Will He Walk Through Your Door?

It’s been weeks since the news dropped. Bob knew it was only a matter of time until his secret was out. It was time to be proactive. Bob had some free time tomorrow morning to help the situation. He knew it was only a matter of time until his wife found his name and email address on the lists that have leaked out.

Bob used his iPhone to narrow his search down to the stores most likely to meet his need. Twelve websites and eight minutes later he wasn’t certain any of these retailers would meet his needs. He settled on one about three miles from his hotel. From their website, it at least appeared to have merchandise in the price range he was after. Bob didn’t find what he wanted there. He could have found it at the store that was half a block from his hotel. Unfortunately, the owner of that jewelry store had decided his simple website was good enough. It covered all the basics: location, hours, how he got started and  a few pictures of his interior. However, nowhere did it give the impression of offering the type of  “please forgive me” gift that Bob was seeking.

Don’t worry about Bob, but do worry about changing consumer behavior

Not everyone is in Bob’s situation. Nevertheless, Bob’s search for a jeweler near his location has become common shopping behavior. Google recently reported that searches for “blank near me” has gone up 34x since 2011. How many people are searching for your type of business near them? Do you consider that when planning new locations?

Consumers in every retail category touch the web in some part of their buyer journey. In Bob’s case, he visited a few jewelers’ websites. He left most of them pretty quickly because they didn’t seem to meet his needs.

Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences. According to an IBM Tealeaf study “The Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey), more than 60 percent leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience and don’t return. Kevin, the owner of the jewelry store near the hotel,  lost the sale and a happy customer because his website wasn’t up to par for today’s customer expectations.

If you’re the owner of a retail store or restaurant, are you meeting your customer’s expectations when they land on your website from their mobile device?