6. Long-Cycle Purchasing

By James Sorensen

In this book, we focus mostly on fast-moving, frequently-purchased goods: products like cereal, carbonated soft drinks, laundry detergent, and cleaning supplies. These are routine purchases in which shoppers do not usually invest a lot of thought or effort. We discussed how the shopping and decision-making process shoppers go through when buying such items is highly habitual. We usually shop for these items on autopilot. In this chapter, however, I discuss the purchases that often require a much more engaged process: things like automobiles, apparel, computers, tablets, and home appliances. We call these long-cycle purchase items.

Shoppers purchase long-cycle items infrequently, and many things can change in the time between purchases. Since their last purchase, shoppers may no longer be familiar with the latest features or benefits of the items currently available. They may not be familiar with the brands at all. Take automobiles, for example: As the commercial famously told us, “It’s not your father’s Oldsmobile.” The features available on an automobile today have changed dramatically from just five years ago.

I recently purchased a new car for my wife. The last new car I purchased was just about 10 years ago. At that time, I focused on hot topics and new features such as safety bags, repair records, and cup holders. This time, I spent weeks researching various makes and models, reviewing Consumer Reports and other online review sites, walking the floor of the dealership, talking to friends and coworkers to learn about the must-have and nice-to-have features. I learned that rather than cup holders and safety bags, the features to study and carefully consider these days involved connectivity: onboard navigation, linking to mobile devices, onboard entertainment systems, sensing systems for safety, and other technologies that were not widely available the last time I was in the market for an automobile.

Let’s look at home appliances. The average shopper buys a home appliance such as a refrigerator or a washer and dryer set once every 10 years. The features available on a washing machine today are totally different than those available 10 years ago. Shoppers entering the market for a refrigerator for the first time in 10 years need to focus on more than in-door ice makers. They must also consider all new features such as high efficiency models, smart technology, and even indoor soda dispensers. Two of the top brands for home appliances did not even exist 10 years ago. Samsung and LG entered the home appliance market and brought new features with them.

Perhaps no consumer good experiences change more rapidly than computers. The last time you bought a new PC, you may have had only a laptop, a desktop, and two or three processor levels to choose from. Today, you must choose from a tablet, two-in-one convertibles, all-in-one devices, Chromebooks, and even smart TVs. You must choose among five or six different processors and decide whether you need or want a diversity of new features, including voice recognition, gesture control, competing operating systems, and platforms.

A consumer may decide he doesn’t need a full-feature electric razor that costs more than $100. Instead, he will continue to use much cheaper disposables. Another consumer may decide to get his old washing machine fixed rather than go through the time, energy, and expense of evaluating the myriad of new features offered with newer models. A shopper looking at tablets may decide that a tablet may be convenient for emails and web surfing, but she’d probably just spend most of her time on it playing games. Therefore, the tablet is a discretionary luxury and she should spend her money on something more productive.

My family needs to buy a new washer and dryer. My current machines are at least 15 years old and are on their last legs. They do the job, but not very effectively. My wife and I have been casually studying various makes and models of machines for several years. We searched the web and read online reviews. We even on occasion seriously discussed buying a new set of machines, but the need for a new set just hasn’t quite overcome the time, cost, effort, and complexity of the shopping process we would have to undergo to actually purchase a new washer and dryer. So, we remain on the sidelines.

Some categories may require weeks or even months of exploration before the shopper is ready to make a purchase. In the PC category, rarely does a computer literally stop working. Shoppers normally do not have to fill an immediate need for a new computer. Therefore, they can spend weeks reviewing websites, visiting stores, talking to friends and family, and evaluating their options before they finally put the coin on the counter and make their purchase.

Reducing the time between purchases by triggering—or inspiring—the need for the item at an earlier point in the cycle.

Compressing the time from trigger to purchase.

Wish—We need to plant the seed and inspire the consumer to see what might be possible.

Want—We need to help consumers envision how the product could benefit their lives.

Need—We need to show the consumer how the product will solve a pain point in her life.

Got—We need to help the consumer decide on a specific purchase and easily facilitate the transaction.

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Romancing the Sale

From the shopper’s first awareness of the opportunity of the product or service to the point at which the opportunity is translated into reality—a crescendo is achieved, the “close” of the sale. To emotionalize the process, we might refer to it as “romancing the sale.” Simply illustrated in Figure 6.1.

Figure 6.1 The long purchase cycle can be thought of as “romancing the sale,” A process that progresses from first attraction to the culmination of the sale. (From left to right: © Kurhan/Fotolia, © Phrase4Photography/Fotolia, © gstockstudio/Fotolia, © Monkey Business/Fotolia)

It all begins with simple recognition, with a positive impression, leading progressively to the completed sale!

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Herb used to listen to a motivational speaker who told his audience to put pictures of the things they wanted on their refrigerator. These pictures serve as constant, visual reminders and help progress the consumer along the desire continuum. This is a major part of retail’s role in the early stages of building desire. Be present and be a constant reminder of the benefits of the product.

The saturation of TV, print, and even digital media have made these channels less effective. Consumers often overlook or ignore messages delivered via these media. Conversely, consumers are more responsive to in-context and relevant messaging. This is where retail touchpoints, both in-store and online, play an important role.

While at a home improvement retailer shopping for shelving for their laundry room, a shopper will walk past the home appliances and spend a few minutes admiring the new features on the washing machine endcap display. The shopper notices that the machine’s drying time is twice as fast as their current machine and she realizes how much time this would save her each week, getting her one step closer to needing a new machine.

While shopping online at Amazon.com where he is buying a new video game, a shopper might see a popular new computer advertised and click on the link to see a video of its latest features. The new gesture control feature adds an amazing new dimension to gaming that gets him one step closer to wanting a new PC.

Even driving past the car dealership and seeing the elegantly displayed vehicles out front can serve as a demand builder.

All of these examples inspire and educate consumers about the benefits and features of these products, which can take them from “I don’t want it” to “I wish I had that” to “I want it,” and from “I want it” to “I need it.”

Understanding the shoppers’ path to purchase is important for all types of products, but it is imperative for long-cycle purchasing. But the focus should be less about general path-to-purchase learning and more about how to influence shoppers at each touch point. In particular, we will focus on in-store and online.

Store plays a broad role throughout the journey. Many think that the store is primarily focused on influencing shoppers late in the shopping process and closing the sale. Most stores are merchandised and set up to address these shoppers’ needs. But the store is a top method for inspiring desire prior to the trigger; it is a primary information source early in the shopping process and it is also critical to closing the sale.

Online plays an important role early and late in the journey. Early, it informs and educates about available options and helps shoppers narrow down their choices. But late in the process, it is either a convenient way to buy, or at a minimum, it serves as a way for shoppers to do a final check to confirm their purchase via reviews, ratings, and price checking.

Omnichannel is the buzzword of the day in our industry. Pure-play retailing is becoming passé and those that play only on one side will eventually lose out to the retailers that more effectively serve the customer across both in-store and online. For example, Macy’s and Nordstrom are very effective at serving the customer in both channels in a seamless way. The goal should be to deliver the shopper the same products and pricing regardless of channel, but leverage the strengths of each channel. Tactics such as click-and-collect, or the ability to return goods purchased from online to the store are things shoppers are beginning to expect.

In this framework, we categorize all purchases into one of three groups:

Grab and go: Whether it’s a long-cycle product or a frequently purchased one, an item in this category requires little thought or consideration and is purchased quickly. The shopper’s desire is to simply find a product that meets his needs. The shopper purchases quickly and moves on.

Information seeking: These are purchases that require considerable thought and education. The shopper wants relevant and trustworthy information.

Immersive experience: The shopper wants to learn something new and to be inspired.

Each channel delivers unique strengths for each group, as shown in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1 Three Long-Cycle Purchases: Relative Strengths, In-Store vs. Online

And each channel is experimenting with changes to improve and better address the strengths of the other, as shown in Table 6.2.

Table 6.2 3 Long-Cycle Purchases: Trends, In-Store vs. Online

A tipping point for a new refrigerator might simply be a broken refrigerator. If you have a fridge full of food but your refrigerator doesn’t work, you will tip to making a purchase immediately. But this is a relatively rare example. More often, a series of factors involving life changes, product benefits, and ability to pay form the tipping point. Understanding these three types of factors that lead to the tipping point, helps drive desire through communication and marketing efforts.

One of the biggest shopper challenges in this process is an encounter with conflicting reviews. One site recommends one brand and feature and another site recommends a different brand and a different feature. Limiting this type of conflicting information by keeping the shopper focused on a single information source is ideal.

Retailers can speed the process by making bold recommendations to the shopper. As any good sales person knows, we need to narrow down the selection to just a few items and help the shopper choose. Ideally, we can mine customer data or use smart “triage” to make informed recommendations, as Amazon does with its recommendation pages. But in-store we need to get more creative with smart questions by the sales staff, interactive kiosks, or even sensing technology to tailor messaging and product offerings to the shopper.

In-store the sales associate is often the secret to success in this early stage, but most sales associates are not equipped to succeed here. Most sales associates are incentivized and trained to close the sale, meaning to push sales and try to get the shopper to commit. This tactic can kill the deal for a shopper who comes to the store looking for trusted advice and education. Sales associates need to first take the time to educate the shopper and then pivot to narrowing down the choices to help the shopper make her selection.

2. What are the challenges faced by retailers (and manufacturers) of long-cycle products in terms of managing and influencing shoppers’ time?

3. Discuss the four stages a shopper goes through during a long-cycle purchase. What is the role of online retailing and information at each stage?

4. Compare and contrast strengths and weaknesses of online and offline retailing across the three stages of shopper engagement spectrum. Think of what learning can each format take from the other to improve the shopper engagement and experience.

5. Why is the initial learning/information searching stage so important in long-cycle purchases? What can retailers and manufacturers do to speed up this stage?

6. Can a long-cycle product be purchased on impulse? What factors would drive such a process?

2. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/computing-promotions/regularcatpcmcat342300050006/pcmcat342300050006.c?id=pcmcat342300050006