Selling is just the end of a journey full of steps. To get there, you need to deliver a cycle of satisfying interactions that make up what we call the consumer experience. The more refined yours is, the greater your chances of generating engagement and relevance for your brand, with sales following as a natural result.
To build this complete idea of a relationship with the consumer, it’s essential to consider a few key points covered by the concept of the Experience Matrix. These pillars empower brands to engage people through a variety of elements that create the best possible perception of the company.
But how do you build this the right way? In this post on the consumer experience, we explain what the concept is and how to apply it with the help of the matrix. Read on!
What is the power of the consumer experience for brands?
A good price, a quality product, and added value. Over the past few years, these have certainly been the qualities that stood out most to consumers when choosing a company. Although they’re still essential, they no longer top the list of shoppers’ priorities.
For some consumers, a low price may still be key, but this attribute now certainly shares importance with others. After all, what good is buying an inexpensive item if you get poor service at the brand’s store? These are non-negotiable issues for customers who want a good relationship with brands.
These details that go beyond the basics are non-negotiable when it comes to crafting a perfect consumer experience. In this sense, it’s clear that brands need to think about every stage, from the marketing actions that attract people all the way to post-sale.
The ideal consumer experience is one that leaves the consumer feeling that everything works really well, that the brand is appealing, and that something makes them want to buy. This person may not even know what sparks their desire to buy, but deep down they’re certain that the brand is the right choice.
What creates this feeling is nothing more than the consumer experience. When done right, this set of techniques draws people in more easily, engages consumers, drives sales, and builds loyalty.
What is the experience matrix?
For customers to be fully engaged and feel ready not only to buy, but to buy loyally and repeatedly, you need to invest in a few pillars. When applied together, these conceptual foundations make up the experience matrix.
The concept combines four fundamental structures that should be put into practice when thinking about the consumer experience:
- Entertainment;
- Education;
- Esthetics;
- Escapism.
The idea is that, when executing the experience strategy, these pillars can converge, but not necessarily at the same time. The imbalance, designed to guide the consumer in the most appropriate way at each stage of the customer journey, is what will deliver exactly what each person expects.
This concept is easier to understand through a visual representation of the matrix:
As you can see, the entertainment and education stages focus on absorbing the idea of the products, the concept behind the services, and how what’s being sold solves problems. The esthetics and escapism pillars, on the other hand, are designed to immerse the consumer in the brand idea, something frequently done in physical retail spaces.
How do the pillars of the experience matrix work?
Each of these pillars plays a very specific role in engaging consumers within the consumer experience. Learn more about these roles and how they translate into actions and ideas.
Entertainment
Entertainment is about capturing the attention of shoppers in the store and immersing them in the brand and product idea in a playful way. Interaction is also very important for creating a lighter moment that allows the consumer to form the intended perception of the brand
Education
Every consumer needs to be educated in order to learn more about the product the brand offers. In retail spaces, education can take many different forms. This ranges from interactive displays where customers learn on their own to traditional service from a well-trained sales associate
Esthetics
Strong visual identity, sophisticated decor, and an environment whose esthetics align with the brand identity create a deeper perception of the company. It’s essential that stores are designed to deliver this immersion.
Escapism
The idea of escapism in retail is about the ability of spaces to transport people away from reality. In practice, these are places that offer a richer immersion, or that are even unique and innovative. These spaces are memorable and evoke a sense of modernity and sophistication in the consumer.
What can Apple teach us about the consumer experience?
One of the biggest success stories in the world is, without a doubt, Apple and its flagships, the concept stores. Spread across the globe, one of them is considered the brand’s ultimate benchmark: the Fifth Avenue store in New York. There, the four pillars of the experience matrix can not only be observed but actually lived.
Starting with entertainment, the store’s programming includes Today at Apple, a free daily forum featuring discussions, presentations and talks on a wide range of topics from all kinds of fields.
On the education pillar, the Fifth Avenue store stands out for its highly trained, large and diverse staff, with people speaking more than 30 different languages. There are also two types of expert teams to help with the company’s products, features and gadgets: Geniuses and Creative Pros.
The aesthetics applied in the store reflect much of Apple’s design philosophy: simple, functional and beautiful. This translates into a spacious, highly sophisticated space with several areas that capture the brand’s identity.
Finally, the idea of escapism comes to life through one of the biggest attractions of Apple’s Fifth Avenue location: the illuminated cube. Completely renovated in 2019, this innovative structure can be visited by the store’s customers and explored in a fully immersive experience.
With a perfect understanding of the experience matrix, Apple Fifth Avenue shows how the pillars can come together flawlessly.
Creating perfect experiences is a challenge for stores that want to offer much more than a good product. Building loyalty and becoming a benchmark must be a goal for anyone who wants to lead the market. To get there, embracing the pillars of the matrix, just as Apple does, is essential.
Alice Wonders can help your brand deliver perfect experiences to your customers with Technology, Innovation and Data. Check out our cases, get inspired and learn more!
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