Resuscitating Retail: Big Lessons from Big Winners
It is very easy to look at the adversity, see only doom and gloom and give up quickly. However, real winners see the opportunities behind the challenge. It may be tempting to assume that e-commerce is the new reality, but I believe retail sales still have promise.
Let me share a story. Once, a gentleman had a beautiful bone china cup in which he would enjoy his tea, while reading his books. He relished the experience every day. It’s easy to imagine: most of us have relished a nice drink, something to read, and a few quiet moments.
One day, he accidentally dropped the china teacup and broke it. He didn’t have another cup and he was unable to find another that was as sleek and as beautiful as the one he had. He was disappointed thinking that he was never going to be able to have such a calm, relaxing experience again. Then he had an idea: he asked a master craftsman to try to fix it. The craftsman knew that he couldn’t make it look like new. He thought for a long time and finally had a clever idea. He made golden glue by adding gold powder to the adhesive and then glued the pieces together with the golden cement. The cup was even more beautiful than it was before—and unique as well. The master craftsman turned adversity into opportunity.
Truly great companies take a similar approach. Consider the Starbucks barista. People stand in line every day to buy their coffee. The baristas are trained to have the goal of ensuring the customer is completely happy. They are willing to make any variation on a drink. They are trained to build relationships with the customers and remember specific traits and preferences of each. Most of all, they are trained to respond positively to any customer dissatisfaction and to remake the order until the customer is satisfied. Human connection is a powerful thing.
Similarly, another popular store near my neighborhood is Chick-fil-A. This fried chicken restaurant stands out for true hospitality (a fast food place where waiters check in with you). The company also values innovation. When you go at a busy time, you’ll find servers using tables to take advance order and expedite things. Further, Chick-fil-A associates are humble, something driven by the corporate culture. One of the first things you will notice when you walk into corporate headquarters is a bronze sculpture of Jesus washing the feet of one of his disciples, a pointer toward an attitude of service. The bottom line is that the whole company is focused on the objective of giving customers an unmatched and memorable experience.
The third one on my list is Domino’s Pizza. The pizza ordering process and getting status updates is so easy. They can give you exact pickup timing. Dominos has clearly figured out the customer experience is maximized when the pizza is delivered hot and when the customer sees the pizza making process. In the store, there are step stools to allow kids to step up and see the pizza being made. A big flat screen display gives instant access to order info. It’s completely easy and convenient.
Originally published at Smartgladiator.com on Feb 28, 2018.
Puga Sankara
Puga Sankara is the co-founder of Smart Gladiator LLC. Smart Gladiator designs, builds, and delivers market-leading mobile technology for retailers, distributors, and 3PL service providers. SG LoadProof is a patent pending Centralized Enterprise Photo/Video Document System on Cloud for Supply Chain. SG LP is built on the fact that photos & videos are vital docs as important as POs/SOs/Legal Contracts/Fulfillment Orders that reside in ERP/WMS/TMS systems, that serve as compelling, conclusive, unequivocal proof of crucial, critical, vital operations executed in Supply Chain within/across orgs when fulfilling customer orders as well as meeting contractual obligations between orgs as merchandise is transferred between different parties that partake in Supply Chain functions & operations. And these photos/videos data should not be stored in someone’s Smartphone or Email Inbox or in their personal/work Computer, but should be stored in a Centralized Enterprise system, where such data can be pushed into super-fast, stored securely, accessible to all stake holders (CFO/Sales Reps/Customer Support/AR/AP) in an org, as well as facilitates super-fast retrieval/sharing. LP is an Enterprise System of record for Photo/Video docs & is as important as an ERP which is an enterprise system of record for POs, SOs, Legal Contracts between parties etc. that have huge legal ramifications, also as important as a WMS (Warehouse Management System) that hold indispensable shipment & fulfillment data on orders. Like how Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat etc. have evolved into social media platforms/systems that enable individuals to showcase their beauty/pretty clothes/lovely cosmetics/hep coolness etc., LoadProof is an Enterprise system that holds similar photos/videos, but for a different reason, not for show off, but to serve as compelling, conclusive, unequivocal & indisputable system of record and proof that can be presented even in the court of law, when there is a dispute between parties while they execute many facets of the Supply Chain functions & operations. Puga is a supply chain technology professional with more than 25 years of experience in deploying capabilities in the logistics and supply chain domain. His prior roles involved managing complicated mission-critical programs driving revenue numbers, rolling out a multitude of capabilities involving more than a dozen systems, and managing a team of 30 to 50 personnel across multiple disciplines and departments in large corporations such as Hewlett Packard. He has deployed WMS for more than 30 distribution centers in his role as a senior manager with Manhattan Associates. He has also performed process analysis walk-throughs for more than 50 distribution centers for WMS process design and performance analysis review, optimizing processes for better productivity and visibility through the supply chain. Size of these DCs varied from 150,000 to 1.2 million SQFT. Puga Sankara has an MBA from Georgia Tech. He can be reached at [email protected] or visit the company at www.smartgladiator.com. Also follow him at www.pugasankara.com.
