What motivates people to buy goods and services?
At Elliott Bay Book Company, I think the motivator for people to buy goods and services from the company is the atmosphere they provide. For instance, Elliott Bay is an independent and family owned bookstore, which means they are not a huge company. However, size is not an issue for this bookstore because they take pride in having a knowledgeable staff of booksellers and they focus on the customer. In addition, Elliott Bay resonates well with people because it is a relatable business entity. People identify towards a “person like themselves”, someone who shares one’s same interests such as books, sports, and travels (Strauss160). Elliott Bay has become this place and person that customers can identify with. Based on this observation, one aspect to explore for Elliott Bay would be how to make the connection with its customers even stronger.
From reading the chapter on consumer behavior online, I learned that people do only five basic things online: connect, create, enjoy, learn, and trade. Each of these basic outlines represents a marketing opportunity. The marketing opportunity I think that would be best for Elliott Bay would be to focus on the enjoy aspect. As my previous paragraph above mentioned, customers already enjoy Elliott Bay and identify with the products and services. However, Elliott Bay’s online experience could be made better known. Many consumers use the Internet to enjoy entertainment and over half of U.S. users currently watch videos online (167). I think the challenge then for Elliott Bay is to find a way to generate a deeper connection with its customers by bringing the enjoyable experience one receives from the actual bookstore to an online experience from their website.
How can Elliott Bay create an enjoyable online experience for its customers?
Since half of U.S. users currently watch videos online, one idea would be for Elliott Bay to stream videos on their website. Elliott Bay could take advantage of its well-versed book staff by filming and posting their staff’s content on the website. For instance, on Elliott Bay’s website there is currently a section titled staff picks. By clicking this link, the user is brought to a page full of headshots of the staff. If you click on an employee’s headshot photo, it leads you to that individual’s book choice and a description of the book. So an idea for Elliott Bay to connect on a deeper level with its staff and customers would be for the staff to post a video of themselves describing their hobbies, likes, dislikes, favorites books/genres, and their recommendation for books to read and why. Being able to see a picture of an employee is nice but being able to hear and really see the employee brings the experience to life. Another possible idea would be for Elliott Bay to do a mini program show once a week hosted by the staff. This show could highlight Elliott Bay’s events of the week or future events. The show could also have a bit of comedy and showcase more of the staff’s personality.
Happy Sunshine,
Connie Rae
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