Aug 19th, 2009
What Keeps You Coming Back to a Business?
We spoke of brand loyalty a long time ago, but it’s certainly one of the things that I think about whenever I consider where I shop or what I buy. Yes, there is a bit of brand loyalty in what I do–for instance, I only use operating systems by Apple, and I only buy motor vehicles from Toyota–but I also consider the eleven or so businesses I frequent regularly on island, as well as the half dozen I do online (although since one is eBay, that’s a little different).
What keeps me going to these?
1) Convenience: Hours I can deal with, being open on weekends, reasonable parking, and distances from my home or work is going to make a difference, no question.
2) Price: As expected for a finance blog, the cheaper the better. I’m much more likely to go somewhere that has great pricing than not.
3) Product availability: Some places I go have items that aren’t available anywhere else–at least not locally. For instance, Crestek is a place I go to for cleaning supplies, and there’s nowhere on island that has some of the products they do (many under their own brand).
4) Shipping: If I’m ordering online, having reasonable shipping costs is going to make a big difference. Apple ships here free; so does Amazon on most items. Some places like to charge me ridiculous prices for shipping–if they ship to Hawai’i at all. I’m not likely to order from them under those conditions!
5) Service: Service matters, but in my book, it’s less important than lots of other things–like the four above.
For me, these are reasons I will keep being loyal to a place I shop at. Some of these are definitely within control of management, but of course things like location must be strategically planned. If you do a great job with these five, I’m way more likely to buy something from you!
