Kmart is forcing consumers into an online queue when traffic volumes to the Kmart site reach certain levels to avoid the risk of affecting site performance.
Picture this, a consumer has a need to purchase a product online, they go to the Kmart site where his/her journey is halted with a message stating they need to wait (see image below).
Kmart says…
"New measures had been created to minimise the effect of the customer journey."
Kmart thinks forcing consumers to wait will enhance journeys.
There are a few reasons why this thought process is flawed...
- Consumers want to be in control of their online experiences. Forbes calls this the “empowered consumer”. ANYTIME a retailer takes this control away, consumers will stop engaging with them. Forcing consumers to wait takes control away.
- Consumers are impatient. When they have a need, they want to engage NOW. Consumers have a low tolerance for slow pageload speeds! Imagine what waiting in a queue will do.
- Consumers are shopping online during this Pandemic to avoid queues!
Kmart has decided to inconvenience the consumer to solve one or both things:
- They have significant technical issues, and/or
- There is a lack of desire to invest to resolve the issues
Would you wait in a digital line up?
This article was as tagged as Customer Experience Design , Customer Service