Over the weekend, I went to a brick and mortar store to buy a few things for an upcoming event. Of the four items I was looking for, the shelves were empty for two and they only had two (of six needed) of the third item. At a second store, the results were the same. They were out of stock of two of the items. In both cases, the people suggested I look online, but not necessarily at their store.
But here’s the thing: There is no way to capture sales that don’t happen because you are out of stock. And, when you tell people to shop elsewhere, they will.
The lessons from this time of disruption in the retail industry are important to observe and to learn from. Too often people are using Amazon’s dominance as an excuse for a poor customer experience. Website problems, out of stock inventory, and long delivery times are just a few examples of poor customer experience. And when not addressed, the business will go out of business.
Do you know how your customer experience stacks up? What actions can you today to improve your customer experience?