Augustín didn’t conduct any customer/user research to validate his assumptions. Without this research, Augustín can’t understand his customers and their needs, motivations, and desires. And let’s be clear—he’s making a lot of assumptions on behalf of the customers: “A few [customers] will [be upset by no fake discounts. To which I will say, ‘Fine. Be upset.’ Others will be relieved.” He never proved this. If he had done even the most basic customer surveys, Augustín would have known beforehand that people find value in Emilia because of its discounts — and he would’ve been able to adjust his business plan accordingly.
It’s clear that Augustín wants to “break people from their addiction to discounts”, but he needed to go further and conduct research on the best way to do so. The first assumption he makes is that Emilia’s customers have an “addiction” to discounts. In the scenario that this assumption does get validated, Augustín needs to continue on and research how to “wean” people off from their discount addiction. If they’re addicted to discounts, then how will they respond to discounts getting taken away from them? What can he do to soften the blow? How can he give people the same emotional experience as [thinking that you are] receiving a discount while breaking away from the discount model? These questions are just a fraction of what he should have been asking and discovering.
I would advise Augustín to implement user research at every step. He has to validate every assumption he makes and ensure that his ideas won’t actually drive the customers away. Whatever idea he does have, he needs to run a small experiment on it to see the customer response and adjust his strategy as necessary. If Augustín is trying to rebrand Emilia from endless fake discounts to something else, he needs to make sure that he is still “enhancing the shoppers’ enjoyment.” He needs to find what will provide the same enjoyment and value that receiving a discount does. He needs to replicate that same feeling.
Furthermore, because Augustín is trying to pivot away from “desperation discounting”, he should “combine price with some other perceived value to differentiate its stores from competitors’.” Yashodhara Shroff suggests that Emilia offers “opening price points” on key items, and promote those bundles until customers associate them with the company. I agree with this; if Augustín is trying to rebrand to everyday low pricing, he needs to make sure that the brand is standing out in the eyes of his customers.
