Customers don't give a hoot about my utopian vision of ecommerce web design.
Customers don't give a shit about my interpretation of the history of mail order catalogs.
My customers want a CERTAIN EXPERIENCE (i.e. discovery, comfort, admiration, utility). They pay MONEY for it.
I'm writing this as a reminder of my shop's responsibility to do the basics right.
These are the Three Rules of Retail 101:
1. Make available the products the Customer wants.
The Customer has seasonal needs, holiday needs, day needs, night needs, and on. Is it summer? Well the Customer needs sunscreen, lip gloss, makeup that looks good in the sober sunlight. Is it snuggle season? The Customer needs face masks, eye creams, a soft matte foundation for a night out, and on.
I need to make available the products the Customer wants.
2. Present the products in a helpful way.
The Customer is smart, and wants help. She wants the best value for her need. The Retailer needs to present the right informations so that the Customers with the needs that this product satisfies is drawn to it. This needs to happen for the Customer quickly and entertainingly. No ones likes being bored. It's the Retailer's job to be useful, to-the-point, entertaining, and conveniently located. For gosh sake, there's no point in providing a map in Antartica when the people who need directions are in the city. Go to the city! Go to the people! Make it easy for them!
I recognize that I'm speaking around the point here.
I mean, if people are on Tiktok, and they are buying on Tiktok, then for gosh sake go sell on Tiktok.
Make it easy for Customers to get my help.
3. Make sure the Customer is happy.
Sometimes, you miss the ball, and the Customer never tells you.
The package doesn't arrive.
The box gets a knick.
You sent the wrong product.
Sometimes the Customer tells you — This is low hanging fruit to FIX THE PROBLEM IMMEDIATELY.
Obvious right? It's harder than it looks, I would know. The Customer messages me, and I take more than 24 hours to fix it because I'm not in the office when I read it, and the next day I forget to address it first thing. Or I see their review, weeks after they received their order, and the week I see it, I didn't make a lot of sales, so I cringe at the thought of refunding $30 for an order that cost me $20 to fulfill, so I delay the response. Or the Customer has put in what looks like an absolutely rediculous, sometimes outright fraudulent, ask.. like asking for a full refund while not sending the product back because she didn't like the scent. In those cases, I've tried to be kind and firm — Referring them to the official Return Policy. Ah. Being by-the-books is never the answer a Customer is looking for. Bending to their command seems like the only way to avoid a negative review, no matter how unfair.
Frustrating customers aside, a large majority of customers are quiet, self effacing, and would rather quietly absorb the blow than make a fuss. In those cases, the Customer quietly leaves unsatisfies without letting me know why, or when. Those are the Customers worth getting back, because they have integrity and are good receivers of the good service I'm wanting to give.. But the problem is I've made some mistake in providing it. If I'm able to fix the problem, and then continue to deliver good service, they are a great fit.
I should create a quality assurance process that checks in on the Customer and corrects problems before the Customer is "turned off".
