user experience matters

Today's thought-provoking read was this 2017 blog...

Posted by Madeeha Ghori on September 6, 2020

Today’s thought-provoking read was this 2017 blog post by Youngjin Yoo about his drastically different experiences at two retail stores.

First he recounts 40 minutes wasted waiting in front of the line at Office Max while the two available cashiers spent ages helping customers with complicated purchases. Then he describes Apple:

Then, I went to an Apple Store. The store was packed with people checking out the latest iPhone X. I wanted to pick up new iPhone cases for myself and my son. I went straight to the shelf to pick up two cases. All employees were busy talking to customers. So, I whipped out my iPhone, started Apple Store app, scanned the barcodes on the back of the cases, and used Apple pay to pay. I walked out with two cases in my hand. Total time experienced: 5 minutes.

No wonder why the traditional retailers are dying. It is not technology. It is bad management. Apple is just good at using the technology to create good user experiences.

This brought two thoughts to mind:

  1. I was reminded of the limits of this reach. I had a similar experience to Youngjin once doing an Amazon return at UPS. Amazon had done everything right: my transaction would only take 15 seconds. I just show up with my package, the cashier scans a barcode on my phone and hands me a receipt. I’m done. However I, the first person in line, am waiting on two cashiers handling complicated purchases. Behind me, the line grows and grows. Apple here holds the advantage of owning the entire ecosystem of their transactions (ecosystem-level thinking is, after all, Apple’s strong suit). Amazon can do everything on their end, but the bottleneck to their customer service is that of their partners.
  2. How might retail stores use technology to bring delight to in-store experiences? If the covid has taught us anything, it’s that virtual transactions » physical transactions, but virtual interactions « physical ones.

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