Other serious shoppers carry a list. They have the list made like it matches the isles. It is amazing. The first thing on their list is located on one side of the grocery store. If the grocery store has a left side entryway, it all starts on the left. If the grocery store has a right side entryway, it all starts on the right. Rarely does a shopper come into the grocery store, get a cart and go all the way over to the opposite side to start shopping. They begin their trek near the place where the empty carts were parked. Sometimes the store will have a display arrangement that funnels the shoppers around a section before they can enter into the main shopping area. We have a retail store named "Grocery Outlet" that does that kind of marketing move. They almost force the shoppers around a 'specials' section before they can enter the main store. It is a section usually filled with a bunch of items most shoppers did not come looking for when they came into the store. It is kind of fun watching groups of different shoppers trying to navigate their way through this section, all at the same time. Some stop to look at the specials and hold traffic up while others whisk around them in an effort to hurry up and get their shopping done. It is obvious that neither group respects the other.
The list makers are very organized. They run the cart route with precision. There are no wasted double trips down forgotten isles. They arrange their lists just like the way the grocery store arranged its isles. All they do is go up and down the isles placing what they need into their cart. Once they finish picking off an item, they look at their list to see what is next and head that way. They are already aimed correctly to go pick the next item off. They only get stressed when they forget something and have to turn back to go against the grain of the moving carts behind them. They feel like they are now swimming against the current.
Some other basket pushers seem to be the type of people that wander about aimlessly. They may use a certain isle more than once. Sometimes you see them going east to west, then other times, there they go west to east. They do not usually have a frown on their face. They look more confused than stressed. Their eyebrows are pushed all the way up. You can see them, they are easy to spot. They are the ones that use the hanging directional signs at the end of each isle that tell them where they are. The difference between them and the seriously stressed shopper is that the wanderers are always trying to find where they need to be. The serious shopper knows where they need to be and is traveling quickly to get from spot to spot. These two types of shoppers are the ones that have the most collisions in the store. They bump baskets once in awhile.
I especially like the shoppers who park their basket in an isle to go find some stuff they are looking for. They will park their basket in its spot and walk to another part of the store to get something they forgot so they do not loose their place where the basket is parked, I guess? They do not want to loose their place. They may even do this move more than once on every trip to the store. It is part of their habit. Sometimes you will drive right past an abandoned shopping cart in the isle, with stuff in it. That is owned by a traveler who is off searching for something they forgot. Just learn how to go around that one. I usually pick off a shelf item and place it into their cart, just for fun. Some actually take inventory when they return and notice it. I really do not do that, my wife would needle me about it for almost a week. However, it crossed my mind.
Then there are the cart pushers who have unruly kids with them. Those are the special ones. They give the kids food and treats to shut them up. I like that one. Those folks have not yet figured out how rewards create repeated behaviors! They just cannot believe their children act this way every time they go grocery shopping! I hear them say that to their children. I hope these people do not decide to own a business. They will mess up the checkbook without knowing what they did.
My favorite is the group shoppers. I like the cart that has the family and friends running along side the shopping effort. These groups lose track of how much they block the isles for the serious get-it-done "A" types buzzing about. The family and friends groups are the villains of the isles. They are arguing, having fun, discussing a shared event or making group decisions on what to buy for a coming event. They also can be caught sharing a recipe thought or two when they 'hit' a certain product in an isle. They are there in the store having an experience. They do not notice how much they are holding up the process for the other serious ones next to them. They are too busy having fun. Once in awhile, they will apologize to a frustrated shopper. As the serious shopper passes by, they will give each other a look of imitation that will be designed to mock how serious the eyebrows are of the serious shopper. Of course, they do this behind the serious shoppers back. I actually like this group. They add fun to the shopping experience.
It takes all kinds of shoppers to fill up a grocery store. They are all customers. They all have a mission at hand. All of them are in that grocery store trying to solve problems. They are buying stuff that will help them solve those problems. They do not like it when they cannot finish their lists. They will compromise their choices and their plans when they cannot find what they came to pick up. They go to the check-out lanes either happy or frustrated. The experience will lead them to one of those emotions. It is at the check-out lane I learn the most.
I like going to the grocery store. It has lessons laying upon lessons. Every trip is filled with lessons to be learned. It is too bad everyone is there trying to get in and get out. They miss the fun and human experiences teaching all of us how shoppers behave. There is a lot to be gained when you take the time to watch how shoppers move about. You can arrange your store to honor how the shoppers like to move about. You can arrange your advertising, your marketing plans and your display efforts to honor what you learn from how the shoppers behave. Get the shoppers into a large setting like a major grocery store and learn how to watch what is going on. It will amaze you what you can 'pick up' if you are willing to be open minded enough to find a nugget or two. There are lessons to be learned. I like going to the grocery store. The lessons are endless. Some are comical. Some are more serious.
The lesson I like the most is in the title of this post. Separate yourself from the crowd.
Once in a long while I will be standing in the check-out lane, in line with groups of other shoppers, and a person will walk by that catches the attention of everyone. You will notice heads turn and sneak a peek. For whatever reason, that person walking by the lanes has some appearance or carriage in how they appear that catches the attention of almost everyone standing in line...row after row. That person has learned how to separate themselves away from the crowd. Usually it is an attractive or unusual appearance that creates this separation. Whatever the case, almost everyone notices them as they walk by.
Among all the happenings at a busy grocery store, one person can just walk by and become noticed by almost everyone in sight. You know what I mean. You have seen this happen before. It does not happen very often, but when it does...you try not to get noticed for taking a look, too. Everybody notices this person but tries to hide how they take a peek. It is as if they need to remain on task with the shopping duties and try not to get sidetracked looking at someone who stands out in a crowd. That person gets that kind of attention. They stand out in a crowd with ease.
Does your business model stand out in a crowd? Or does your business model become part of a normal set of expected activities doing what all of the others are trying to do? Be serious, ask yourself this question.
Do you want to blend in and get lost between toothpaste and chicken wings or do you want to be something special that others notice when they travel by your business site? Do you want heads to turn when your business goes by? Or do you want to blend in and become lost inside the noise of the busy world around us?
Work on finding ways that are healthy, appropriate, moral, legal and ethical to separate your business model away from the rest of the crowd. Work on ways that help your business model become a better place for others to notice. Learn how to arrange your attraction polices to make them help your business model separate itself from the rest of the crowd. You can do it. It is something that can be done. Do what some have done to make themselves become the ones that everyone else takes a look at when they pass by them in the grocery store. Learn how to separate your business model form the rest of the crowd. Go searching for the ways to do that work.
Become the kind of business everyone else notices. Stand out in a crowd. Be noticed.
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment