Q Talk

[Spurt]

Here's some interesting reading.......maybe listening to some customer feedback and suggestions would be a good thing for both customers and for QVC too....

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanpearson/2017/01/18/national-retail-federation-influencer-on-6-thin...

Retail is shifting to a shopper-based model, the way she sees it. And those merchants that cling to the retail-based model of operations and efficiencies not only fail to view their stores from the eyes of their customers; they risk not seeing any customers at all.

“The reality is when people have so many places to shop, retailers cannot afford to just look at themselves in the mirror,” said Liebmann, founder and CEO of WSL Strategic Retail, a global retail consultancy. “They really have to build their proposition around: ‘What does that person who buys from me want from me?’”

She provided a familiar example — the placement of milk at the supermarket. By tradition, it sits in the farthest corner of the store so shoppers are forced to pass through several product-laden aisles. “The last thing the mother wants to do with two kids, one screaming, is walk to the back of the store,” said Liebmann, who was named one of the five retail influencers of 2017 by the National Retail Federation.

Fortunately for that mother, there are other options. She can quickly grab milk at the gas station or drugstore. Translation: Retailers can no longer get away with the model upon which they built their empires.

[Lainey59]

I don't even have a screaming child and I hate walking to the farthest corner of the store to get milk.  Just because you make me pass hundreds of other items to get there doesn't mean I'm going to buy them.  These days you have to make a list and stick to it.  I quit going to Walmart and one of the reasons is that the dairy products are clear in the back.  Sometimes I really just need bread and milk and as this article points out I can go somewhere else where it is quicker and easier to get.

[fthunt]

Some of you have probably heard that WEGMAN'S is one of the best to work for and shop at.  They are smart:   there is a full dairy in the rear of the market........but also right up by the front doors and cashier checkout is a mini dairy case along with sweet goods and breads.  It's so great for the getting-out-of-work people who can dash in - grab their needs - and slide right to the checkout.  I'm sure the hubby who gets a 4:00 call from the wifie - honey, please stop and pick up milk and breat = appreciate it.

[pupwhipped]

Kinda had to laugh at the example with the milk. I am far from a young mother with two screaming kids in tow. I am a 61 year old woman with a bum knee after having scope surgery last year. When I go into the store now my knee will only last about 20 minutes before it seizes up on me. And then I've had it! I have to strategically plan my excursion through the store. This week I was shopping at a large Kroger and my 20 minutes was running out. I thought about getting some milk but it was way on the opposite side of where I was. So, I decided to skip it. Then I turn a corner and there is a little section right up front in the store where they had some milk. I was happy to see it there, and grabbed one. I know they've probably always been there but I just never paid much attention. In the past, I could cruise around all over the store with no problems. Not anymore.

So, young mothers and old hobbling ladies both appreciate a store that has commonly used items right up front in a convenient spot. Ha!      

[Spurt]

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@Lainey59 wrote:

I don't even have a screaming child and I hate walking to the farthest corner of the store to get milk.  Just because you make me pass hundreds of other items to get there doesn't mean I'm going to buy them.  These days you have to make a list and stick to it.  I quit going to Walmart and one of the reasons is that the dairy products are clear in the back.  Sometimes I really just need bread and milk and as this article points out I can go somewhere else where it is quicker and easier to get.

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@Lainey59 @pupwhipped

I know what you both mean ......we have one gigantic grocery store chain here....and one store in particular just drives me crazy ......they have the milk and dairy and eggs at one end of the store in the back in the corner..you have to trounce through clothes, garden stuff, and videos to get essential food items  ..making the layout very inconvenient.....I HATE to go to that store and try to avoid it all costs!!!  Instead of making me impulse buy it makes me want to leave my basket and hurry out as fast as I can to another store....Unfortunately they do not have a few things you really need  conveniently placed in the front part of the store....

[GinaV24]

exactly right. A good example is that last weekend with the storm expected for Tuesday, I needed to just get a few things - no way I was going to the grocery store and deal with the madness. I needed milk, eggs and break (because I was out not because I was in a panic). I walked down to the local convenience store. Yes I paid a few more cents but the time and aggravation saved was worth it.

[Cumbercookie13]

I have no kids and no walking issues and having to go to the back of the store for dairy and meat is a chore. I suspect it's that way so you end up buying the impulse and reduced stuff on the way, spending more money, and because it takes up a, huge chunk of room, but having the essentials closer to the front is more consumer friendly.

[Buck-i-Nana]

I'm sure nobody involved with QVC reads any business related articles unless one of their customers posts to them telling them do to so right?

Yeah, I'm being snarky, it's that kind of dreary miserable day here and perhaps I'm too cranky to be reading the forum today, but honestly....the constant business advice to QVC from so many customer experts here makes me wonder why these experts aren't in business themselves or running making moves to sit on the board of directors where they can implement all their magnificent suggestions.

[Perkup]

My screaming kids are now all grown up with screaming kids  and grandkids of their own. And me, I'm now in my early 80's, but beginning to feel the effect of grownig older. (And no, I am not elderly yet!)

We have a great Winn Dixie about 7 minutes north of my neighborhood. And I enjoy going there about once a week.  But when I need something in a hurry and don't feel up to making that major trip thru the aisles, I go to the little neighborhood Piggly Wiggly, about 7 minutes south of my neighborhood.  Their milk is in the back corner, too, BUT the back corner is only a short distance from the front door. Right through the veggies, and there it is. The bread is even closer to the front.  So WD loses my money that day thanks to their "arrangement". Really bad planning IMHO.

[ValuSkr]

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@fthunt wrote:

Some of you have probably heard that WEGMAN'S is one of the best to work for and shop at.  They are smart:   there is a full dairy in the rear of the market........but also right up by the front doors and cashier checkout is a mini dairy case along with sweet goods and breads. 

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I've always liked that about Wegmans too.  How smart of them to realize they were losing sales to convenience stores and similar outlets, where customers can zip in and out.