Scheduling Fittings at Specialty? Think Fast Pass!
As states lift restrictions for businesses and make efforts to restore commerce, running stores are thinking of ways to serve their community in a way that manages risk for both customers and employees. There are two risks that owners are managing, the risk of spreading the virus and the risk of spreading the fear. The correct risk management approach varies state by state. However, in nearly all states scheduling a store fitting is a part of the reopening plan.
Very few stores scheduled fittings prior to COVID-19. Those that did found them to be a good way to attract new customers or those desiring special attention. Now all stores are wondering what scheduling fit appointments looks like in the near term and perhaps the long term.
In the near term, running store appointments look at lot like a barber shop. Appointments are set online or over the phone for available stations. There is one fitter per station, a host who works the door, and a free safety who helps non-footwear customers or can conduct a fitting if a station is available. Walk-ups can book a station on the spot if available. Otherwise they can book for a later time. Although timing has varied by store, the typical appointment is scheduled for 30 minutes with a 10-minute cleaning buffer in between. This fitting model works well in an early reopening phase to ensure employee and customer trust. Early signs are promising. Conversion rates are nearly 100% and average transactions are 10%-20% higher than typical store averages. In most stores units per transaction has also increased and the hourly revenue per employee has been between $125-$150, a good mark for specialty run retail.
These encouraging metrics have caused stores consider making appointments a part of their regular business even when things return to more normal circumstances. However, the 1:1 model has a revenue ceiling and doesn’t work well on a busy Saturday, and so stores are wondering how to adapt the barber shop model to something more scalable. Trek Bicycles created an experience guide for their stores and recommended a high-end restaurant model. Like the barber shop the restaurant model offers a controlled experience where the customer is assigned to a ‘server’, but in this case the server works with more than one customer. Reservations and walk-ups are accepted up to the capacity of the servers. If the store exceeds server capacity customers can wait in line or take a number. The restaurant model helps service more customers on a busy Saturday because it allows for multiple customer engagement, but it still leaves some unanswered questions. Namely, could a store book up with reservations and begin to deter every day walk-up traffic? Don’t customers need to feel confident that they can spontaneously walk in and get the service they have grown to expect? Also, using testimonials from stores who offered appointments before COVID-19, customers who booked appointments did so because they wanted the 1:1. Once a customer gets seated for their appointment in the restaurant model, their server tends to them in the same manner as a walk-up. Does the restaurant model alienate the customer who loves the barber shop?
Perhaps running stores can take a page from the Disneyland playbook. At the Disney theme parks customers can go to their favorite ride and grab a limited number of Fast Passes that allow them to jump to the front of the line at a designated time. All guests can still stand in line, but the Fast Pass is available for those who plan. Fast Pass at a running store could allow for a set number of appointments each hour, appointments on certain days, or appointments at certain times of the day. In each instance a customer can book an appointment for a barber chair and the store can benefit from the resulting enhanced metrics. Concurrently, walk-up traffic still enjoys the traditional running store customer experience. Furthermore, this hybrid allows for managers to establish specialization in their work force. Sales associates who love the fast pace of multiple customer engagement can work the floor as those who maximize the 1:1 can take the appointments.
There seems to be little doubt that a post-Covid retail experience will be different at run specialty. Customers will toggle between store websites and showroom floors. Fittings will range from virtual to in-person. Specialized skill sets will emerge within store teams, and the customer will win because we adapted to their updated consumer lifestyle. It will be different, and it will be special.