
#RetailRelevancy Excerpt #2
Great Retailers and Brands Are Removing Friction
In 2008, My boss at Walmart, Clint McClain, told me to go find friction in the shopper’s journey and remove it. It is quite simply the holy grail of retail. Nespresso can keep me supplied with great coffee to brew at home without me ever having to lift a finger and even effortlessly recycle its aluminum pods for free, so that I get a higher level of Maslow out of the experience. I pay more per cup than a Keurig but drink significantly less hyper-expensive Starbucks because the quality is at parity and I don’t have to go get it! Nespresso even has machines that will auto-order for me so that I literally don’t have to do anything at all!
This is the kind of frictionless shopper experience that every brand and retailer that sells a product should be aggressively studying, experimenting with and implementing. New entrants like Brandless are taking a step towards simplicity by removing brands all together and selling all CPG items for $3, what it calls ‘removing the brand tax’. Shoppers will reward retailers that help them simplify what is a mundane and repetitive task with their loyalty and in many cases set it and forget it with auto-replenishment.
Retail Relevancy is the upcoming book from Ted Rubin and John Andrews that takes a look at the future of retail through the lens of the shopper’s journey.

