There is nothing like a retail
tire store that appeals to the senses.
(Male readers I am sure you can relate.) The smell, a medley of fresh
rubber and steel treads. A buffet of
shiny new tires in all shapes and sizes, some with raised white letters, some
low profile, some for trucks, sports cars and some for average Joe’s like me
that will fit my four-door sedan. I had
arrived at my neighborhood Discount Tire store first thing in the morning, in
time to still see the morning light sparkling off the polished chrome wheels on
display in-store. It was a routine
visit. I was here only to get my tires rotated.
I have been a loyal customer of Discount Tire for fifteen plus
years. They always have great customer
service and their store employees are among the most knowledgeable of any
retailer. I also get a fair price and free tire rotations for the life of my
tires. As I sat in the waiting as my
tires were rotated, I glanced around the store.
While Discount Tire has a clean store environment, I thought to myself,
what is it they could do better? What if, while I was standing in line, there
were touch pad kiosks where I could tap in the year, make and model of my car
and not only see what tire recommendations popped up but also gave me the
option of seeing what my 10 year old car looked like with a flashy new set of
wheels to go with new tires. The first
objection to this might be the cost associated with implementing such a
program. I bet though Discount Tire could get a lot of cooperation from wheel
and tire manufacturers to offset the cost. While I was waiting, I also asked one of the
store employees if Discount Tire had an app for my iPhone. They informed me that they did not, but that
one was on the way. Wouldn’t it be
great, if this app alerted me when it was time to get my tires rotated, based
on how miles I put on my car in a year? Or what about tire care information and
safety tips? I could also use this app to track discounts I a receiving from
their loyalty program.
After getting my tires rotated, I
was off to get my haircut. This time to another chain retailer I am loyal to;
Sport Clips. Their store environment makes
me feel like I’m at a major sporting event! The waiting area has stadium seating, ESPN on
multiple screens, local sports memorabilia throughout and a locker room
environment. (Minus the locker room smell.) The only things missing are the guy yelling
“Get your popcorn and peanuts!” and the sticky stadium floors. My reasons for
being loyal to Sport Clips are essentially the same as they are for Discount
Tire. Good customer service, fair price
and in Sport Clips case, a loyalty program. Yet just like Discount Tire, there is room for
improvement. Most of it revolves around
technology and in-store messaging. What if they too had an app that linked to
my cell phone to remind me when to schedule an appointment and offered hair
care tips and tracked my loyalty rewards.
Another thing Sport Clips does is sell inexpensive combs for $.99 at the
front counter. What if they gave away
their combs? This could be used as an instant marketing message. The combs could
have the Sport Clips name on them, have a QR code that linked me to their web
site, where I could get coupons, hair care tips or donate to their cause
marketing efforts?
What do you think of my
conclusions? What is your favorite
retailer and why do you visit them. What could they do better?