• by Kelly Goetsch , Columnist, April 26, 2018

In the Age of Engagement, people are tethered to information and entertainment at their fingertips and barraged with messages from all vantage points throughout most of their waking hours. In this environment, shoppers want and need more than mass-produced, impersonal, uninspired buying experiences that don’t deliver any value.  

In fact, in a series of in-depth interviews with real-life shoppers, we found very few consumers who say they shop solely on price or treat their shopping experience as a simple commoditized encounter. Instead, consumers largely view the products they purchase as symbols reflective of their core values, beliefs, personalities and needs. 

Looking at buying patterns more closely, our research showed the following primary reasons shoppers buy: 

Social Validation Shoppers buy products that reflect their social values as a way to prove their “in” status in groups with which they aspire to belong. Creatives buy Apple products because of their smart simplicity and challenge of the conventional. Rabid fans buy Harley-Davidson clothing and accessories — and sometimes even motorcycles — because they reflect an image of edgy cool. In both cases, the brands’ products aren’t necessarily superior to competitors. 

Compelling Content For products that require extensive explanation, many shoppers will buy from the brand or retailer that offers the best product content experience to explain how the product answers their needs. The description of a T-shirt is pretty straight-forward, but understanding the features and benefits of a new digital projector is much more complicated. Videos, product reviews and other informational content can set the product apart.

DiscoverySelling Most products do not require discovery. When you’re short on toothpaste, you buy more. But, say you’re shopping for a birthday gift for your teenage nephew — and you don’t have any teenagers in the house for reference points. Having tools to help shoppers discover new products is of great value. ThinkGeek.com, for example, is very good at leading shoppers to product ideas.

Social Values Many shoppers buy products that reflect their social values. Tom’s Shoes famously donates a free pair of shoes to someone in the developing world for each pair of shoes purchased. The founder of Patagonia donates 10% of profits or 1% of gross sales back to environmental groups. Shoppers engage with these brands because they appeal to a core belief system beyond the product.

Convenience Many product sales are convenience-oriented, and, thus, reducing the friction in the purchasing process is key. For example, Best Buy has done a great job of generating sales through kiosks in airports, offering iPhone charging cables to hurried business travelers who forgot their gear.

Price While competing on price can land retailers in a quick race to the bottom of their margin threshold, price is still an extremely important part of the shopping equation. Look at the success of Walmart, club stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club, and off-price retailers such as Dollar Tree and Dollar General.

So, Where Does that Leave You?

While each of these key buying considerations are proven factors in creating an engaging consumer connection, it’s important to note that the last category — competing solely on price — requires tremendous capital investment and extensive fulfillment and logistics capabilities to go head-to-head with Amazon and Walmart, who generally have a lock on price-based, commodity selling. That’s a game that only a few can afford. 

Instead, most retailers should aim to add value by focusing on the buying experience and more deeply engaging with consumers in areas important to them, such as connecting around social aspirations and values, delivering compelling content, or integrating discovery selling opportunities. 

Today, the technology exists to create the experiences that keep consumers linked with the brand and build loyal buyers. Retailers and brands that do not engage with shoppers’ core values are being rapidly put out of business. The opportunity is to embrace transformative thinking about the real lives of shoppers and design a shopping journey that meets their core beliefs, values and motivations.

It is a do-or-die imperative in the Age of Engagement.