Connecting With Your Inner Consumer

We all sometimes feel like we live two different lives, our work lives and our personal lives. To achieve a work-life balance, we strive to keep the two as separate as possible — though I often find myself carrying on about the impact of swipe fees on a business when someone complains about having to pay 3 percent more when they use their debit card at a restaurant. 

Working in the convenience store industry, however, it's common for both lives to intersect. After all, the channel caters to consumers — which we all are — and the retailers winning the foot traffic race are those who know best how to engage consumers. 

It only makes sense that when looking to convert a consumer to a loyal shopper, c-store retailers connect with their own inner consumer: What attracts you to certain stores? What do you look for in customer service? And, just as importantly, what makes you leave a store vowing never to go back?

The same concept can be applied to a retailer's mobile app strategy. As you swipe through your mobile phone and the myriad of apps on it, which ones stand out? Which ones do you, as a consumer, use more than others? Why?

As most of you know, I moderate webinars for Convenience Store News and many focus on loyalty and mobile apps. More often than not, an audience member will ask what aspects of the mobile app work best or what promotions draw the most redemptions. Speaking on a panel at the 2023 NACS Show, Jeffry Harrison, who co-founded the app platform design firm Rovertown, offered up four strategies for building a successful app:  

1. Day of the week deals;
2. Mobile games;
3. App-only coupons; and
4. Open the app to everyone.

The next time you're rethinking your mobile app strategy, you may want to ask yourself: What does my inner consumer want from an app?