Being customer-centric is not a luxury. The empowered consumer is well-documented. So understanding his or her needs and motivations is more important than ever before. But that’s only half the battle. Most businesses are for-profit. So meeting – or exceeding – the consumer’s expectations can’t only be done on their terms. It is essential to tie consumer insights to business strategies.

One of my favorite recent examples of a job well-done is Ace Hardware and their ship-to-store model.

Study after study shows that consumers want free shipping. That’s not so much an insight as an observation (really, who wouldn’t want free shipping?) But rather than (a) biting the bullet and taking a lower margin, (b) upcharging the purchase to cover costs or (c) saying “no, it’s too hard,” Ace makes an offer that seems to work for everybody. FREE shipping… when you choose to Ship-to-Store.

And it’s working. In a recent eMarketer webinar titled, “The Advantages of Multichannel Marketing,” it was reported that 73% of Ace Hardware’s web orders are shipped to stores and these orders account for 80% of its online revenue. So, the numbers indicate it seems to be working for the consumer. And a noteworthy 33% of those customers who pick up an order in-store make an additional purchase. So Ace wins, too.

Ship-to-store isn’t rocket science. It just isn’t the way most marketers think of ecommerce. But the process to identifying this as an option isn’t a complicated one. Start with a consumer insight. Develop solutions that tie to both consumer needs and motivations your business’ strategic objectives. Execute. Win, win.

Addendum: In addition to free shipping, “ship-to-store” also addresses another consumer motivator – protection of time. Customers no longer have to be concerned of whether the product will be in stock when they go shopping – it will be, they made sure of it. Every week 25,000-30,000 Borders customers reserve online and pay in-store. A customer need is clearly being met. And Borders reports a similar figure to Ace Hardware – saying 35% of customers who pick up an order in-store make an additional purchase. Another win / win.

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