Selling Without People

An excerpt from Dennis Galbraith's upcoming book, Sales Integration:

Marketers of packaged goods may not feel selling applies to them, but I submit that packaging and in-store promotions constitute selling without the involvement of store personnel. Supermarkets are certainly designed to sell. You want cereal, and sure enough, there is an isle that says cereal right on it. If you did not know the first thing about cereal, you could categorize them at a glance just by scanning the isle.

The hot cereals are together and segregated from the cold cereals. You want to know which cereals are healthy and which are for kids. That information is made clear by the product names and the artwork on the boxes. You want to know which cereals are most popular, and the amount of shelf space allocated to each product gives you an immediate indication. Which are on sale? Shelf talkers provide the answer.

To some degree, the shopper is having a discussion with the physical store and product packaging. Together, they provide a matching service by answering the shopper's questions regarding where it is, who it is for, how much it is, and which is the best value. Further demonstration of the product is provided on the side of the box. You do not need that information unless the product is in your consideration set. Just like a good sales person, the box does not try to give you the information until you request the information by lifting it off the self and turning the box.

CPG marketers and the stores retailing their products began replacing sales people decades before the internet came along. The world is a better place for it. Occasionally we need to ask a clerk where to find the Velveeta, but most shoppers are self sufficient all the way to the close. Increasingly, shoppers are taking the close into their own hands as well with self-service checkout.

How did internet shopping catch on so fast? Shoppers already understood how to navigate a sales process sans the sales person.