Convenience Is Latest Lure as Retailers Vie for Busy Shoppers
When Lands’ End decided to open its first full-price retail store, the catalog company didn’t opt for a mall or a trendy downtown location.
Instead, Lands’ End chose the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where it knew it could reach the same busy people who had been relying on its catalog for convenience and quality.
Just three months old, the store is jammed with shoppers who buy lots of khaki pants, polo shirts and luggage while waiting for their planes.
“If I don’t buy it now, I know I won’t find the time later this month when I’ll really want to have it,” said Marcia Minton, who purchased a $67 white cardigan sweater before she caught her plane home to Indiana.
That’s the way life goes for many busy shoppers. Thanks to the increasing demands of work and family, more and more Americans find little time for treks to the mall. But busy consumers still need to shop. So they want it to be quick and easy, and most are even willing to pay more just for the convenience.
Realizing consumers’ changing habits, many big names in retailing have started targeting the time-starved. Stores like Victoria’s Secret and Banana Republic are popping up in airports and train stations, while other merchants extend hours and offer more personal shopping, Internet options and other services geared just for hurried shoppers.
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It’s 6 p.m. on a recent Tuesday at New York’s Penn Station and commuters rush to catch their trains home to the suburbs. Some of the crowd trickles over into K mart, where they are buying everything from toilet paper to Martha Stewart bedsheets.
With 10 minutes to go before her train to Long Island, Susan Klein rushes into K mart, which is conveniently located just steps from the train platform. She has no time to waste.
“I have to buy a gift for my daughter to bring to a birthday party, and shampoo for myself and notebook paper for my kids,” said the mother of three, running down her mental shopping list as she dashed through the store. “Whatever I pick up now, I know it will save me time later.”
She gets everything she needs and makes it to the train with a minute to spare.
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Although retailers dedicate most of their expansion to sprawling suburban malls and shopping centers, a growing number of consumers find it harder and harder to shop at these mammoth structures.
They are frustrated by never-ending parking lots and mile-long hikes to the stores or merchandise they want. They struggle to find helpful salespeople and despise waiting on lengthy checkout lines.
“For me to run into the mall takes at least an hour,” Sue Smith said on her way into the Southdale shopping center outside Minneapolis. “There’s nothing quick about going to the mall.”
Instead, shoppers want to run out during lunch or make a quick stop on their way home from the office. They want stores near their work or in the airports they pass through.
A survey of 606 people nationwide by WSL Strategic Retail, a New York-based consulting firm, found that 61% said convenience is the No. 1 reason they choose to shop at a certain store.
Understanding that giant stores turn many consumers away, some retailers are taking steps to make it easier for consumers to get their shopping done fast.
“Power centers” that contain a few small stores with one or two larger anchors are becoming increasingly popular. Unlike at the mall, shoppers can drive right up to the store of their choice.
Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer known for its oversize discount centers, will test smaller 40,000-square-foot stores this year geared for people who don’t have time to circle their bigger facilities, which average about 92,000 square feet.
At Target discount stores, aisles are left wide open so that shoppers can move quickly around the store. Signs are bright and give clear, color-coded directions to everything from housewares to children’s clothes.
“We don’t want our customers to have to think too hard or have to fight their way through the store,” said Randy Rients, national director of SuperTarget stores. “They should be able to get in and out as fast as they want to.”
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For Marianne Szymanski, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to even consider shopping. The 30-year-old entrepreneur travels between Los Angeles and Milwaukee to run Toy Tips, a toy research company, and is an adjunct professor of business at USC.
“I have a few stores where I’ve made friends with the saleswomen and they know what I like,” Szymanski said. “I give them my business card, and when something comes in that they think will suit me, they call me.”
The salesperson then puts the item aside until Szymanski can steal a minute to get to the store to try it on.
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Even with better store locations and formats, some people still struggle to find time to shop. They are business executives who never break away from their desks and parents who don’t dare schlep three kids to the mall.
While Szymanski solicits sales help on her own, demand for personal shopping services run by department and specialty stores is on the rise. Many merchants see more harried consumers requesting help with everything from their business wardrobes to their Christmas shopping.
“Shoppers today have less time and less patience,” said Catherine Bloom, a personal shopper who has worked at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills for 17 years. “No one has the time anymore to find that perfect deal. They have families and lives that they must juggle first.”
Many personal shoppers spend much of their time out of the store, traveling to customers’ offices and homes to showcase their options.
At Dayton’s in Minneapolis, one shopper is so busy that he plans drop-off times with his personal shopper, who hands him his purchases through his car window when he drives up in front of the store.
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“I do all my shopping from my living room or office at work,” said Steve Schwartz, who relies on catalogs and the Internet for most of his purchases. “I work at least 15 hours a day, so I don’t have energy to go shopping anywhere. But I still need to buy things.”
Once he places an order, Schwartz doesn’t think about it again until it arrives at his home. And most of the time, he’s satisfied with his purchases, which mostly consist of dress shirts, khaki pants and gifts for friends and family.
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Those who are most time-deprived depend on catalogs and, increasingly, the Internet. With a click of an icon or a quick page through, options abound. There’s swimwear, new ski jackets, fancy shoes, groceries, music, computers.
According to the WSL Strategic Retail survey, 58% of the respondents shopped outside of a store in the last three months. They bought something from catalogs (44%), television (9%) and the Internet (5%).
And those numbers, especially Internet shopping, are expected to rise dramatically in coming years as more well-known retailers create online shopping sites that offer consumers the same merchandise available in stores.
Online sales also are expected to grow as more consumers gain access to the Internet and feel confident that their credit-card transactions are secure.
“Going directly to the consumer is becoming bigger and bigger . . . especially with the growth of single-parent households and dual-income families who have little time to spare,” said Tom Agan of the Atlanta-based retail consultants Kurt Salmon Associates. “And the potential for growth is tremendous as more people gain access to the Internet.”
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Meanwhile, those busy Americans who are stuck waiting at airports, bus terminals and train stations are finding these once-dingy transportation centers transformed into mini-malls with corridors lined with well-manicured shops.
One of the most impressive renovations is at Philadelphia International Airport, which will open a 45,000-square-foot mall with more than 30 stores in June. Pittsburgh International Airport also boasts a full-fledged shopping area, with stores like the Gap, Speedo Authentic Fitness and The Athlete’s Foot.
At the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, a $14-million renovation is nearing completion, adding many retailers like Lands’ End and Johnston & Murphy to its new, modern main terminal.
“Our passengers kept telling us that we were not meeting their expectations at the airport,” said Gordy Wennerstrom, director of commercial management and airline affairs for the Minneapolis airport.
“They wanted to have options at the airport to shop,” he said. “They wait for a plane, wait for a ride home. They had time to burn.”
Back at the Lands’ End store, the morning rush brings in lots of traffic. Foreign tourists eye the children’s clothes, while business travelers look at the classic dress shirts and ties.
John Glock of Washington picks out a new carry-on bag to replace an overstuffed backpack filled with books and papers. He plans to carry it right on the plane, forgoing a shopping bag.
“This is saving me from wasting time later,” he said. “This is something I wanted, and the store was right here. I like convenience.”
