The Sale Is Not Over When the Customer Pays!

A customer walks into a store, buys a pack of biscuits, pays for it and walks out. Nothing unusual. But later, the customer wonders whether the other brand offered better value.

Sounds trivial? Perhaps. But that is precisely where post-purchase cognitive dissonance begins.

It need not be an expensive automobile, a diamond necklace or a premium smartphone. It could be a packet of sugar, an expensive bar of chocolate or even a box of branded apples! The value of the purchase does not necessarily determine the extent of dissatisfaction. 

The feeling of having made the wrong choice can be just as real, irrespective of the amount spent.

Behavioural scientists call this Post-Purchase Cognitive Dissonance – the discomfort or doubt a customer experiences after making a purchase, when questions about the decision begin to surface.

A competing product, an attractive offer, a negative review or even a casual comment from a friend can trigger this feeling.

What happens when the customer wants to return the product?

Refund and exchange practices differ across countries. 

In many Western markets, retailers voluntarily offer generous return policies as a matter of customer service and relationship building, alongside statutory consumer rights. The law, of course, varies by country and product category.

In India, there is no blanket legal obligation under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, requiring a retailer to refund a customer simply because they have changed their mind about a purchase. 

However, this does not absolve retailers of their obligations. Defective goods, misleading descriptions, unfair trade practices and other legitimate consumer grievances are covered by the law. 

Section 39 empowers Consumer Commissions to order refunds in appropriate cases. E-commerce businesses also have specific obligations under the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020.

There is another interesting dimension to this phenomenon.

Think about the last time a retailer, whether a neighbourhood store or an XXL retail chain, requested you to write a short online review after a purchase.

That request is almost like holding up a mirror immediately after the customer has made a decision. The review reflects whether the purchase has settled comfortably in the customer's mind or whether a little doubt still lingers.

A positive review is an affirmation. A negative one is often an indication that the customer's expectations and experience have parted ways.

So, what should retailers do?

The responsibility does not end at the billing counter. 

A genuine thank-you, product education, reassurance, responsive after-sales service and transparent return policies can go a long way.

Retailers spend considerable time and money acquiring customers. Yet, many forget to nurture the customer after the transaction.

Perhaps it is time we looked beyond conversion rates and sales per square foot.

The real test of a successful retail transaction is not just whether the customer bought the product, but whether the customer continues to feel good about having bought it.

After all, a sale is an event. Customer confidence is a relationship.

And relationships are what build retail businesses.

Buying Cars Online is Passe

After coming back home from the Voting Booth, I was sipping my 3^rd cup of coffee watching breakfast news on Tv. I showed my kids and wife, meanwhile two AVs of Tata Safari, the one which was produced in the late 1990s and the one produced this year. They were pretty impressed than I thought, honesty. Then I showed a Youtube Review of the vehicle. Though the reviewer spoke in Hindi, which kids do not understand exactly, he showed the features of the vehicle one after the other and having spent all their life in a single 4-W model, that is our beloved XUV500, they were mighty impressed with the newness that the Safari bought to experience. And mind you, all this even as we were watching a review of the model on a SmartTv. 

One day in 2012, my wife and I went around looking for an upgrade to our Hyundai Verna. Having shifted to Chennai from Bangalore and with both our parents around here, we thought a slightly larger vehicle (read: 7 seater) would be useful for long drives. We saw a few models but took test drive of just one, which was for a distance of 4 kms. After we got back in to our Verna, my wife quipped – either we buy the XUV500 or just continue with the Verna. Nothing else. My second daughter was 9 months old then. A week later, we were on our maiden trip to our Family Temple in a brand new XUV. After 66 months, sold the manual model and bought an automatic – everything else inside the cabin remaining the same but for the gear shift. 

During the lockdown period in 2020, I felt it made no sense to own the “White Elephant” anymore – a Ship is not built to be docked, after all. Thanks to a few good friends and fellow auto- enthusiasts, I refrained. Boy, I ain’t complaining. Have driven almost 18,000 kms in my XUV since Aug. 2020 when I kicked off my road trips, especially on the work front to meet my Colleagues, Distributors (of Levista Coffee) and to see first-hand the Retail Experience. Now that I am driving so much, I have a deep urge to move to another model, what with the same cabin, interiors and features in both models of XUV500 since 2012. 

I never imagined that a YouTube video would impress the secondary decision makers, rather – the Influencers – in the household while making a beloved purchase such as owning an automobile. Test Drives are an important touch-point in selling 4-W. In fact, one of the biggest reasons for success of Royal Enfield, where I worked from 2012 onwards and set-up 160 Dealerships pan-India was that the company allowed patrons and prospective customers to take the vehicle for a test ride. And alongside, offered experiential rides over weekends, special commemorative days, etc. This, worked well for the brand. When a user uses a product first hand – something that Apple first debuted in the Electronics space 2 decades back – the experience cannot be replaced by older means such as reading reviews or word of mouth from other users. 

Over the past few years, online shopping of Automobiles made some noise. In fact, I bought, rather booked my XUV500 in 2018 online for a token sum of Rs. 5,000 for which the Parent company gave me accessories worth the same value as a token of shopping online. Today, things have changed. It’s all about the experience. While family members may not give much heed to what’s beneath the hood, what matters most are the features, comfort and safety. My elder kid exclaimed when she noticed there were 6 USB ports in the new Tata Safari – something that’s perennially important for the Millennial Kids, perhaps. Wife was all excited about the Captain seats in the second row too, which gives great comfort, The very fact that a review (which is not at a showroom but in the living room) can entice potential customers, is in my humble opinion, a tip of the iceberg. The new “influencers” of buying behaviour want everything in their palmtops. Are companies listening? What’s the next big thing that could happen in this space? Virtual Reality, perhaps? Like driving inside the cockpit… Well, the day is not too far, I reckon. And of course, the charm of trials – can never be taken off ever.