A recent Sears commercial with Brett Favre highlights the deliberation many people have when buying a high priced product.  People agonize over product details.  They want to make the right decision.  They do not want to regret the purchase.  Sears concludes the commercial with a promise of no regrets.  A simple concept.  Yet a promise difficult to achieve.

Sears’ no regrets promise centers on one dimension of the purchase: price.  Given their ability to do real-time price checks, Sears can probably deliver on best price at the point of time of purchase.  And that may be enough for deal seekers.  However, the reality is that regret is more than one dimension, and the “no regrets purchase” can be a huge opportunity if a marketer can solve it.

Regret has many dimensions all centering around a consumer’s personal value equation.  Price is a part of the calue equation, evaluated in context of value received.  And the valuation of a product (even the same product) can be different by person.  For example:

• Value can be how a product feature saves a person time.
• Value can be found in how a brand experience makes one feel.
• Value can be in an social association with a person and a brand. 
• Value can be how a product feature accentuates an experience.
• Value can be … you get the idea. 

Regret is difficult for many shoppers to assess at time of purchase, because many shoppers lack the foresight on how trade-offs made at purchase will impact their satisfaction with the product down the road.  This is common in vehicle purchases.  Most people buy a vehicle based on a monthly payment.  Shoppers will blindly negotiate to their payment goal, and often lose site to what they are giving up feature-wise.  This leads to buyer regret.  Most of us know someone who purchased a vehicle and wished they spent a little more and got the heated seats, higher end stereo, remote engine start, or sunroof. 

So what can a marketer do about regrets prior to purchase?  The answer is within their reach if they turn to their customers.  Ironically, the people who regret their purchase can be the best consultant for future customers.  Some customers already pay-it-forward by completing reviews of the product they purchased.   Although a review can be beneficial to shoppers, the no regrets purchase is much more robust than a review, because it takes into consideratio trade-offs people make at purchase that impact their product experience.  Also, the no regrets purchase would match people based on lifestyle, needs, and takes a perspective of the product experience over time.

Matching people by lifestyle and need takes into account how people use the product.   HDTVs are a good example.  Think of three different buyer segments for HDTVs:  older couple without kids who watch primarily broadcast television with some movies; a couple with two kids ages four and six who watch broadcast television and a lot of movies; and a single guy who is a heavy sports fan into technology and gadgets.   Although they could be looking at the same HDTV, their needs vary.  Do they need plasma versus LCD?  What contrast ratio meets their needs?  Do they need internet connectivity? 

The goal of a no regrets purchase would be to match a buyer with customer with a similar lifestyle profile, interest, and needs.   The customer could inform the shopper on functionality and features they found most beneficial.  They could talk about features they wished they spent a little more to get.  And finally they could reveal features that did not live up to expectations and may not be worth the a higher price.  Expectations can vary from delivery, to product performance, to customer support.

The robustness of a no regrets purchase would work best on high-consideration products where there is a lot of variability in product features.  In this would be products whose product lifespan is measured in multiple years and many times decades.  Examples include HDTVs, computers, cars, homes building, remodeling to name a few. 

Ownership of the no regrets application would vary.  In some product categories a retailer would be the owner, while others the manufacturer would be more effective.  What drives ownership would be the point of sale or who has the customer contact.  In electronics customer contact and assistance gravitates to the retail outlet (e.g. Best Buy, Amazon) while automotive it is the dealership or manufacturer. 

A no regrets purchase would help many shoppers.  Unfortunately, even if a no regrets program were available, I don’t know if it would help Brett Favre decide on a television.  It would be hard to match Brett up with ex-quarterbacks, er, current quarterbacks, wait, retired quarterbacks — um, either way I like the commercial.

I never was a big fan of major retailer sites (e.g. Walmart, Kmart, Sears). A few years back, my wife and I were trying to buy a hard-to-find toy box for Christmas. The only store that carried it was Kmart … online. Although the toy box only cost about $125, we ended up paying about $70 in shipping, due to bulkiness, inability to stock in the store, and they had us over a barrel (Merry Christmas!).

This holiday season I noticed while Kmart was pushing layaway, Walmart is offering free shipping to participating stores. I’m intrigued. But how good is it? As a comparison I searched for large bulky items on both Walmart and Amazon. When comparing dinette sets it was a push. Both retailers offered free shipping on some items, but the majority of dinette/kitchen sets had a separate charge for shipping (e.g. about $100 on a $500 set). Amazon offered free shipping on items they stocked, while Walmart offered free shipping online items stocked in their store.

Another comparison was on a 52″ 1080p Sony HDTV. Both had free shipping, but that is where the similarities ended. It occurred to me getting an HDTV to the local Walmart still left a span of 4.56 miles from the shipping dock to my living room. Checking the dimensions I noticed my Ford Explorer does not have the clearance inside, and strapping it to the roof rack is probably not the best way to transport a $2,000 television. On the other hand, Amazon had a wonderful shipping value proposition: Free White Glove Delivery. The White Glove delivery entails:

When you purchase this TV from Amazon.com, it receives our special white-glove delivery service. After your purchase, an agent will call you within five days to arrange delivery. At your home, delivery experts will: carry your product to any accessible room in your home — including upstairs rooms — provided the package will fit; unpack your product and place it on assembled furniture; provide a setup checklist; and remove all packing materials from your home if you wish.

Not bad. Ironically, while Walmart is trumpeting its ability to get your holiday gift most the way home, Amazon’s White Glove treatment could be this holiday’s best kept secret.