Veddatorial

POST-PANDEMIC

By Dan Vedda

I’ve noticed something interesting during the first quarter of 2021. A number of factors lined up to increase our store traffic: better weather, increasing vaccine distribution and fewer COVID-19 cases in Ohio all seemed to be influencing consumer willingness to go out and shop. Even while remaining masked and distancing, there were still more consumers coming through our door.

But that isn’t what I found interesting, although it was a relief. The trend I observed with new eyes was impulse buying. It’s always been a linchpin of the brick-and-mortar experience, but now customers seemed to be shopping with a sense of renewal, or at least a fresh outlook. People were browsing books more and buying things they did not specifically come to the store to buy. They were adding on items at the counter as they checked out. Startlingly, we had several people discover the store for the first time and walk out with guitars, amps or a slew of books, having entered the store simply out of curiosity. Praise be, they were shopping!

Impulse buying has always fascinated me. There are, of course, hundreds of books on the subject, from the most scholarly math-based analyses to pop-psychology babble. But when I searched for some examples specifically about brick and mortar vs. online impulse buying, most of the articles and references were not only pre-pandemic, but almost a decade old. So much has happened since 2013!

In brief, impulse buying exists on both platforms, unquestionably. But the in-person version of impulse buying — the sort that I witnessed in my store over the last three months — is more sensory driven, touchy-feely, “ooh, shiny object” purchasing. Online shopping seems to have more reflexive “click a suggestion” or “I need another $10 to get free freight” impulsiveness to it.

Online, a sudden popup offering another product can be simply an annoyance. There’s also growing hesitation when a sponsored Facebook post or a margin ad shows something engaging: “Is this legit? Is someone stealing intellectual property? Will I even get the merchandise if I order it?” But in a store, catching sight of a counter display or walking in and immediately seeing a promotional endcap captures consumer attention in a good way, without invoking the hesitation that online promotions can. Shoppers are more likely to feel they “discovered” items in-store, while more likely to feel manipulated online. Of course, there’s plenty of manipulation going on in a well-merchandised store, but the psychology seems less overt in person.

I was happy to see these impulse purchases in my store, of course, and it started me thinking specifically about how in-person impulse buying may now be amplified by the pandemic. Certainly, online sales exploded last year as people huddled in the safety of their homes and bought...and bought, and bought. Skewed consumer demand for personal devices has contributed to the currently scrambled goods and raw materials pipeline — to the extent, for example, that Ford and Chevy are having trouble getting the processing chips they need to manufacture certain models, reducing product availability in classic “For the want of a nail…” fashion. (Chip maker shutdowns and hesitation ordering components in the face of accelerated consumer demand have affected the MI market as well. Our industry is no stranger to these very same forces and faces similar shortages, with audio manufacturers particularly affected.)

But now that people are leaving their homes at last, I believe that shopping (like almost every non-home experience) is novel for a lot of people. Being back in a store, actually handling the products, seeing what the color really looks like in person and playing a new guitar are all vivid sensory experiences. Suddenly, we are viewing goods in full 360-degree surround-sound non-haptic glory. It’s virtual reality, without the virtual! The products are real and present, and maybe the fresh air has gone to our heads, but shopping is a thing again!

I also don’t discount the “support local business” ethos. There’s been increased awareness on that front; so many people coming in and asking how we’re doing. It’s gratifying, and something I never would have seen during the “your guitar strings are 25 cents more than the guy down the street” days in the ‘80s.

But can this all be chalked up to the novelty of getting back into stores after a pandemic, or is it a trend? Honestly, I feel it’s both: While these shopping behaviors are driven by novelty, physical stores of all types have an opportunity to reinvigorate the shopping experience and grow it into a trend. I’ve always said that online shopping caught on in part because the shopping experience in physical stores had been trashed for 20 years before online carts were a thing. If a year in quarantine has left consumers hungry for an out-and-about shopping experience, let’s give them a memorable one, and keep them coming back.

I really think that the stores that provide a positive shopping experience are going to do just fine. But I’m already hearing, in our industry and others, that a year in quarantine has caused some retailers’ skills to atrophy. So just to play it safe, here are a few things we all can do to goose this hoped-for trend:

Put your best foot forward. I’ve looked around my store and noticed a batch of things — housekeeping, displays, overall clutter — that have slipped when it was just us kids in the store most of every day. I’m pushing to make the store as visually appealing as possible — particularly the view customers see as they stand at the entry.

Put your best people forward. I’m already hearing thanks from customers simply because they heard a friendly voice on the phone or because a knowledgeable person answered their questions. While receiving this type of service shouldn’t be a surprise to consumers, it seems that a number of small businesses have become embittered or (continued on page 45)