US retail best practices

Responsible for about a fifth of world retail sales and home to the main retail companies on the planet, the United States is a reference when thinking about this segment. On a recent trip to the country, more than observing innovative practices, it was possible to notice how some trends and good practices are already consolidated there.

Automation, characterized by replacing tasks usually performed by people with mechanical and/or electronic devices, is one of the main retail trends and it was an initiative of this type that most caught my attention there. The main retail chain in the world, Walmart has already replaced all the cashiers in some of its stores with self-checkouts, that is, there are no employees operating the cashier and the entire process is carried out by the consumer himself. In machines like the one shown in Figure 1, it is up to the consumer to scan all the products he wants to buy in the optical reader and put them in bags. Payment is also made by the customer via credit card, debit card or even cash (the machine returns the exact change to you). To leave the store, there is no special procedure. An employee eventually asks the customer to show his tax receipt and his purchases, something that did not happen during my experience at the hypermarket.

Figure 1 – Walmart self-checkout

Source: Own collection

In the Walmart parking lot, I also noticed a large number of spaces reserved for pick-up service customers. When buying on the internet, the customer has the possibility to pick up the products in a store of his choice without paying shipping for it. For certain products, the withdrawal can even be made on the same day. Grocery items, such as food and drinks, even have a special service. Through the “Grocery Pickup”, the consumer chooses during the online purchase on which day and time he wants to pick up his purchases and, in this window of time, an employee delivers your order without you having to get out of the car.

At Target, another large North American retailer, in addition to finding parking spaces reserved for pick-up services, I also noticed practices related to inventory visibility. In a previous post, I had already commented on the macy's case, and this time I was able to experience something similar at Target. On the day he returned to Brazil, he was looking for a product that he had not found in other stores. As there was no time to buy online and I had little time available before going to the airport, I searched the Target website at which nearest branch I could find the product in stock, which actually happened when I visited the indicated store.

Figure 2 – Example of inventory visibility at Target

Source: Target.com

The ease of exchanging products purchased both online and in physical stores is another well-known advantage in US retailers. In general, there is little bureaucracy in these cases, in which the customer can exchange products that have even been opened without having to provide justification for doing so.

In general, it is perceived that the large retail companies in the United States are increasingly concerned with offering greater convenience and saving the customer's time. Omnichannel initiatives are also a reality in the country, making customers find fewer and fewer barriers between the virtual and physical experience. In order to see similar initiatives implemented in Brazil, there is a feeling that we still need to invest more in technology, transparency and trust.

References

<https://www.emarketer.com/Article/US-Retail-Sales-Near-5-Trillion-2016/1013368>

<https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/global-powers-of-retailing.html>

<https://www.motherrisingbirth.com/2016/09/my-walmart-grocery-pickup-review.html>