design:retail - April/May 2018 - 22

shopping with paco

022

The Digital
Literacy Divide

PACO UNDERHILL
CEO & FOUNDER
ENVIROSELL

p.underhill@envirosell.com

HE HARD GOODS industries
are looking longingly at the
broader Digital Revolution.
From office product super
stores to the home goods sector to hardware to furniture
and pet supplies, all are asking themselves the
question: "When is the second stage of the revolution coming to us?" Many have developed
robust online businesses, but the integration
of that online business into their brick-andmortar formats is still in transition. How do
they use their brick-and-mortar assets to facilitate online ordering systems? Can technology be
blended into self-checkout for big orders? Can instore informational and product kiosks round out
what the world is calling omnichannel? Some basic
stumbling blocks still abound.

OLD FASHIONED CUSTOMER #1
The B2B model in retail is about servicing smalland medium-sized businesses: most are privately
held, many are family based. From catering to contracting, legacy businesses are used to doing things
the way they always have. They say: "I've been ordering supplies over the telephone since 1983. I can
do it from my truck, from my office desk and onthe-job." What about mobile phones you ask? Step
away from cities and use of mobile phones changes.
You can drive and talk on the phone. It may be illegal, but driving and texting is possible-but focused
interactions are harder. Many of the small- and
medium-sized business are where key people work
standing up or on-the-go. Finding a way to reach
this customer segment digitally is critical to growth.

OLD FASHIONED CUSTOMER #2
Digital literacy and affluence don't always walk
hand-in-hand-a hard lesson from modern retail
banking. Millennials may do everything on their
phones, but their parents and grandparents don't.
APRIL/MAY 2018

DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM

We ask the rhetorical question: "Who has the money?" In many family businesses, the office manager
and or the decision-maker is not a Millennial. Go
to digital industry capitals from Austin, Texas, to
Seattle, and baby boomer digital literacy can be
high. But go to El Paso, Texas, or Walla Walla,
Wash., and the story is different. Yes, the world is
going to change, but the question is when. At least
in the near term, the challenge is two-fold: How
important is it to hang on to that aging customer
base? Are you willing to make the effort and spend
the money to help train that legacy customer on
how you'd like them to interact with you?
In the 1990s, we worked for a major bank trying
to find ways to migrate customers from the teller
to the ATM. They hired a group of friendly young
aides to approach customers in the teller line and
ask them if they could show them how an ATM
worked. I watched a young woman approach an
older customer-the line she used was "It's just like
a slot machine, only you never lose." Cute story,
but in hard goods locations, the failure rate for
customer-focused kiosks is high-few make it past
the first year.

OLD FASHIONED STAFF
The smaller format hardware store industry has
been successful competing with the big-box stores

GLOBALSHOP.ORG

by delivering expert service. A good mix
of handy men and women help customers buy with confidence. In the big
boxes, too, the presence of good staff has
been important, both interacting with
the contractor market and the generic
homeowner. What has been interesting
is looking at the digital literacy of that
staff. Again, many are older; some have
retired from their own contracting careers. The challenge is how do they fit
into the digital transformation? The answer is they are critical. Are you willing
to train them? The answer has to be yes.
We suggest two models to review. The first is the
launch of the ATM. It is interesting to note that like
many technologies that migrate from tech to appliance status, the first ATM adapters were pink-collar
working women who recognized quickly that ATM
use saved them time. How do we position digital
transformation as an advantage to the customer?
How will it fit into a multitasking life?
The second example is the check-in kiosk at the
airport-again speed was the benefit. However, what
was more transformational was the change in physical interaction, where the interaction with airline
personnel was not over a counter, but hip-to-hip;
friendlier and, most importantly, driven by need.
Need help? I'm here to help you be self-sufficient.
You'll get through this even faster.
The tech-factor fades over time. Retail digital
transformation is facilitated by technology, but
the change is rooted first in operational transformation and second in clear, unambiguous
benefits for the customer, anchored in saving time
and money.
PACO UNDERHILL IS THE FOUNDER OF ENVIROSELL AND AUTHOR OF
THE BOOKS "WHY WE BUY" AND "WHAT WOMEN WANT." HE SHARES
HIS RETAIL AND CONSUMER INSIGHTS WITH DESIGN:RETAIL IN THIS
BI-ISSUE COLUMN.

Photo by IGOR SMICHKOV/SHUTTERSTOCK

http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM http://www.GLOBALSHOP.ORG

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of design:retail - April/May 2018