I spend a lot of time in stores.
Over the holidays, I walked into a store I had never visited before: Cozey on Robson St. in Vancouver.
The experience was genuinely delightful. Sofas, ottomans, rugs, every style beautifully displayed.
You could see the product, feel the fabrics, imagine it in your home. We came in as a family because we wanted to sit on the sofa before buying it. We chose the style, the fabric, and the add-ons. Then we left to grab dinner.
What surprised me was what didn’t happen. No one offered to complete the sale in store. No one asked for our email or suggested following up. There was no connection between the showroom experience and the actual purchase.
I assumed it would be seamless online.
It wasn’t.
When we tried to order, we were never asked if we had visited a showroom or given the chance to share feedback. Our bundle order kept throwing an error. We asked the chat function for help. Then waited for email support. The excitement that had been built so carefully in-store evaporated in minutes.
When I later told friends we had finally purchased from Cozey, they shared their own versions of the same story. Great showroom. Frustrating path to purchase.
I shared this on LinkedIn, calling out the missed opportunity to connect physical retail to digital conversion. The CEO responded quickly, explaining that the team had “perfectly accomplished their primary objective” of delivering great customer service and that they hope customers eventually complete their purchase.
And here I am watching highlights of the NFL season and seeing instances of a player running clearly into the endzone scoring a touchdown. However, the player dropped the ball just before they cleared the line, negating any points on the play. It’s pretty clear whether or not a touchdown is scored.
You don’t hope.
And that’s the real issue.
Are retail leaders truly putting themselves in the customer’s shoes or are they defending broken processes?
NRF is right around the corner and I’m mentally preparing to be inundated with the hype of technology and AI. But, is the technology developed with the customer in mind? More importantly do the people far removed from the front lines use it themselves to understand the customer experience?
I’m routinely astounded with the extent to which executives do not shop their own businesses.
New online checkout features? Go buy something with it. Updated service protocols in store? Go incognito in the store and see how it is being executed. Are customers actually buying in stores or are you sealed away in the corporate tower pontificating about being “customer-centric” without knowing what the customer journey truly is?
I’ll call my shot right now: 2026 will be more about the balance of human touch as a counterweight to technology.
Part of that means walking in the customer’s shoes.
Because hope is not a strategy.
