Walk into one of those dealerships and you can't help noticing that you're suddenly swarmed by...nobody, actually. Gone are the salesmen, clad in their Members Only-brand jackets, waiting to split off from the pack and serve up a suspiciously firm handshake. Instead, there's a carpeted area outfitted with oak desks and ceramic vases. There, in a living-room-like environment, shoppers can jump on one of three computers to access the Internet at the heightened speed of a T1 line, with MotorQuest's own home page as a guide to the Web sites of auto manufacturers, along with other sites that provide information on pricing, loans, and leasing, as well as reviews.
MotorQuest also offers NADA 2000, proprietary software that enables buyers to calculate the value of their current car directly from the National Automobile Dealership Association. NADA sends Coe monthly updates of the information. "The goal is to give the consumer everything on the Net along with all the sources of information that we have at our disposal," he explains.
To be sure, customer computers or kiosks, which shoppers can use to order products not in stock and to get additional product information, can cost tens of thousands of dollars, hog valuable floor space, and serve only one shopper at a time. But Burke and his nine interdisciplinary researchers have designed a "shopping assistant"--a handheld computer with a built-in bar-code scanner--that allows consumers to check prices and snag product descriptions from just about any spot in the store.
It could work like this: Before shopping, buyers would enter a personal profile that includes information about their dietary needs, budgetary constraints, and even a list of current prescriptions. Scan a bottle of olive oil and the computer might report that the salt content is too high, for example, or suggest a less pricey brand. The computer could even be programmed to retrieve recipes from the Martha Stewart Web site, based on the foods the user has stocked up on. "This sort of device can pull information from almost anywhere, including a store's server or a manufacturer's Web site," says Sonny Kirkley, a researcher from Indiana University's School of Education who works with Burke, "so the amount of information a consumer could access in the store is really limitless."
In addition, Burke has also developed an application that would allow shoppers to harvest reviews from like-minded people about which brand really did change their social life for the better. While the device could slow shoppers down (a definite no-no in the Internet age), Burke says his research shows that shoppers are willing to take more time if they believe it will result in a better buying decision on big items. "It takes about 12 seconds for a shopper to buy toothpaste," says Burke, "but something like a sofa is a more thoughtful purchase."
SPEED
Adding 'searchability' to store aisles
Skirt the periphery of a supermarket--where the staples like milk and eggs always seem to reside--and you can't help wondering whether stores are as user-friendly as they could be. After all, retailers want shoppers to be exposed to as many situations as possible in which their impulse-purchase reflex might kick in, thereby boosting profits. On the Internet, by contrast, a resourceful shopper can locate and purchase products with just a few taps on a keyboard. That process, however, has one obvious limitation: it can take days or even a week to receive a book from, say, Amazon.com.
But what if brick-and-mortar retailers could combine Internet-like speed with the instant gratification of real-world shopping? To that end, Burke and his colleagues have added a product-finder feature to their handheld gizmo. Having trouble locating roofing nails? Scribble the product name into the handheld device, press Enter, and--voilĂ!--a map of the store appears on the screen indicating where the product is located. The device could also save time at the checkout line. If you've scanned your purchases while cruising through the store, a self-serve cash register could read the total from the shopping assistant and then bill a credit-card number that you've stored in the device.
Such technology, of course, won't be available--never mind affordable--for another year or so. Which is why retailers like Mike Largent have sought out simpler methods to speed up the shopping experience. Largent, president and CEO of Stambaugh Hardware Co., a $30-million chain based in Boardman, Ohio, has blatantly disregarded modern merchandising rules in the name of fulfilling consumers' cravings. Since purchasing the 153-year-old chain in 1997, Largent has built six new stores and has plans to open eight more this year. None is bigger than 13,000 square feet--as compared with the company's existing units, which run to 28,000 square feet--and each carries about 18,000 different products, a considerably lighter load than what is typically carried by competitors like Home Depot, which stocks between 40,000 and 50,000 products. "Part of the problem with the big stores is that you have to walk the length of a football field just to find a doorknob," he says.
In addition, each of Largent's 21 stores is equipped with a computer, enabling customers to choose from an additional 54,000 items through the company's Web site. He's currently making deals with large wholesale distributors that will deliver products to either the customer's home or the nearest store. "As a retailer today you just can't afford to forget the Internet," says Largent. "It's impacting everyone's business."
CONVENIENCE
Create a habit-forming shopping experience
It's true that brick-and-mortar stores can't produce the same rich and vibrant interactive experience as their electronic rivals. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't try.
So believes Joshua Wesson, whose wine stores are practically walk-through Web sites. "The type of learning that the Macintosh took advantage of is precisely the sort of thing we take advantage of," says the cofounder of Best Cellars Inc., a two-unit chain based in New York City. "Our stores have a graphical user interface." Shoppers are expected to rely on visual cues, which is why the stores have no aisles.
To speed up the shopping process, Wesson has created a color-coded icon system for his entire inventory, which is priced at under $10 a bottle. Each wine falls into one of eight categories: fizzy, fresh, soft, luscious, juicy, smooth, big, and sweet. For each class, Wesson posts a colored icon along with a brief description. "Fizzy," for example, is "full of bubbles, full of fun." Wesson goes so far as to place icon stickers on the back of each wine bottle so that customers don't have to tote around a copy of Wine for Dummies to remember exactly what it is they've purchased. "We like to call it a point-and-sip environment," he says. Wesson, who employs 75, plans to open two more stores this year--one in Seattle and another in Chicago--as well as launch his own transactional Web site.
Compared with Burke's 3-D glasses, Wesson's real-world ideas seem quaint. Then again, the real world does have its limitations. But with the tools Burke is developing, even retailers with storefronts should be able to replicate enough of what shoppers value about cybershopping to make the trip worthwhile. "If you look at retail stores, they really haven't changed much in 50 years," says Burke. "The Internet is helping to force changes that were too long in coming."
Joshua Macht is a former associate editor at Inc.
