Dave Wendland

Experience Counts

By Dave Wendland

Not long ago, “customer satisfaction” was a relatively simple measure of success. Provide goods and services that the customer expects, when they want them, and offer them at a fair price. A fairly straight-forward equation requiring cooperation and collaboration across the supply chain (that is, manufacturers, distributors and retail merchants) to achieve the desired outcome.

Today, consumers are seeking a higher level of satisfaction: Service measured by product selection and availability, lower prices, convenience, and — dare I — the overall shopping “experience.”

That word — experience — is the key. We think we know what it means in relation to shopping — but do we? The consumer experience could be a pleasant differentiation. Or, anticipation of the customer’s needs. It’s delivering excellence every time. In fact, for some, the consumer experience may be far more important than the product or the service or the price. This is especially true as products become more and more commoditized in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

What does “new” look like?

The Saturn “brand” of cars is an excellent example of altering the status quo as it relates to the new car shopping experience. When this division of General Motors first appeared in the market it was an entirely new way to sell, service and deliver cars. Sure, the supply chain was unchanged (automobiles move from manufacturing plants to retail dealerships and then on to the end user) but the experience was so nouveau. And so were the consumer feelings and market reaction that followed.

Another example is Starbucks. Who would have ever imagined that an “experience” could be delivered with something as ordinary as coffee? This consumer experience has been referred to as really becoming the “Third Place” between home and work — an extension of people’s front porches, or home offices (FastCompany, July 2004). Never ones to overlook a profitable trend, Starbucks recognized that it has a unique opportunity to leverage the equity of the experience and the trust that consumers have in their brand to offer other products and services. The decision to offer music options at Starbucks simply extended the shopping experience to the logical next level. And it appears consumers are hungry (and thirsty) for more.

Can retail pharmacy be transformed?

So what about retail healthcare? What if the shopping experience in a pharmacy more closely resembled a Starbucks? Why don’t customers get impatient waiting in line to order a premium-priced cup of coffee, but they get agitated waiting for their life-extending pharmaceutical?

Although the clinic phenomenon is changing the face of pharmacy, the overall shopping experience has not changed. Where’s the innovation? What would the experience look like if retail merchants worked collaboratively with their trade partners to develop an entirely new, highly memorable and appreciated consumer experience?

Our company is privileged to have a unique opportunity to transform the retail shopping experience — and we are beginning to hear rumblings that this is the next frontier for many retail operators. Our particular project revolves around a progressive regional drug chain wanting to “reinvent the pharmacy experience.” Their objective is to change the traditional mindset of delivering drugs over a pharmacy counter and placing perfectly-arranged products on the shelves like everyone else in the market. They intend to shape customer shopping habits.

Although a bit uncomfortable at first — like a pair of new shoes — management dreams of delivering a “WOW” experience and they recognize that this requires change.

The goal is for the experience to start in the parking lot and extend through every corner of the store. The project’s code name is “RxTreme Makeover,” and it is all about examining the experience from a customer’s vantage point.

In a world shaped by unique shoppers who have unique needs and expectations, the retail healthcare channel can’t afford not to invent its own unique version of a “consumer experience.” That reinvention will require the emergence of leaders who are willing to take chances.

And leaders who recognize that experience counts!

Dave Wendland, vice president, Hamacher Resource Group, LLC. The experts at Hamacher bring their unique balance of art and science to the retail health and beauty care supply chain to deliver customized marketing services, category management, data analysis and aggregation, and a portfolio of complementary capabilities to the US and UK markets. Contact them at (800) 888-0889, or visit www.hamacher.com for more information.