There is a relatively unheard of shoe brand from New Zealand that’s silently plotting for world domination, and it’s going to succeed, if my experience with them is anything to go with. This brand has done something that most retail stores have not — developing customers with thoughtfulness.
Let me explain, this story is about Allbirds — a New Zealand born, globally expanded shoe brand who’s main purpose is to provide ethical, practical and simple shoes for your typical city casual human. They’re not really prominent compared to the big players of the world, nor are they available in your typical mega apparel stores— with all their wares sold online or through their own in person stores. I only found out about them after hearing they’re planning to IPO. I only really cared to consider them when my sneakers developed holes and the nearby shoe stores did not have anything was lightweight enough for my endless travels that didn’t look like dad’s sports shoes from the 90s. Allbirds seemed like an expensive ($95USD!) but potential option.
The first experience — online
Like all millennials the first thing I did was Google them — and it was immediately clear what they sold, and what their values were. This is a company that has the niche market we all learned in Business school sorted. They are selling environmentally friendly shoes made from wool or tree — pick your colour and size. Almost everything you need to understand their products is readily available. What got me was how simple and easy everything was. It was like an online gallery. Lessons: Keep it simple, keep it easy, convey your value and value proposition early.
The in person experience
Needing shoes to replace my self-destructing sneakers immediately, I decided to pay their Flagship Britomart store in Auckland a visit. And what an experience. You’re met not by rows of shoe boxes to try amongst shelves, but by a clean open air and high ceiling retail environment where retail staff far outnumber customers. The shoes themselves are displayed cleanly on the walls. This does a few things — it removes the anxiety and stress of shopping (I am clearly not into retail therapy), but it also creates a serviced environment, not just a shopping environment. It also creates the gallery effect I was talking about with the website — almost creating a sense of admiration and judgement for a product.
The staff were attentive and swiftly got me the shoes I had pretty much already decided on online (The tree dashers, in black). I had worn thick socks and mentioned this , and suddenly, thin socks my size appeared. This is a great example of how something small and trivial that can cause hesitation and nervousness for a customer (such as not knowing if the shoe size is because of their socks) is allievaited immediately by having the forethought to have washed and usable socks ready to go.
Payment — once you decide, they’ll pack your shoes for you and get it all sorted from the iPad, no pesky tills here! It’s also a nice touch how shoe laces are just thrown in and you can pick your own on the way out.
Lessons: A good, clean retail environment that features the same design language as your online presence creates flow for your customers, and having the foresight to be in their shoes making decisions, gives you a competitive edge and builds customer trust.
The exchange
After several days of using the shoes, I did feel slightly uncomfortable — I was a half size and went down instead of up when buying. I couldn’t shake the feeling so went back into the store wearing my shoes. Within minutes I was wearing a size higher that fit far better, and a few button presses later, I simply walked out wearing the same allbirds one size larger. Let’s pause here — this is the key to customer success and we need to break it down. Allbirds understands their customers, and they understand and trust what they sell. So much so they offer a 30 day return or exchange policy — no questions asked. Sure most online stores offer something similar, but these have conditions. Sure, retail stores usually have it, but not for shoes, and certainly not if you walk into the store wearing them.
Allbirds understands that in a digital online shopping world, you need to offer peace of mind through returns or exchanges where something doesn’t fit (especially if you’re buying shoes online). Where they’ve nailed it is they’ve brought the convenience of online retail to brick and mortar retail, and then took it a step further adding their own exchange policy flair on top. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t try all the sizes first go in the shop, come back after a week and we’ll get you sorted!
The buying journey
If you look at this buying journey as a whole, what Allbirds has done is remove the barriers to a consumer sale at every step of the way. They designed a clean website that lets you do your homework and learn more about their products. They created a retail environment that carries on the digital experience and gives you a comfortable shopping experience. They thought about factors that could influence your purchasing decision and solved for it. And to top it all off, post sale, they created a high trust, no friction returns/exchanges process. If you’re looking for a simple pair of comfortable sneakers — why wouldn’t you buy from here?
What Allbirds has done is remarkable and for me is a lesson on how our digital and physical retail worlds can work together, but more importantly, how thoughtfulness can transform the retail experience overall.