Transform Loyalty with Store Workshops

Many retailers have offered workshops for their prospective customers. Some of these are in-store and free, such as the do-it-yourself sessions of The Home Depot. Some are online, such as the “Healthy Eating Education” programs from Whole Foods Market. Some include a modest fee, such as “Women’s Trails and Ales” hikes organized by REI.
     Researchers at Germany’s WHU cite those three among examples in their exploration of the advantages to retailers of “transformative retail services.” TRS are characterized by contributing toward consumers’ well-being. The researchers find that when the participants appreciate the improvements in their physical or mental wellness and haven’t paid for the program, the participants’ gratitude leads to significant increases in store loyalty and modest increases in both expertise about brands carried by the store and positive feelings about purchasing those brands at the store.
     Fee-based TRS do not produce these advantages for the sponsoring retailer nearly as well. This is expected because paying money negates the gratitude which led to the loyalty. What is less expected is that charging a fee also decreases improvements in the participants’ feelings of well-being, even when the nature of the program is the same as with the free. This appears to be because an attitude of appreciation in itself nourishes the psyche.
     As a result, the researchers argue for offering TRS at no cost, designing the curriculum around improving well-being, and checking that those benefits are recognized by those who complete the program.
     Researchers at University of North Carolina and Winthrop University find that when members of a community feel gratitude toward a particular store, the loyalty they build results in a greater likelihood of repeat patronage, and also more. They begin to share news of the store with each other, develop rituals and traditions associated with the store, and help the retail business serve its customers. The help might include assisting other customers who happen to be shopping in the store at the same time; giving suggestions to the store owner for improvements; and enforcing store standards, such as tipping off staff about a shoplifter.
     However, what the sense of store community did not produce was a willingness to pay more for store items. The revenue gains come from more frequent purchases associated with store loyalty and from the operating expense savings attributable to the good citizenship behavior of those considering themselves to be members of the store community.

For your success: Retailer’s Edge: Boost Profits Using Shopper Psychology

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