Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everybody,
welcome to this episode of the
NerdBrand Podcast where I can'tsay NerdBrand Podcast and we
talk about convenience becauseeverything needs to be
convenient.
And I have a story and you'lllaugh or you won't, and then
you'll never listen again.
But please do so Up next.
Hey everybody, welcome to thisepisode of the NerdBrand Podcast
(00:43):
where I'm going to talk aboutconvenience.
And the reason is is because Iwent to the store and I forgot
there's still things behindglass panes and you're probably
wondering, like, what's this gotto do with anything, jason?
It's like hang with me.
You know we chase rabbits here,but there's a point.
So you know, there's nothingmore exciting in one's life at
(01:05):
this age that I'm approaching,which is that of 50.
Oh, my God, I got really.
I don't drink, but I tell youwhat, if I did, I would take one
now mart and stand in an aisleof items that are behind glass
(01:27):
and you have to push a buttonthat sends off a siren of some
sort to let people knowsomewhere, if not everywhere,
around you that hey, there's aperson here that's going to buy
things out of this contain, outof this case.
So please come on over, unlockthe case and let's talk about it
.
Now, for those of you arethinking like jason, were you in
, like like the night?
Like no, you know there'snothing more exciting than, on a
(01:50):
tuesday, to let everybody knowin walmart that you know you
need haynes large underwear.
Like there's just nothing great.
There's nothing great aboutthat, you know.
So you just push the button,you stand there and you just
wait for sarah to come over on at in Walmart and be like, can I
help you?
Like, yeah, I want that packet.
Cause for some reason it'sbehind glass and this is what I
(02:11):
thought I would be doing with mylife on a Tuesday afternoon and
it just gives me all kinds ofyou know, confidence in myself
and I guess I'll see you over inall 17.
Cause I'm going to go and buysome Pert Plus or something
later, some soaps and things,and so you can just walk over
with me and and or I can justhit a button that alerts
(02:31):
everybody to know around thataisle that once again, I have
need of assistance for an itemthat should be easy to pick up
off the shelf and convenient topurchase.
Now, I understand, not everybodyhas these experiences.
This is probably just me.
I have a very strange life.
I think I'm a weird crap magnet, but you know what?
(02:53):
This is sort of what the gistof the show is for today.
And if it's hard to buy, if theentry point is difficult, it
doesn't matter what the price is.
People are just going to figureout a way to buy it online
later somewhere else.
So in-store experiences are asimportant as the experience they
(03:14):
have online with your brand.
See, that's how we dovetailthat, or whatever it is right.
So, anyways, a little shop talkon that.
We dive into every evolvingworld of retail and consumer
behavior.
So it's a topic that's oneveryone's mind, is it really?
Was this topic on your mindtoday?
(03:36):
Anyway, in a world where no onesleeps, it seems like time is a
precious commodity, but thedemand for convenience is kind
of an experience that'sskyrocketed.
I mean, let's let's face it,Not all of us want to be
standing in an aisle with abunch of things behind a glass
case waiting for somebody tocome along and unlock it so that
we can take the one thing thatwe used to be able to just pick
up.
Um, all right, I think I'mgetting off my soapbox now.
(03:59):
So where are we going with this?
Well, shopping was getting thething hopping in your car, going
to the store, browsing theaisles, waiting in line,
adhering to store hours, andthen you can order groceries
from your couch at 2 am and havethem delivered before breakfast
.
I don't know of anybody thatreally does that, but if you're
out there, I guess it's good foryou.
(04:20):
But this is shifting.
Factors have happened.
First, the technologyno-transcript.
(04:45):
If it's not there, it's sort ofthat's the luxury item.
Now it's not so much whatyou're buying anymore, it's the
look, it's, it's the ease ofgetting it.
So you know, spending hours ata grocery store and ordering
everything online during yourlunch break, it's a, it's a
changer, it's, it's somethingthat you can do and then move on
because it's going to bebrought to you.
Now, this shouldn't be a thing Iwould think you would want to
(05:07):
be a hat habitually do, butsometimes you just have to, and
so it comes in many forms,though.
That is convenience, onlineshopping and lightning fast
delivery, subscription boxes,and they can curate products for
you and collect, click andcollect services that help you
skip the shipping fees.
I mean, you got a meal kit outthere that you can get, and it
takes the guesswork out ofwhatever you're going to cook
(05:27):
that night and you got dronedeliveries, you got packages and
, oh my God, there's so manythings, um, but sometimes you
just want to go to the store andperuse but everything's behind
a glass.
Soon it won't be, but still,convenience even matters if
you're just window shopping,okay.
So what's the dark side of allof this as I rant?
(05:51):
Well, is convenience a goodthing?
Is all of this stuff a goodthing?
So there's concerns I have,perhaps the impact on local
businesses, for example.
You know, there, your brick andmortars are designed for you to
come in and peruse andhopefully buy something before
you leave, or to schedule anappointment, or to book
(06:11):
something for an event.
So you know this kind ofconvenience could take money off
the street and, you know,deliver directly to your door.
But it offsets that into.
Now we have, you know, moreAmazons, this and that going on,
and so you have data privacyissues that increase because
(06:33):
retailers are collectinginformation about your shopping
habits.
There's a reason why thatsquared section on the shelf one
day was $5 for your favoriteroot beer, which only has four
bottles, and I remember when ithad six, but I digress and now
it's like six or seven dollarsfor that root beer.
(06:55):
For those of you listening andknow me, it's IBC root beer.
It's in the glass bottles andit's in the Kroger aisle right
around the things, but anyways,moving on.
So what's going to be the futureof convenience?
Well, you know you can.
I don't know if I would risk100% of the time wanting my
glass root beer bottlesdelivered, any more than my ice
(07:18):
cream, and I'm just divulgingall my bad habits on this show
today, but you know where do yougo from.
Here, though, it has to beconsidered the future of
convenience.
It's going to involve morepersonalization, so AI will
anticipate your needs before youknow them.
Maybe an order gets pre-builtand made and loaded in your cart
and you get a notification tojust hit the button to say yes,
(07:39):
I want that.
And next thing, you know, $120worth of items show up to your
house and you don't rememberwhat there are.
It's happened Not to mepersonally, just saying so.
We'll see more integration ofonline and offline shopping
experiences.
Technologies will augmentreality.
Perhaps It'll blur the linesbetween physical and digital
worlds.
Can we all wait for that?
I know, I'm excited.
(08:00):
Hopefully you'll find ways tobalance that convenience with
sustainability, because, see,that's really what you want.
You know it's not a bad thingwhen you know you need um.
You know toilet paper prettyregularly, like you know
everybody.
Remember 2020, hey, nudge,nudge, wink, wink, um, you know,
now you can just order it.
And you know, like, hey, everyI don't know what your all's
(08:22):
personal habits are, I'm justputting a number out.
I'm not hinting about my own,but let's say, every eight weeks
you need to order some rollsand it does it automatically.
I mean, that's a greatexperience online, because you
know, we all know what it's liketo buy toilet paper through the
checkout lane.
Some of us have anxietyproblems with that.
I personally don't, because Idon't really give a crap what
(08:43):
you think idea Hence pushing abutton and buying in Walmart and
all that.
If you don't want to know whatI'm talking about, you're going
to have to listen to thebeginning of this episode.
Anyhow, we'll find a way tobalance this.
You also have ethicalconsiderations as well.
Some things should just not bepurchased online and remain in
(09:03):
person, at least for the fact ofthe accountability.
I don't know.
There's that If you findconvenience, you just want to.
In supporting convenience, youdo still want to support the
communities.
Some people would arguesustainability would go into
protecting the planet.
(09:24):
You know, on that side ofthings, not necessarily the
first thing I would think ofwith that word, but a lot of
people think of, you know,saving the planet and that's
great.
So sustainability with orderinggroceries versus going through
the checkout line Either way,the plastic is still coming to
your house and the baggies.
So I don't know how it doesthat, unless you actually go to
(09:45):
certain outlets now to buygroceries and you have to bring
your own bag Then, yes, sothere's that to consider.
But you know, it's somethingthat as we move forward in
society and as society changes,brands are always looking for
ways to wow people.
When your customers hit thedoor, when they cross that
(10:08):
threshold, that's when you needto wow them.
It's not just an online thingwith your ad.
It's not just a great message,it's not just a you know, oh,
that was a great ad orcommercial which apparently, you
know we're going to see a lotof those in the Super Bowl, but
it's at the.
It's at the doorstep of thebusiness the presentation, how
your store is laid out, thepaint on the walls and how it
(10:29):
contrasts with the informationyou want to show people, if it's
prices or if it's just yourlogo.
There's just all kinds ofthings to do that are subtle
things to not scream at peopleand put all kinds of flashy
activities and things in frontof people that could distract
them from what their originalintent was when they got there.
(10:52):
Um, many places, I think, havegotten away from having that
hostess at the door to uh greetand to assist.
Instead, it's been really justkept to the restaurant industry,
when it could be applied to any, I think, and that personal
(11:13):
touch, having a human, there issomething.
Now, sure, you can hire a robotI'm sure in five years we will
have robots doing this but Iwould say that there's a deeper
appreciation for that humaninvolvement at every point that
you can interject into.
For that, and the points thatyou don't want to interject that
(11:36):
into, is when it creates ablock to purchase or to access a
service.
You know, in sales it's reallycan be a fumble when you have
this and that or what aboutshappen and you just kind of
already have what the need isand you just need to go ahead
and close it.
You don't really want topresent any other possibilities
(11:58):
or things that could happen, atleast not immediately, because
you could end up blocking thesale.
You can end up really shootingyourself in the foot, because
you can worry about it later,after they sign ink.
They can always come back foranother statement of work.
It's okay.
I think most people understand.
When you ask for more, it costsmore, especially if it wasn't
in the original scope, and sofor those that don't understand
(12:21):
that well, I think that most ofsociety today would probably
look at them and ask them if youknow they understand rules for
things.
I've never really had thathappen, but I would think that
that would be a factor.
But yes, make it convenient,make it easy to find stuff, and
you know, when you do a website,it applies there.
It's really funny.
(12:42):
I think sometimes it's verydifficult for us to look at
something physical and then lookat something digital and not
see similarities in how it'sused.
Like, imagine you go to agrocery store and upon entry of
the store, it's just crowdedwith carts that no one's using.
It's got all these kiosks infront of it with just stuff and
(13:04):
you're just like I can't get tothe front door.
Man, I just want to get to thefront door and get inside
because I got to buy bananas andyou can't and it's bananas to
try to get in to buy bananas.
Well, it can be that way withdigital stuff, with properties.
I mean, keep it simple.
People have they don't?
You know they have their onething, they want to do, and if
(13:25):
you introduce too many decisions, well, well they don't really
do anything and that decisionshock will set in.
I'm hoping in the future that noone will have to ring a bell to
buy items as simple as thosethat I've made fun of, because
(13:45):
you know, you got to think it'snot convenient for a business to
have a person assist everysingle shopper in the store.
That's a huge cost.
Having somebody greet you atthe store versus somebody that
kind of walks you through thestore is a completely different
item or different thing when itcomes to purchases.
I mean, could you imagine, likeyour job at the store is to
(14:09):
wait for that light to go off,to go over there with the key to
unlock the thing, to let peoplebuy the thing.
I mean that's got to be a hugeproblem and if it doesn't happen
that often, I wonder if it's.
I would love to know what theinventory reporting is on that
for restocking, because it'sprobably dropped significantly
due to the fact that people justdon't want to bother with it if
(14:30):
they can't just reach over to ashelf and grab it and put it in
their cart.
So think about convenience.
As you're out there, whateverit is you're doing, whatever you
want people to do, make itsimple and you'll see the reward
for that financially.
If you like this episode of theNerdBrand Podcast, you know
where to go and listen moreepisodes.
It's nerdbrandagencycom slashpodcast and you can find us on
(14:53):
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Google, just search for NerdBrand Agency, or Nerd Brand
Podcast, rather, and you knoweverybody out there.
Remember, keep your nerd brandstrong.