This is a snatched photograph so look carefully to make out the woman in the dark hooded jacket counting out the money from her purse as she holds on to her baby’s pushchair. The man behind just darted past to enter the shop. You may not be able to see that the step that made it difficult for the woman to enter the shop to buy a copy of the Guardian. The child on the left was also darting into the shop. It is minus 2 degrees, which is cold for London. Does the shopkeeper even know that he is going to gain a sale?
How many barriers are there for this woman to contend with to buy her paper? Is she likely to make an impulse purchase as well? Should the retailer care? Yes.
Firstly, because he is less than a two minute walk from a new Tesco Express. He needs to fight for every sale he can get.
Secondly, because he needs to understand his shop from the shoppers point of view. Does all this clutter outside work? He may get the newspaper sale, but he has shoppers who never visit the back of his shop. Where is the energy? Where is the momentum? Passive shopkeepers will lose customers sooner or later.
