2010 Retail Look Back Part 6: The View Ahead

This year, like any year, consumers wanted what they have always wanted: engaging experiences, good prices, and interesting products and services. We’ve started to buy again, but this time around we are taking a moment to consider− and that moment is when retailers and consumers really get to know each other. 

 

While technically the recession is over, there are many still feeling the aftermath.  In the "New Normal" consumers in general are being more cautious with their money, but things are loosening up in particular consumer segments and product categories.  There is pent up demand: from a practical and pragmatic perspective, household spending on things like minor repairs, updates and clothing is starting to happen again.  From a more emotional side, consumers are meeting their pent up desire for fresh, new things by being creative with their money and demanding more meaningful experiences from those transactions.  This can take the form of using a Groupon discount for a manicure or cashing in loyalty points from their credit card or airline for a new camera or MP3 player.

In the coming year, consumers will regularly use their social networks to consider friends’ thoughts and opinions as they buy. Local retailers will become more important as big retailers work harder to “localize” their stores and assortments. Look for fun to return to store shelves and dining tables as the gray clouds dissipate.

Have a happy and prosperous New Year!

Originally published: Retail 2010: The Year in Review | The Metropreneur Columbus http://bit.ly/f2LPuA

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

2010 Retail Look Back Part 5: Creative Alliances

Retail brands are aligning themselves with non-retail brands to add unexpected value for their consumers.

Like-minded brands who share core values find ways to work together to create unique offers.

In 2010, we saw innovative companies mashing up their offerings to create unique, new products. West Elm −the modern furniture arm of Williams-Sonoma− partnered with Pratt Institute −the renowned design school− to create a line of furniture designed by students and distributed through West Elm stores, catalogs, and websites. Here’s a LINK to our post about the program: http://www.consumerxretail.com/2010/12/creative-collab-west-elm-pratt.html.  Locally, the tastiest partnership –between Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and Middle West Spirits− birthed a new ice cream flavor: Oakvale Young Gouda with OYO Vodka-Plumped Cranberries.

Next: Part 5: The View Ahead

Originally published: Retail 2010: The Year in Review | The Metropreneur Columbus http://bit.ly/f2LPuA

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

2010 Retail Look Back Part 4: The Engagment Stream

Consumers are relying on their “streams” more and more to edit and articulate the information they want and need.

The Home Depot sold 250,000 Turkey Fryers leading up to Thanksgiving 2010 through their Facebook wall.

While you are hunting for deals on Facebook, you’ll get both direct and indirect valuable offers and information from all the brands you’ve “liked” there.  The email newsletters in your inbox provide exclusive offers and information you have opted to receive. 

 

Facebook and email remain two of the most important channels for receiving information, and small and large retailers use those tools to stay in touch.  We see things in a continual stream that we can edit and control. We can pick and delete the messages we want and begin to understand how that information influences our purchase decisions.

 

Many of us willingly conduct constant conversations with the products and services, retailers, and restaurants we like. Here in Columbus, Dirty Franks Hot Dog Palace, Surly Girl Saloon, and The Wexner Center do a great job of using Facebook and Twitter to keep the conversation going, give us valuable information, and keep us coming back.

Next: Part 5: Creative Alliances

Originally published: Retail 2010: The Year in Review | The Metropreneur Columbus http://bit.ly/f2LPuA

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

2010 Retail Look Back Part 3: The New Blue Light Special

This year, we’ve seen the advent and experimental use of new mobile services, like Groupon and Facebook’s Places & Deals. Goupon offers 50 percent off deals from retailers of all sizes for a limited time to a limited number of people. This creates a strong sense of urgency and guarantees a win for retailer and customer alike. 

 

Location-based services that meld check-in games, like Foursquare or Gowalla, with deals allow customers to determine whether there are good deals nearby or at the store they are already in. 

Facebook’s version, which incorporates its Places check-in service with an open incentive platform called Deals, is poised for growth. The sheer volume and scale of Facebook is an advantage, but the consumer behavior that already exists will be crucial to helping it thrive. Those most likely to utilize Places & Deals are regular and loyal Facebook users.

 

The 2010 holiday shopping season is the first real testing ground for such services and the results will shape how retailers alter their use in the short term.

Next: Part 4: The Engagement Stream

Originally published: Retail 2010: The Year in Review | The Metropreneur Columbus http://bit.ly/f2LPuA

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

2010 Retail Look Back Part 2: It's the Experience, Stupid

We still love events like Independent’s Day and Gallery Hop, hanging out, dining, and maybe buying a thing or two.  This year, we’ve really embraced mobile and/or event-based retail options, like food carts and pop-up stores. Foodie Cart Locator, Ray Ray's Hog Pit, and MoJo Tago go where the action is and oftentimes make the action. We saw the first sparks of innovative experiences, like the one offered at Wonderland Columbus’s Food Cart Food Court.  It reflects a national trend not only in food carts, but bringing products and services where people are and want to be. Check out the Marc by Marc Jacobs jewelry truck that went to the people for Fashion’s Night Out 2010.

Next: Part 3: The New Blue Light Special

Originally published: Retail 2010: The Year in Review | The Metropreneur Columbus http://bit.ly/f2LPuA

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

2010 Retail Look Back Part 1: Girded Loins, Consolidation & More Consumer Power

 

A year ago, when we were thinking about retail in 2010, we looked for glimmers of uptick, worried that some businesses might not make it, and girded our loins for more of the same.

 

Well, 2010 wasn’t as bad as we thought and in some sectors it was pretty good. As a matter of fact, the numbers coming in −both in sales and consumer confidence− seem promising, with the expected amount of post-recession caution. November was one of the best months for retailers and December is looking very good. It’s likely the result of pent up demand −the desire to shop without a gray cloud over our heads− combined with retailers/brands aligning their inventory and deals with consumer attitudes.

 

The last year has taught retailers big and small more about how and why we shop than ever before. Paying attention to how consumers −all of us− react to adversity, what drives our purchase decisions, and our rational and emotional needs has been as important as new products and services. 

 

We saw consolidation and retreat (Borders Books made a bid for Barnes & Noble and Google tried to buy Groupon), tighter stock levels, as well as new, exciting takes on tried and true incentives like coupons, loyalty points, and limited-time-only offers that bring to mind Kmart’s classic Blue Light Special. 

 

All in all, we consumers have more control than ever before. We are more thoughtful about everyday purchases. We have new considerations to go along with the old: local and “green” are as important to us as selection and value. We have tools in our hands, literally, that give us information and incentives when we want and need them.

Next: Part 2: It’s the Experience, Stupid

Originally published: Retail 2010: The Year in Review | The Metropreneur Columbus http://bit.ly/f2LPuA

 

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

Experience Audit: Radish Underground

Check out this great store in Portland Oregon.  We found it, among many other amazing small shops—on a recent trip.

Here’s a link to their Web site: http://shop.radishunderground.com/.

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

What Constitutes In-Store Shopper Marketing Compliance?

In James Tenser's role as director of the In-Store Implementation Network, the challenge of merchandising compliance is frequently addressed, from a variety of perspectives -- both theoretical and solution-oriented. What criteria define planogram or schematic compliance?

MY COMMENTARY:
Goggle Goggles and Localization.

This brings to mind my early training at Macy's. As a floor manager, it was my job to interpret the planograms and make them work for my business. As a buyer, I visited every store (I know, those were the days) and worked with the floor manager to make sure my merchandise "complied."

I know department stores are not grocery, but more and more we are moving toward localization. That is, tailoring assortments to the customer of that store or region. The idea of a singular planogram that needs compliance seems antiquated albeit operationally necessary.

I've been playing with Google Goggles--the visual search application. I wonder if there isn't a way to develop an algorithm that measures the installed floor set against the ideal. This could be centrally managed but locally connected.

At ConsumerX, we look at everything from the consumers' perspective. They (we) expect basics--in stock, engaging value propositions, ease of purchase. Centralized planning is powerful, but it may be time to train in-store staff to interpret, know their customers and, yes, be creative.

From RetailWire: BrainTrust Query: What Constitutes Compliance? - Chuck Palmer's RetailWire Blog http://bit.ly/gTq4Sx

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

Borders Bid for Barnes & Noble? What the...?

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Usually in business, it's the bigger company acquiring the smaller one. But sometimes the normal rules no longer apply. What do you think of the proposed merger between Borders and Barnes & Noble?

MY COMMENTARY:
Let's look at this from the consumer's point of view. Do they care about the near-term strategy of Border's stockholders? No.

The future of this business is probably consolidation and reduction. While it's great to browse metropolitan-library-sized stores, is this a sustainable model in a future that needs innovation, flexibility and continual responsiveness to consumers?

I think we will always crave physical books and magazines (not so sure about the next generation) but they will be special, intimate experiences apart from our daily engagement streams.

The "4-wallers" (love that term) have a special place in consumers' hearts and minds--look at the innovation coming from Library systems--they have an opportunity to be newly relevant by helping us manage not just the information at our disposal, but the inspiration, too.

That just might make a proposed deal like this make long-term sense.

-----------

Here’s the RetailWire piece: Ackman Pushes Borders Bid for Barnes & Noble - Chuck Palmer's RetailWire Blog http://bit.ly/h4QVav

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

Creative Collab: West Elm + Pratt

Here’s another example of a major retailer hooking up with a design school to create new products.  These programs are a win for all—students, retailers/brands, and consumers—as they provide fresh new products for consumers and brands to offer, but for students and their schools they provide rich learning experiences and marketing and positioning opportunities.

Take a look at this line at West Elm.  It is seriously different than most of the other products, not just at West Elm, but in the category.  It’s a nice mix of metal and wood, with clean lines without being too boxy or hard-edged.

Here’s a quote from the West Elm site:

The Pratt home office was developed in collaboration between west elm and students at the Pratt Design Incubator, part of the renowned Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. It all began with a competition. We challenged students to create a line of office furniture using FSC–certified materials. Two teams presented proposals (both of which were quite ingenious), and after much deliberation judges from the west elm design group selected designs from both. The teams then developed their concept, creating scale models and full–size prototypes of pieces including a desk, chair, filing system, and LED lamp. The finished collection is thoughtfully designed, responsibly made, and effortlessly chic.

Shop Pratt Home Office Collection  Visit Pratt @ www..pratt.edu  
Visit Pratt Incubator @ incubator.pratt.edu  

You can see more here: http://bit.ly/hUrZgv

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff

The Urban Consumer Experience: New York Reinvents Street Life

If you haven't been in New York lately, imagine crazy-busy streets calmed down to a more human rhythm with some simple paint, street furniture and cooperation. On my last trip I was stunned at the difference these plazas made in the urban street experience.  As a matter of fact, I was halfway through an email response before I realized that I was sitting in the middle of the street.  I looked around, really studied it and ended up having a few very cordial conversations with my fellow loungers.

The parks serve as normal parks do—providing respite and relaxation, but because there embedded in the normal urban street fabric, they also serve as economic and social catalysts.   During my lunchtime visit, most tables and chairs were filled with diners eating both brownbag and store-bought lunches from all over the area.  I chatted with two people who use the park for a weekly catch up session because it was close to both of their offices and they got to pick up different lunches along the way.

The woman behind the city wide program is Janette Sadik-Khan featured in Esquire’s December 2010 Best & Brightest issue.  I couldn’t agree more.

Posted via email from ConsumerX: cXChuck's Stuff