amazon doesn't kill the competition, the competition commits suicide!

What would happen if you treated Service as a Product like amazon does? How would you design it, whom would it appeal to, how would you price it, how would you promote it, is it exclusive to you? Importantly, what margin can you make out of it, what's its ROI?

Pretty interesting questions and propositions actually. Imagine if we could redesign our businesses from the ground up with a product like this, how differently, or not, would we operate?

More questions and not enough space to explore the endless possibilities this proposition really provides. So, let’s look at it more broadly.

What does service look like currently, maybe something around having the right product in the right place, right quantity and the right price, staff to shelve it, restock it, talk to customers, process the transaction or organise delivery and installation. What about online, remembering Amazon won the best service award over all major physical retailers in the US a few years ago, how does that work?

We realised the customer's view of excellent service was securing the right product, from a great range at the right price and getting it delivered quickly. So, based on this understanding, service, designed as a product should be quite straightforward.

We start with asking what do our customers want, or need, and can our existing culture deliver our promise. Then researching through the plethora of means available to us, we think we get a good idea for what it should look like. Then we design our strategy, new systems, processes and fulfilment abilities around this understanding, trying to achieve a single view across our stores and online.

We also know we have to move quite quickly as our customers' expectations will continue to increase. Agility and innovation are key upgradeable features we also need to design in.

You also hear statements like “we are going back to basics”, and while we all agree this is a good thing to do, often it's not always that easy to see through the digital smoke and constant "new idea, new tech" distractions constantly vying for our attention.

Retail is a constantly changing, challenging as well as an exciting industry that requires a critical, laser-like focus on the detail.

I think the one thing that if we could focus on in all this, that would make the most difference to our existing and new businesses, provide the best ROI and above all else, is exclusive to us, would be our people, the existing and new talent we bring into our businesses.

We need to begin employing on attitude and personality, as Attitude is everything, we can teach and train almost everything else. Then motivate our teams with our passion toward achieving our collective purpose (vision), being part of the journey, painting the picture of what our successful future would look like when we get there. Inviting them to choose their Ambition, another key aspect, in playing a part in our winning team and brand.

Sounds like a great product actually, culturally challenging, but deceptively easy to achieve, and a simple view of what the basics of the perfect design of service could be about.

This is how Australian retailers can differentiate and have the ability to win into the future. This also assumes that your product isn't a commodity and you are at least equal in all other aspects your consumers can see, range, depth and value etc.

(By request, this is updated from my original article written for onlineretailer.com and posted on their website and newsletter on the 1st March 2017)