Dissecting the Downturn Generation
A new report was released by Information Resources Inc., titled “Dissecting the Downturn Generation,” in which they discuss the changing attitude of individuals growing up in the recession and how the recession will influence their purchases even when the economy picks up. According to the report, there are three types of shoppers emerging from the recession.
Optimists - Consumers who believe "things will get better during the next 12 months," are spending wisely, cutting back selectively and making sacrifices as a last resort.
Maintainers - Consumers who agree that, "the economy won't get worse, but it won't get better either," and are also spending wisely, but are more aggressive about making cutbacks.
Pessimists - Consumers who identify with the direst predictions, believing, "if you think times are hard now, next year will be worse," and are cutting back wherever possible and hunting tirelessly to find deals.
For the full report, please click here.
What will this mean for shopper marketing? How will you change or sustain your marketing to cater to these new shoppers?
Land O Lakes Puts Shopper Marketing Focus on Cheese
According to PROMO, Land O Lakes crunched some of its shopper marketing data to come up with its first in-store program specifically designed to boost sales of its premium deli cheeses. PROMO staff writer, Patricia Odell reports that the company and its agency, MarketingLab, took a close look at the profile of its target and the typical deli shopper: a stay-at-home mom in her 40s with a high household income and children still living in the home. The analysis also found that this mom is saving money by cooking and eating at home rather than dinning out, but would like to prepare something special. Land O Lakes is capitalizing on the shopper who is looking to cook more, if not better at home--even if the recession's crunch has yet to hit their family. Land O Lakes decision to roll out a new product amid the financial crisis may be a risky gamble. What do you think?
Benefits of manufacturers working with retailers
Earlier this month, we posted about what the benefits were if manufacturers and retailers worked together. I wanted to know more about this topic, so I turned to LinkedIn to ask the question. Vivek V. Krishnan responded with a great answer I'd like to share with you:
It is easy to see the benefits for the retailer and the manufacturers have in coming together, sharing information, possibly resources and streamlining the entire supply chain to get the product right up to the shopper. ( By the term shopper I think you mean the buyer of the product. Typically, a shopper is not necessarily one who buys the product but one who simply spends some time interacting with a product or the retail environment). One would think that the most common benefit to the streamlining of the supply chain to the buyer of the product is reduced prices. A good lean supply chain would reduce various costs for the retailer and the manufacturer the benefits of which one would hope would pass on to the end buyer. Simple enough!!
I strongly believe however that there are other benefits to the union of the two parties for the end buyer.
Before exploring the benefits, one would have to outline certain assumptions on the coming together of the two said parts of the value chain. The union has been carefully put together in accordance to the best practices prevalent in the industry today and that the information and resource sharing is whole. The retailer is willing to share the benefits gained from the partnership with the manufacturer with the end buyer.
The benefits to the end buyer then are as follows:
1) The price of the products would come down as a result of lowered inventory holdings, shorter supply chains, increased margins, better forecasting capabilities etc. This as I had said earlier would be the most obvious outcome of such a partnership.
2) The diffusion of new products would be quicker. Today, the buyers find out about the launch of a product much before the actual arrival of the product on retail shelves, which results in many days of frustrated waiting and decreased interest levels. Such a collaboration will greatly shorten the time to market for new products and the buyers will benefit. Please note that while this may be novel during the first few times, there is a risk that this short time to market will soon become a hygiene factor and buyers will begin to expect it.
3) As Reno before me said, information and training about the new products can be given to the end users and buyers more effectively through the retail channel partners.
4) The retail store can act as a single point of contact for the buyers for all things relating to the product manufacturers, such as after sales services, replacement of faulty products, sourcing of product related accessories, promotions, upgradation, servicing of warranties and guarantees etc.
These are few of the benefits that I think would affect the buyers greatly with a very effective collaboration between the retailers and manufacturers.
Shopper Insights in Action 2009 Chair Heads Up Coca-Cola Sponsored Commission on Shopper Marketing
Online consumers spending less time shopping
According to Digital Media Traffic, UK users are shifting their time online from shopping to new media in the forms of Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. According to the article, consumers in the UK spend 8.6% of their time on line shopping while spending 9.8% of their time using social media. The article suggests that retailers should shift some of their marketing to new media efforts. What do you think about this?
Shopper Insights in Action Speaker Profile: Chris Borek, Target
Chris is a Senior Manager at Target in charge of external sales and partnerships for the retailer’s multi-channel digital marketing division. His current role focuses on in-store digital marketing, online, as well as emerging technologies. Chris works with agencies, brands and partners to determine how to most effectively message to Target’s affluent Guest. During Chris’ 10 years at Target he has held roles in Finance, Merchandising, Technology and has also managed a SuperTarget store. Prior to coming to Target, Chris spent time at West Publishing Company in a variety of Finance and Accounting roles.
Chris received his MBA from the University of Minnesota focusing on Finance and IT and also has his CPA.
Chris is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
For more information about the speakers at Shopper Insights in Action 2009, please visit our speaker page.
About Shopper Insights in Action:
The event is the industry’s #1 event focused on driving change at retail by truly understanding shopper behavior. This is where the brightest in the retail and brand world converge to stimulate game-changing ideas through actionable case studies and uncensored peer-to-peer conversations. It tackles today’s mission-critical topics covered by those leading the charge. Topics include shopper marketing. green at retail, shopper psychology, collaboration techniques, virtual shopping, shopping trends, engagement, shopper loyalty, retail activation, shopper marketing and more. 2009 is all about CHANGE. Take control of your brand, your category and your business.
Luxury Brands Focus on Outlet Shops
This post on RetailWire highlights how several luxury brands are beginning to shift their focus from their retail mall locations to outlet shops which include overstocks, canceled orders, and many of the same goods found at retail mall locations but of lesser quality.
Outlet malls are seeing much more traffic now and companies like Kate Spade, Lucky Brand Jeans, Juicy Couture and True Religion are among some of the high end brands that are moving into the outlet space to get a piece of the action. Will these companies see the tremendous success that Coach has seen in their outlets?
Piggly Wiggly conforming to their customers needs
Don't have time to shop at the grocery store? No problem if you live in South Carolina and there's a Piggly Wiggly near by. Seeing that the grocery shopping trend was headed online, they created a program called Click N' Shop. Click N' Shop is a way for customers to order what they want online from home, and pick it up at the grocery store at a later time.
Source: SCNow.Com
What Makes Shoppers Buy?
According to Brandweek.com, Point of Purchase Advertising International, a global retail marketing association, launched a study last week to gauge the effectiveness of shopper marketing techniques in major retail outlets.
The study, dubbed Marketing at Retail Initiative (MARI), will leverage retail research across the supermarket, drug and convenience store and mass merchandise channels. The goal is to determine which shopper marketing displays work best, and, more importantly, how and why these techniques influence consumers to buy.
Major companies and retailers participating in the research include 7-Eleven, Ahold, Frito-Lay North America, Pepsi-Cola North American Beverages and Walgreens. U.K.-based retail research firm SheridanGlobal Group is conducting the study.
What do you hope will be the major findings of the MARI study? Will the results directly impact your decisions moving forward? We'd like to hear your thoughts.