Customer service crucial in beating online competitors

Amazon’s EchoDot looks like a hockey puck. But this small, voice activated device, “connects to Alexa, a cloud-based voice service that is always getting smarter. Just ask and Alexa will provide information, play music, read the news, set alarms, control smart home devices and more,” according to Amazon.

Eileen’s son gave her an EchoDot for Mother’s Day — that’s how I know all this. But this is not about EchoDot per se. It’s about online shopping versus Maine brick-and-mortar stores, and how customer service remains the deciding factor in selling.

So intrigued is Eileen by the EchoDot, she began shopping for a speaker system so her music will sound better. One of EchoDot’s conveniences? It’s wireless. Like other owners, Eileen wanted good sounding indoor/outdoor wireless stereo speakers. A standard wireless system for connecting EchoDot and speakers is Bluetooth. All Eileen needed was to find and buy acceptable stereo speakers with Bluetooth capability.

She studied a few speaker brands online, then decided to buy local.

The Walmart we visited had one associate tending to their electronics section. “Do you have Bluetooth speakers?” Eileen asked the woman who thought for a moment, repeated the phrase “Bluetooth speakers,” and said, “No, we do not have Bluetooth speakers.” “Only online?” asked Eileen. “Yes,” answered the associate, “only online.”

That made no sense. I asked, “Do you have portable stereo speakers?” The Walmart associate walked us over to an aisle. “They used to keep the portable speakers here,” she said. I walked alone to the next aisle over where shelves were loaded with portable speaker displays, most of them Bluetooth speakers.

But none of the Bluetooth speaker displays were plugged in, so we couldn’t hear them. I looked around for an electrical outlet. No luck. The Walmart associate looked too. No luck.

Another Walmart associate pulling a pallet jack came by on his way to the stockroom. “Are there any electrical outlets nearby so we can hear these speakers?” I asked. “No,” he said. “They moved all the speakers to this aisle, but they haven’t gotten electricity over here yet.”

So this Walmart has one associate minding the electronics department. She’s been an associate here 22-years, but when asked if the store had Bluetooth speakers, her first response was an unconditional, “No.” The same store has a manager who thinks moving the entire stereo speaker aisle where there’s no electrical outlets is a good idea.

Eileen bought $190 Bluetooth speakers elsewhere. How many $190 sales can a store turn away, without reason, before it starts hurting the bottom line?

Last month, Eileen stopped by a local shoe store to buy her grandson rain boots. There was a great selection of rain boots in stock, but not the right size. The store clerk apologized. We bought rain boots elsewhere.

Later, a friend shook his head when hearing our story. He gave us an alternate scenario I think is brilliant for all brick-and-mortar stores.

“The store clerk could’ve said, ‘We don’t have that size in stock, but let’s go to our computer. We can order those boots online and have them delivered to your home, free shipping,” said our friend.

Brilliant! When buying some items online — eBooks and MP3 music — we download them right away. But mostly we have online purchases shipped.

I’ve had stores offer to order me not-in-stock items I can pick up later at the store. But no store salesperson ever offered to order and ship the item to my home.

Why not? Such customer service would help brick-and-mortar stores offset online competitors, especially as Maine enters tourist season.

Scott K. Fish has served as a communications staffer for Maine Senate and House Republican caucuses, and was communications director for Senate President Kevin Raye. He founded and edited AsMaineGoes.com and served as director of communications/public relations for Maine’s Department of Corrections until 2015. He is now using his communications skills to serve clients in the private sector.