…to buy.

I’m currently in the UK spending the Christmas holidays with my brother and his family.  From a marketer’s perspective, one of the things I enjoy about visiting the UK is to see how business differs from Australia and if there are any interesting new ideas.

Two things I’ve noticed…

Firstly, on a trip to Argos, an electrical retailer, I was impresssed by a facility where customers can search online for the product they want, pay for it and then collect it at a service counter after a short wait (in our case a few minutes at most).  Makes it very easy for the customer who knows what they want.

Secondly, Tesco (and I believe some other stores) has self-service checkouts where customers scan their purchases and pay for them through and automated cashier facility.  There is a degree of security with a member of staff keeping an eye on what’s happening and being available to help people.  But, as with providing guarantees, there’s the assumption that most people are honest.

Once again, this idea makes it very easy for customers who only have a few items to purchase.  I guess it’s the next generation of the “10 items or less” checkout idea.

So, a couple of good examples of businesses making it easy for their customers to buy and making their trip to the store a better experience.  And, of course, that makes those cutomers more likely to come back.