It has become a growing trend
for retailers to position themselves at airports, train stations, and hotels. And
the reason is that retailers are having to direct their offer to the growing
need for retail convenience for their customers.
Jeans West recently opened
its first airport store in WA and that is being repeated around the globe as
retailers lock into a variety of local and international clientele, often with
a few hours to kill, who are bound to one location. In our busy day to day
lives, a forced dwell time becomes convenient shopping time. It is all about
fitting as much as we can into hectic lifestyles.
Another handy dwell time for
consumers is sitting on the couch at night which is why internet shopping
and/or browsing, is so popular. When you are pressed for time it makes sense to
do some pre-planning before the actual shopping trip.
And there are many examples
of retailers doing things to ease the strain on
consumers. Harvey Norman recently
announced a 3 hour delivery service in capital cities around Australia. Amazon
Fresh is a home/business delivery service that has changed the face of fresh
food purchasing in the US, is about to be launched in the UK, and according to Amazon
it could be launched in Australia as early as next year.
Drone deliveries to the
customer’s door are being trialled by Amazon and even our own Australia Post.
We recently reported that
Woolworths are ramping up their convenience store program with smaller stores
located near transport hubs and offering ready-to-go meals and snacks.
A big trend in the UK
supermarket scene involves multi-course take away
meals – a main course, a
dessert, and a bottle of wine all for under $20.
A separate article on
Victraders this week examines the inconvenience of our sprawling market and how
we can make it more convenient for shoppers by providing shopping precincts.
Expect more to be written about this subject as retailers find new ways of
making the humble process of shopping more convenient and enjoyable for time poor consumers.