{"id":930,"date":"2024-01-31T22:54:58","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T22:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/6-ways-how-businesses-offer-instant-gratification-guided-selling\/"},"modified":"2024-03-01T20:05:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T20:05:43","slug":"instant-gratification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/instant-gratification\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways How Businesses Offer Instant Gratification"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Products, services, customer support; consumers want it now. They don\u2019t want to spend hours researching the right products, wait several days for delivery, and they definitely don\u2019t want to be put on hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As technology moves faster and internet speed continues to increase, our patience grows thinner.  We can share our pictures and opinions in seconds. We can send emails with a few taps. We can order items by pressing a button. We can discover products we like with a few scrolls and swipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instant gratification is nothing new. We are hardwired to follow the pleasure principle, which compels us to satisfy our needs and desires as soon as possible. What has changed is the definition of instant<\/em>. It has become to mean \u201cnow\u201d or \u201ca few seconds\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offering added-value, instant services in a culture of \u2018now\u2019 provides a real opportunity for businesses to differentiate and reduce abandonment rates. It\u2019s quickly becoming a must for modern businesses that want to satisfy their customer base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are six ways businesses are doing just that.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Same-Day Delivery vs Waiting for Days or Weeks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Just a few years ago it might have seemed unattainable to offer same-day delivery. Many businesses dismissed it as too expensive and complex to fulfill, but these days it\u2019s becoming a benchmark of customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walmart<\/strong> is piloting a same-day service through cooperation with companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Deliv. American Apparel<\/strong>, Inc. and the online apparel retailer Everlane\u00a0<\/strong>partner with Postmates to deliver clothes in 60 minutes or less. Amazon\u2019s same-day delivery service is up and running in large metropolitan areas and the company is rolling out this speedy delivery service to more cities<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Amazon<\/strong> is also working with NASA on prototypes to develop its own system of delivery drones to drop off parcels directly at their customer\u2019s doorsteps. However, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations and safety concerns make drone-powered deliveries a thing of a faraway future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The arrival of autonomous vehicles seem like a more viable opportunity for businesses to use automation for same-day delivery and to give customers instant gratification. Recently, Anheuser-Busch<\/strong> and San Francisco\u2019s Otto<\/strong>, the self-driving trucking startup acquired by Uber, made the world\u2019s first fully autonomous truck delivery, delivering 50,000 cans of Budweiser from Fort Collins, Colo. to Colorado Springs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consumer behavior is evolving and it has become apparent that they are willing to pay for such convenience. A survey from the Boston Consulting Group found that 50%<\/a> of US shoppers use same-day delivery for last-minute gifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you need convincing of its importance, consider this: 40%<\/a> of consumers said they would abandon an online shopping cart if they couldn\u2019t get gifts or flowers delivered on the same day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Click and Collect vs In-store Purchase <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sticking with the theme of delivery, click and collect is affecting the retail industry significantly. Take UK\u2019s John Lewis<\/strong>. During the Christmas season in 2016, the retail giant experienced more click and collect orders than home delivery orders for the first time in its history. Online sales grew by 19% and click and collect accounted for 56%<\/a> of all online orders.\u00a0 In fact this service was so popular with UK shoppers that many retailers ran out of slots<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not all businesses can take advantage of a tight network of store locations, there are plenty of innovations in this area. An example is CollectPlus, which cooperated with over 6,000 local store partners in the UK. Consumers can order online and collect their parcels quickly and easily from a location near them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Intelligent Digital Advice vs Lengthy, confusing research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Consumers want to make informed decisions, but they do not want to invest a huge chunk of time in research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several retailers use digital advisors or intelligent product finders to decrease indecision, increase decision confidence and reduce abandonment rates. These smart solutions engage customers in an interactive conversation and help them to quickly find products that are just right for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beauty industry<\/a> is a great example of how leading brands such as L\u2019Or\u00e9al<\/strong>, Vichy<\/strong> or the Body Shop<\/strong> are leveraging Digital advice solutions to improve customer experience and sales. From skin diagnostic tools to interactive product discovery, providing consumers with personal digital advice is effective at guiding them towards the right product in less time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here<\/a>\u00a0you can quickly build an intelligent digital advisor for your advice-seeking customers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Visualise now vs Wait and see<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Consumers want results and they want them now. By helping them to visualize items before they purchase them, you satisfy their need for instant gratification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, several paint brands are offering \u2018paint your room\u2019 tools, which allow customers to upload an image of a room and apply different paint colors. The result? They get to witness the transformation immediately. Apart from the feeling of immediacy, it increases a shopper\u2019s decision confidence and reduces abandonment rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dulux Paint Visualizer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Self-Checkout vs Waiting in Line<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Who has time to wait in line? Nobody, apparently!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013 there were 191,000 self-checkout machines worldwide \u2013 that number is estimated to reach 325,000 by 2019. The appeal to customers is clearly convenience. No longer do they have to wait in line. An NCR white paper<\/a> on the topic found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n