A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY PART 5 - THE BUYER EXPERIENCE CYCLE

BUYER EXPERIENCE CYCLE AND THE PAIN POINTS FOR POLO RALPH LAUREN T SHIRTS

Once the need for a product has been established a buyer usually goes through a cycle with 6 stages running sequentially from purchase to disposal. This cycle is known as the Buyer Experience Cycle (BEC).  The stages of the Buyer Experience Cycle are as follows:

Purchase à Delivery à Use à Supplements à Maintenance à Disposal

The figure below gives us more intimate details about what to look out for in each of the phases of the buyer experience cycle.

BUYER EXPERIENCE CYLCE

The objective of going through the buyer experience cycle is to identify the pain points in each phase of the buyer experience cycle which would help uncover the blocks to buyer utility. This can be done by the use of the six utility levers which cut across all stages of the buyer experience cycle.

They are: Customer productivity, Simplicity, Convenience, Risk, Fun and Image and finally Environmental Friendliness

These six utility levers are merely guidelines to enable easier identification of the pain points in the buyer experience cycle. Identification of these pain points enables businesses to address these issues and create a blue ocean.

Below is the output table of the application of the six utility levers in the buyer experience cycle as it applies to Polo Ralph Lauren T-Shirts

IDENTIFICATION OF PAIN POINTS IN BUYER EXPERIENCE CYCLE

The next step in the process after identification of the pain points in the buyer experience cyle is to uncover which of the noncustomer segments is most affected by a generality of the pain points and as such would uncover the largest blue ocean. The table below applies the pain points identified to the various noncustomer segments identified in the previous article in the series.

ANALYSIS OF TABLE  -  On close analysis of the table above it shows that out of the total score of 54 for all the pain points, 48 came from the first tier noncustomers ( amounting  37%  of the total noncustomers segment)  accounted for  88% of the total score. 

What we can deduce from this is that the noncustomer segment that should be focused on and that would provide the most benefit for a blue ocean for Polo Ralph Lauren T-shirts is the first tier noncustomers (details about those in the first tier noncustomer segment can be found in the previous article on identification of the reaching beyond existing borders).

We are close to uncovering the blue ocean so look out for the next in the series.