What does a local pizza shop and retailers who insist on clamshell packaging have in common? They both are ignoring their customers.
In the first case the local pizza shop had a sign in the window that said, “Tables are for paying customers only.” Obviously, people are stopping into the restaurant, hanging out, and not buying much. I can see why the owner would put up the sign; the shop is in a strip mall that has no place to linger. So, it is conceivable that people would go into the shop and not order a full meal.
As for retailers, they insist on clamshell packaging because of its low cost and effectiveness. It works because you can see the product, it prevents pilferage, and it is relatively low cost. Yet the retailer’s insistence on clamshell packaging is responsible for 6,400 visits to the emergency room according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. So prevalent is the consumer sentiment about clamshell packaging that the industry calls it “wrap rage.”
In both instances, business is refusing to recognize the unmet consumer need that consumers would be willing to pay for. Is their something the pizza shop owner could do to capitalize on all the food traffic? How about offering a $4.00 cup of coffee? And the clamshell; couldn’t there be a way to easily open the product once it is out of the retail environment?
Having consumers interact with you product in unintended ways is a good thing because it opens doors to new ways of making money.
In fact that is exactly how Stanley came up with the Fubar. They noticed that the only thing that contractors were using hammers for was demolition because nail guns had made nailing obsolete.
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