Nordstrom silences its grand pianos, but at what cost?
Photo by :: Wendy ::
Nordstom to bench its pianists – from the Oregonian:
Come the new year, Nordstrom stores will pipe in popular tunes, instead of continuing to air the live piano notes that have lulled many shoppers for the past 20 years.
The Seattle-based chain said the company is carrying out its hyper-attentive approach to customers, who it said compliment canned music more often than live musicians.
Wow! It’s hard to believe that a store whose differentiator is personal service would take this step. It’s an interesting move that raises a few questions:
1. Has Nordstrom actually measured the financial effect of pianists vs. canned music? The article quotes anecdotal “compliments” favoring the piped-in music, but that’s a specious case. People speak or don’t speak out for various reasons, but the only numbers Nordstrom should be following are the receipt totals of days when pianists are playing vs. canned music. ‘Course we all know the effect of “sophisticated” music and purchase intentions in restaurants…by all means this is something Nordstrom should be exploring.
2. Nordstrom’s cites a cost savings in using a music service over the pianists. I’m surprised that a company with such a strong sense of “brand experience” would use this as a primary argument for nixing the live music — they’re a high-end retailer that understands the value of providing an exceptional experience, even if that experience costs more to provide. Again, run a study and see what turns up.
3. Numbers aside, you just can’t deny the iconic and emotional status of the piano in a Nordstrom’s. As Leonard Lauder, retired chairman and CEO of Estee Lauder said, “A Nordstrom piano doesn’t take up much room. It’s a small idea, but it’s a genius idea.” It’s part of the brand. In fact it’s the closest thing the company has to an associative “brand sound.” Losing this in favor of preprogrammed audio that sounds like, well, every other retailer in North America, makes for a risky move.
Let’s hope it works out for the best. Hey, I’m working on an large, environmental audio-identity effort for one of our clients right now…and if a few pianos are in this client’s future, we know where we can score some on the cheap.
– Noel Franus
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I made great efforts to become one of the pianists at the Dallas North Park Nordstrom, but without any success.
It seems to me that the reason customers seem to be leaning toward prefering canned music is because many of the Nordstrom pianists are unfamiliar with the style and type of music that attracts and keeps customers shopping.
They taught us this stuff back in the old days.