In early May, Target announced a limited roll-out of a new service offering. Shoppers in the Los Angeles and Orange County area will now be able to consult with a brand-agnostic beauty concierge who’s there to offer advice and insights about the cosmetics and personal care products available at Target.
At a time when retailers are scrutinizing every expense in order to cut costs, and pundits are predicting the end of full-time retail employment, Target’s actually adding an entire new category of employee — a group that by definition will need to have greater product knowledge and customer service skills than the typical front-line worker, which may make them more expensive to recruit and retain. What’s up with that?
Know The Emotional Landscape
Target has defined its role in the marketplace as the store where guests always find more than they expect. As a brand manager, that’s a tricky concept: what does it mean to know your customer’s expectations and surpass them? An intense amount of customer knowledge is required. You need to know more than who your customers are: you need a concrete understanding of who your customers aspire to be.
If the world was perfect for your customer, what types of experiences would they have? How would they be treated by other people? What types of merchandise would they be able to buy? What types of services would they take for granted? What types of emotions would customers be feeling, on a day when everything was going right?
We’ve already seen Target addressing these questions in terms of access to merchandise. Giving guests more than they expect translates into high-end merchandise at attainable prices. Beginning in 1999, Target began offering designer clothing, including collections from Michael Graves and Issac Mizrahi. The Go International Line, which launched in 2005, features collections from world-renowned high-end designers for a period of 90 days. In many cases, Target provided the only way for their best customer —typically female, college-aged, and in her mid-forties —to access the fashions they wanted and felt they deserved.
This has been a powerful and effective strategy. Target is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, trailing only Walmart. The move to introduce beauty concierges to their offerings extends the paradigm into the world of services. The high-touch, personalized service a concierge offers is not a typical feature of the discount shopping experience, yet it would be something that Target shoppers would be able to take for granted in an ideal world. It’s a smart move that will strengthen the bond Target has with their best customers, also known as their Brand Lovers.
Be A Better Brand Manager: The Essentials
Spend time with your customers. Talk to them and listen to them, so you can learn who they are and who they want to be.
Consider every dimension of the retail experience through your customer’s eyes. Everything has an emotional impact: merchandise, services, environment, and engagement.
Look for ways to give your customers what they never thought they could have. Create an emotional landscape they never want to leave!