This Virtual Retail Experience Felt More Human Than Anything

Given the range of media, founders, and VCs I follow on Twitter, the platform certainly has been a brand discovery engine for me over the years. But for perhaps the first time ever, I bought a specific product based on a tweet. Well, the tweet triggered my interest in the coffee gadget — and the store visit sold me on it.

Vibhu Norby is the CEO of b8ta.

(Yes, you may have seen me profess on Twitter and Intstagram that I’m avoiding discretionary retail until there’s a COVID-19 vaccine. That hasn’t changed. This was a virtual store visit.)

I added this an Instagram story, and then to my Midtown Retail highlights, about a week ago.

When I tapped through from b8ta’s tweet, I landed on the product page* for the FrankOne Brewer. Immediately below the buy button is an equally prominent button to “Book a Virtual Appointment.” I’ve never seen that before (please let me know where else you may have). I immediately tapped it and in three short screens had my visit set up. 

As with “regular” retail visits, what happens beforehand to drive a customer into the store can set the tone for the whole experience. The lead-up to my virtual appointment was no different; I appreciated the speed and simplicity, and the opportunity to outline specifically want I wanted to accomplish.

But the three points of distinction occurring next, in the visit itself, are what impressed me most:

People, people, (people). I indicated the product I was interested in seeing and thought that simply meant I’d be matched with someone who had it nearby to show to me. But I said I wanted to see the FrankOne Brewer and I was intentionally matched with Allan, a self-described “coffee-geek” who’s even a former barista. While I’m sure this isn’t something b8ta is always able to do, it was a great touch. Allan owns the product and had the expertise and passion to tell me about it. He’s also a nice guy who came off as more human behind a mask (he was working in b8ta’s Corte Madera store during our appointment, when traffic was slow) than most retail store workers - or people, in general! - do without a mask.

It’s (still) all about the product. As e-commerce has grown, visitors to stores still expect to see product in person and my expectations for my virtual visit were no different. b8ta, which emphasizes product demos in its stores, ensured my demo would be possible virtually by scheduling my appointment to be conducted from one of their stores that had this coffee gadget. Allan had the item right in front of him and ready to be powered on.

Follow-up becomes (even more) obvious. Somehow, when I was sitting in front of my computer Zooming with b8ta knowing the e-mail inbox at my fingertips was filling up anyway, it became easier to ask for - and expect - specific follow-up. Since Allan had said at the start he recently acquired the FrankOne and was figuring out hacks for coffee:water proportions, I told him I was going to buy the device and asked him to send me any tips. He reiterated in his natural, not-overly-templated follow-up e-mail that he’d do so. I hope he does!

* Each b8ta product page also lists the actual stores in which the item can be showroomed or bought. Even for retailers that have hundreds of stores, representing this information on the product page in such a simple way is a compelling way to bridge digital/physical and boost total conversion rate among customers who want to touch and feel (in a non-pandemic era) before buying.