The Road is Closed– We have to go Around to Get Here!

     I was in the grocery store the other day and the buzz throughout the store was the road detour a couple of blocks away.  Many of the customers, the clerks as well as the delivery drivers were all discussing how the road closures were making them drive about 1 mile further, taking more time to arrive at the store and more time to get home.

      One of the clerks asked me how the road closure impacted me.  I told her that I had no impact because I was just visiting some relatives and did not live in the community where the grocery store is located.  As I was going back to my relatives house, I began to think about the discussion in the store.

      Obviously, as human beings, we are all creatures of habit.  Most of the folks that shopped at the store appeared to be impacted by the road detour to some extent.  If you were the owner of the store, what actions, if any, would you take to help alleviate the challenges of the customers?

        There are no right answers to this question.  However, as I reviewed this matter, here are some ideas that I came up with.  Perhaps having some sales either later in the day or earlier in the day may be beneficial to your customers.  Maybe rearranging some of the products in the store may be beneficial, allowing folks to get in and get out more rapidly, especially if the road detour impacted their way home.  How do you know what to do?  ASK the customers!  Go out on the floor and ask the customers what may help them shop in your store but also get around the challenge of the road detour.  Make some road detour specials– the ideas are unlimited, however, trying something that may be “Out of Box” is one way in which to help generate more traffic for the store while having to cope with the road construction.  Give it a shot– you want the customers to have a buzz about your actions to address the road detour.  Again, you may be surprised at the results of your actions.