I’ll be honest, I truly dislike shopping at this store. The only reason we bought a membership this year is to buy a single product that we can’t get anywhere else. I have never understood the appeal of having to pay to shop at a store. But I know that the Costco experience is part of American culture, and I think some lessons can be gleaned about what not to do.
Orient your customers to the offerings in your store. Costco has numbered aisles that apparently are only for internal use. They have no signs on them identifying items in that aisle. I stopped and asked a staff member whether there was a map of the store showing me what was in each aisle? His response, “Well, what are you looking for?” Hmmm.
I'm guessing the reason for the lack of orientation is either that it’s too much work to put a map together, and they want to save money, or that it’s broken on purpose, and they want people to have to wander around each and every aisle so they shop more. From my point of view, better orientation would mean I would shop there more often, as I would know what they have to offer.
Tip of the Day: Providing great orientation for your customers increases the value of your customer experience. They'll feel more comfortable and want to return more often.
Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, Costco
