ship it right back by calling the logistic company, fill up a form, and the company will come to pick up my pants the next day.
With consumer behaviour changing, retailers surely must modify their modus operandi – but many have not done so.
In every retail companies that we have trained and consulted, we find a few physical traits among their sales people. Majority of the sellers are order-takers, i. e. they wait for customers to make the buy call. They seldom engage in a conversation with the customer nor do they actively follow a sales process to obtain the sale.
As a result, customers generally walk out of the retail outlet without buying anything. Whether it is consumer products, fashion, food, optical, pharmacies, furniture or a property, our research indicates that most retail sellers are merely ordertakers.
What are some of the challengers of retailers? Besides marketing and loyalty, it is the ever increasing rental cost. With fixed cost going up, are the retail owners pouring resources to equip the retail sellers with effective selling skills to increase their sales?
The answer is yes ONLY if you are a large establishment with multinational link. Lots of local small and medium enterprises( SMEs) don’ t allocate enough resources to upskill their sales staff. Without proper training, these are the common mistakes:
Retail Sales People Are Not Pro-Active Enough:
Imagine having endured a massive traffic jam to reach your retail outlet. You bumped into several sales people, all tight-lipped without a word of greeting.
When product differentiation is little, the real differentiation comes from the interaction between the buyer and seller. That’ s how meaningful customer experiences are created – not just beautiful interior or good merchandising – but solid people-
ISSUE 2: 2016 | ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS 41