IRL Tuesdays is a series where every Tuesday I post about the parallels between real life and websites. Featuring a comic written by Koldo Barroso and me.
Last week, I decided to make a trip to K-Mart to see if they had any decent flower pots for my new Calathea plant. It was sort of a last resort type deal after we went to 3 other places first. I mean, K-Mart isn’t really the first place you’d look for a nice flower pot. Speaking of that, why are most flower pots so offensive to the sight? We’re putting these things in our houses, you know.
After discovering the origins of the objects that end up in Goodwill, we finally find our match. A beautiful black pot with exploding green specks that perfectly suit the color of the leaves on our plant. Win! Relieved and happy, we take it to the check-out counter. But, as it turns out, this particular pot doesn’t have a sticker. Oops. That’s ok though, we can wait while they do a price check on it. Not the end of the world.
After about 10 minutes of waiting, the cashier keys in the numbers manually. I slide my debit card through the machine and promptly see the options to choose either “yes” or “no” along with this unexpected question, “Did you know that K-Mart is open on Thanksgiving?”.
My first reaction was panic. Oh my God, did I forget to buy the turkey again? … Wait a second, isn’t it July?
Then, I start getting a little paranoid. Why are they asking me this? Are they going to keep my data and remember my choice later for evil purposes? Like calling me on Thanksgiving day to tell me to come on over because it’s “Kmartsmart”? Forget family time on Thanksgiving because what I really want to do is spend the day roaming around K-Mart doing my shopping at the last minute. Now why didn’t I think of that myself?
I decide I’m not game. I get annoyed and try to override it by sliding my card through again. And again.
The cashier notices my annoyance and quickly inputs an override, while saying sheepishly, “It’s because they want you to know we’re open on Thanksgiving” and then quickly adding after that, “But I guess we could just tell people that.”. Um, yeah. You could.
So, how does this relate to websites?
When you ask people for extra information you don’t really need, right at the moment when they’re trying to hand you money, you’re going to annoy them. One of the very worst offenses is making people register in order to go through the checkout process on an e-commerce site. Do customers really need to have an account for that?
Or, if you have a form later on in the process for them to fill out their information while buying, think very carefully about whether or not you need all of that data. If you’re not shipping anything, do you really need their address? Do you really need their phone number? And if you do, for goodness sakes, tell them why you need it so they don’t worry you’re going to call them while they’re spending time with their families.
Don’t pretend that your customer’s world revolves around yours. You are the one who is responsible for accommodating your customer’s needs and making the process as easy as possible for them.
If you want to offer them the option to give you more information or sign up for your mailing list, you can always do that later once they’re already a happy customer.
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Yes! While clothes shopping with my son yesterday I was asked for my phone number at the checkout. I reversed the last two digits (trying to be subtle in my deceit) when the 8 year old blurts out “That’s not our phone number, Mom!”
I spent the next five minutes explaining that I just spent hard-earned money and I didn’t intend to pay anymore with endless tele-marketing calls.
“But you don’t even answer the phone.” Exactly…
Ah, kids…LOL!
I deplore being asked for my phone number too. And email address. That’s just as bad. I usually say, “Is that necessary?”. They pretty much have to say no and skip it.
Hi NN,
Congratulations on your new site!!!! Clean and simple. I like it.
Two thoughts. It is amazing how dyslexia strikes me when anyone asks for my * number (Phone, social security, …).
Hulu keeps on asking me “Is this ad relevant to you?” or, “Would you prefer to watch the I-pad, I-ped, or I-pud ad?” I just walk away and get some lemonade or a G&T, whatever. When I get back sometimes I am entertained by adverts for hair conditioner. (I am O-> and shave my cranium).
Way back in the time machine we had this saying, “Always tell the truth to your computer and lie to everyone else’s.
Thanks, Jay!
Oh, that’s a good one. Those little ads are usually annoying (I-pud, lol!). I remember when they were doing Axe body wash for like ever and I hated those ads so much.
I don’t even know if I trust my computer to keep the truth anymore either!
Lines are blurry between what’s acceptable and what’s not on the privacy side for sure. I personally think that a lot of people who share way too much (facebook!) are going to regret it at some point or another.
Loving this new site Naomi!
You’re so right about the annoyance of sign up forms and other funny things businesses do for seemingly good reasons. Sometimes we just seem to forget to think like a customer, you know?
In the case of k-mart, which was the right answer? The first time you swipe, a “no” would make sense, and the second time a “Yes” might get them off your back for awhile. Still… july, thanksgiving… nothing short of whacking you over the head right?
Thanks, Nathalie!
Totally agreed. We tend to get this tunnel vision with our own websites and don’t realize we’re not putting the customer’s wants and needs first.
I have no idea what the right answer was, lol! Maybe I should’ve pressed no just to see what happened. Still kind of surreal when I think about it.
Here’s another lovely K-Mart gem, fresh from today.
“Did you know that K-Mart has the best Craftsman tools? The best in history?” yes or no.
I selected no just to see what happened. Nothing. Hmmm….
You know, I think that asking irrelevant questions is either a play for more attention, or an attempt to be witty and memorable.
Both of those options scream I NEED ATTENTION!!!1!
(Kickass site design!)
Ha ha! Like little kids, “But mommy, look at ME!!”
Thanks for the nice compliment on my new design! I don’t like orange, but darned if I didn’t use it anyway!
What happens if you tell K-Mart that they do not have permission to share this private opinion of yours with any other organization for any reason at all, including off-site backups? Other than upsetting the checkout person, that is.
You could tell them that your expressions are, by the nature of their creation, copyrighted, and if they do so they will be in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. I have no effing idea if that last bit is true.
Then, disappearing down the Monty Pythonesque rabbit hole of what I call my mind, I thought of slightly editing the Office 97 license terms and asking to have the store manager sign it, and initial a few dozen places. What? I figure it is less than 30 or 40 pages.
A video might go viral if you UT’d it.
I’d better stop here before they come to protect ‘myself and others’ from hazard.
ttfn
p.s. Better delete this post if you desire credibility.
It would almost be worth a try just to see the looks on their faces, wouldn’t it? The clerk would be like, “Gee, that’s just great. I’m so glad I got this looney lady in today at my counter.”