Gartner Retail’s Research Director, Robert Hetu, put forth a challenge to retailers post-NRF 2014. He challenged them to look past the hype of technology and focus on one burning question: “Why would a customer want to continue to purchase products from any of your channels?”
According to Hetu it is the only question that really matters no matter how basic it first appears. He asks that retailers look beyond their mission statements and in fact “be able to describe [their] value proposition[s], explain the existence and purpose for each channel and determine if these are sustainable…only then can [they] determine the strategies that will assist in building a sustainable future.”
A follow up comment to Hetu’s challenge was made by Kelsie Welch and targeted Hetu’s statement regarding hype around new technology by asking retailers to ask themselves if this technology “solves a real customer pain point or improve[s] the customer experience in a meaningful way?” Welch gives the example of a retailer asking, “Will I be able to eliminate or significantly reduce checkout wait times at my grocery stores?” She then emphasizes that “[c]ustomers are better served by retailers who support improvements to core shopping processes within their innovation strategies.” 
Hetu and Welch shed light on necessary retail management questions and they all come down to one highly valuable point: retailers need to focus on the basics of the shopping experience. You may have the latest and greatest technology, but without customers you will not stay in businesses. All implemented strategies, technological or otherwise, need to be selected based on effectiveness to increase sales and improve margins which is tied directly to the customer’s shopping experience.
As you start down the road to implementing new customer-driven strategies, pay special attention to one of the most critical aspects of the shopping experience, the waiting line. This step in the customer’s shopping process can literally make or break the experience and the customer’s likelihood to return or recommend your store.
If you do not takeaway anything else, remember to create and implement strategies that support your customers and their shopping experience before you do not have any customers left.
