How do you improve a meat patty? Put it in between two pieces of bread so it’s portable (and convenient). Americans (and all people perhaps) have always loved things to be convenient. And once an idea like a hamburger, a cell phone, or a “book-reader” becomes more widespread, competitive and popular, our ability to execute then starts to trump convenience. (At least from a loyalty perspective.)

Why do I buy In-N-Out over McDonald’s? I would suggest that both are equally convenient. One tastes better in my opinion and that’s what drives my behavior. However, if there is a McDonald’s across the street, vs. having to drive 10 miles to the nearest In N Out, I might opt for the convenience of nearness. But if In N Out opens next to that McDonald’s, the loyalty that McDonald’s had by being convenient is lost because of the overall better experience at In N Out.

This is fantastic for we the consumer because there can always be something more convenient, and there can always be a better execution of a convenient product or service when competition is introduced.

The iPhone offers more conviences and has a better execution than competing cell phones/pda’s. The iPad might do the same vs. the Kindle. In N Out makes a better burger than other convient fast food places.

And to you point…websites have made our lives a whole lot more convient. The cost of moving from one URL to a competitor’s is minimal (unlike in the offline world) so our ability to execute is what separates one website from another in my opinion. I think one has to attribute some of the success of Amazon to how convenient they make it to actually buy things from their site after you’ve bought from them once. They executed early on this idea of convenience online, and continue to do so better than many. The good news for those who are not Amazon is that just like with a good burger, we can always make a better burger, we can always execute better than the competition online.

I completely agree, Gary, that more and more businesses should be looking for ways to make all aspects of their businesses more convenient. I know that Sears is currently testing a drive-through option for buy online pick up in store. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

Andy, you make a great point about return policies that are too difficult. While I understand retailers need to watch for fraud, I think we all need to be careful to balance the need to stop fraud from a few at the expense of good service and convenience to the majority.

I think you also make a good point about passwords. Some of the requirements can pretty extreme for the information being protected. There might be a whole other blog post in that one.

I think as important as conveinience is INconveinience. I can tell you I don’t do a lot of business or spend a lot of time on sites or in stores that make things difficult, or even just a little clunky.

Sites that ask me to download flash, or login with a 10 character password (containing at least one * and two >’s) frustrate the heck out of me. Stores with inconveinent hours (car dealerships) or bad return policies (BestBuy – I’m talking about you) don’t get a lot of my money.