The Trinity of Device success

Tap your pockets, glance around the room. Chances are you will register a few electronic devices of a modern persuasion. They are big business with Smartphones alone shipping 491.4 million units in 2011. We revel in the availability of well integrated electronic solutions to everyday challenges and would most likely be a little socially disadvantaged without them.

But what makes a successful device? Be it tablet computer, desktop, laptop or mobile handset, it’s no simple task for retailers to shoe-horn devices into a crowded market. It occurred to me that for a device to be successful it needs to lean firmly on a triangle of factors. The first is the hardware. Consumers are sharp on comparison of the numbers (even if they don’t know what they mean). Processor speeds for phones, pixel volumes for screens; contrast ratios for TV’s are all now bartering benchmarks now which not too long ago were solely the reserve of geeks and the technicians who designed them. It really is crucial to build a device with appropriate hardware. Over spec-ing will price you out of the market, and underperforming hardware gets little sympathy from the modern consumer. Many early Smartphones were loaded with features that their frail mobile processor just couldn’t handle, and some still argue the inflated price of Apple hardware is due largely to the choice of high grade hardware of questionable suitability.

The second pillar of importance for Businesses in the electronics sector is the software. When the shiny brick falls out of the block, the wide-eyed consumer is waiting for the moment when it lights up and starts to perform. At this point proper testing of software pre-installed on the device is crucial with usability and reliability being instantly scrutinised by the proud owner. If businesses get this wrong then it doesn’t matter how shiny the device, it will likely end up going through a window or on eBay. The HP TouchPad had what many considered to be a good software deployment, but it just turned people off. Something about the function of the inbuilt operating system built just never flew. On the flipside custom manufacturer deployments of the Android platform on suitable tablet hardware have taken the market by storm and brought many outsiders into the fold of mobile computing.

Finally, Businesses who want to stay the current maelstrom of electronic device retail need to get their after-sales support together. Arguably the most important of the three, it’s not just about what you sit around a development table and build in at the factory any more. Users don’t want to feel out in the cold once they have bought your product. They want to feel like they are just beginning on a journey of fun and productivity by buying it. To give them a great experience and secure a future for your next product Businesses absolutely must consider updates after the point of sale. The Blackberry playbook is a great value bit of kit with solid hardware and a good initial software setup, but it’s likely to be strangled off the shelves because its app store will never get up to speed. Alternatively staunch advocates of Apple products profess that they will forever retain unsurpassed access to apps and replacement/repair support because of the companies continued commitment to after sales engagement.

Depending on the chosen positioning strategy it is of course appropriate to lean on these three in varying degrees, but I challenge any manufacturer to ignore any one of them and still deliver a successful device.

Learning to Earn?

University fees, Unemployment, or Government deficit. There is a weary air of concern surrounding money in the UK right now. At an organisational level solvency is key, but likewise it seems the individual concern is how to earn more cash. In times of strife and uncertainty it is human nature to adopt a degree of self preservation and introverted stacking of financial sandbags around your little corner of the world.

Ask most people about their financial clout and the answer (if you get one) will invariably involve a quantification of what they "earn". Of course we all know what this means and how it might translate into lifestyle and behaviours. But with the word comes an erroneous, and I would argue, dangerous idea. As inflation soars to a three year high of 5.2% we are beginning to see the value of our pay-packet eroded at an alarming rate. We go to work, we face down recession, and we think we are "earning" a living.

Now by no means am I seeking to undermine the mentality that we (and Europe) should work our way out of recession back into less fraught financial times. What I am considering is whether we are kidding ourselves by suggesting that we are really "earning" in a climate such as this. With money losing value faster than you can hand it to a shop assistant, we are moving towards a model where value is simply being transferred 1 for 1 rather than being generated with every transaction.

In happier times when salaries are rising and the National GDP is healthy, we can all draw close to the comfort blanket of successful Capitalism as the total wealth of the nation increases along with our personal fortunes. What is most sobering about our current (albeit temporary) position is the fact that we really do need to fight for every pound.

I enjoyed myself at Dartmouth Food Festival this weekend. A brilliantly run and attended event with real quality producers on show. It did however occur to me in-between stuffing my face with pies and pasties, that every sale ringing up around me was a baby step into the gale force problem of the credit crunch hangover and its runaway inflation. Right now we aren't so much earning money, as wrestling it from the next man's wallet.

Of course the basic trade model that we have does not fundamentally change when we are in tough times, but recently the domino effect of shaky investor confidence and rising cost of living does put us in a situation which does not lay well with a reliance on Capitalism and its perpetual model of growth.

So what I am really saying is that at least in the short term we should reign in our expectation of being able to "earn" to our hearts content and fill our own wallets. Instead perhaps we should hone our sales patter and focus on providing better value to our customers. That way we might have a little more respect for the man handing over his hard earned cash, and realise that we really are all in this together.

The Death of Shopping

I am told that there was once a time when a shopping trip excited even the most reluctant or stingy of patrons. The golden era of supermarkets and shopping malls in the 1960's (http://www.groceteria.com/about/a-quick-history-of-the-supermarket/) seems to now be a thing of distant memory. A small supermarket near me has just redesigned their store in a bid to match what seems to be the status quo in modern retail. Gone are the human conveyor belts which have amused generations of children and here are the endless rows of tyrannical self-checkout machines which seem insistent on chastising every customer because they didnt "place their item in the bagging area"

Looking at our current situation I struggle to see how shopping was ever an exciting pursuit. Now of course I realise that many of our number still love the idea of heading out to the high street to buy some new shoes or try on 15 different dresses (no gender bias intended - dresses are for everyone). But for every enthusiastic shopper you see skipping through department stores, there would seem to be 3 reluctant bag carriers following in their wake.

I thought that retailers were supposed to be providing us a service and a 'shopping experience'? Well the trend would seem to be an increase in manual labour for the customer and an overall decline in human interaction during the shopping process. In a time of recession it would seem prudent to be engaging the customer in any way possible, how else will they be separated from their hard earned cash?

Many towns are nurturing a growing traditional market community (collection of interesting articles here: http://www.wolvercotefarmersmarket.co.uk/news.html). I believe this a clear indication that there is still a place for one-on-one, whites of the eyes transactions. Far flung from the world of Robotic shopping, hoards of shoppers head to the grocery and meat stands of these street and farmers markets with a look of wide eyed fascination. Spotty pears and mud specked eggs are seen as a rustic qualification instead of grounds for a complaint as they would be in high street supermarkets a few meters away.

There is a fine line between offering choice and convinience and retailers taking the easy option in the form of unmanned supermarkets, self service retail outlets, and 24/7 online ordering. Retailers might say that they are giving us what we want, but are they infact taking the easy option at our expense?

Why not divert to your nearest street market, or spark up a conversation with nearest shop attendent next time you hit the high street and reacquaint yourself with the joy (or at least the humanity) of shopping.

"We would like to offer you a gesture of averagewill.."

The phrase "A gesture of goodwill" seems to be bandied around a lot these days. It occurred to me today that more often than that it exactly what it is, a gesture, often a fairly limp one at that.

Increasingly seems like companies will continuously deliver some pretty ropey service or substandard products and wait to see what happens. I sometimes get the feeling that shop assistants know that they are essentially passing off rubbish and are just waiting, tongue in cheek, for someone to mention that the sandwich they have just bought looks like it was found behind a radiator, or that the phone they have just bought might as well be a laptop for the amount it needs charging. All to often we remain silent however.

But when things do go awry it seems like the heavens open, just look at Watchdog which has recently been revived on the BBC by the seething latent mass of customer distaste with what we get for our money. Couple that with the frustration collected from the British pass time of Queueing for everything and you make for a potent cocktail. How many times have you seen the long suffering housewife stalking the supermarket with a menacing look and a large trolley? or the suit wearing executive one mocha away from a brawl in his nearest Costa?

Yet all things considered it is funny how easily placated we are when such a gesture is offered. I have been guilty of turning from an outraged Anne Robinson to a grinning Christine Bleakly at the mere mention of a partial refund on my line rental or a free innocent smoothie.

What I would say is that it seems like you don't get if you don't ask. The silent majority are on the short end of a good deal, and even the most casual of boat rockers seems to put the wind up most retailers these days.

So next time you are mildly dissatisfied, can I suggest a strongly worded letter?