Shopper Culture

Meet the Sharer: 1 of 4 Social Networking Personas Revealed by Study

According to research outlined in Part 3 of the CCRRC/Integer study, Untangling The Social Web, there are four social networking personas, including the Sharer that are each driven by a different motivator to engage with individuals and brands on the social web. 

The Sharer is kind, helpful and sincere. Their social networking mentality and behavior stems from the desire to share relevant information with others—and the Sharer spends most of their time doing just that. But they do so with the hopes that it will genuinely help their connections and position them as the helpful resource in the minds of their friends. 

Their desire to find and share information is helpful for their shopping habits as well. Sharers like to use the social web to research brands and products, hunt for bargains and share their shopping finds with others on the social web. 

To learn more about the Sharer and the role of the social web in everyday life and during shopping trips, download Part 3 of Untangling the Social Web entitled Social Networking Personas: A Look At Consumer and Shopper Mind-Sets. And remember to check out the Appendix for a more detailed profile of the Sharer.  

The Checkout: Canadian Shoppers

The Checkout Canada focuses on understanding Canadian shoppers’ behaviours and their engagement throughout the purchase process. This issue uncovers the Canadian shopper’s tendency to balance lifestyle and family shopping habits with searching for the best deal. Do Canadians shop the same as Americans? Download this issue of The Checkout to findout.

Click here to download the Canadian Shopper issue of The Checkout.

Loyalty Program in Japan Extends to Vending Machines

Japanese media and retail behemoth Tsutaya has a well-known loyalty program with over 35 million members.  Shoppers can earn “T Points” at any of the over 46,000 participating retailers and redeem them for an equally diverse array of rewards. Recently, they added a new variety of retailer to the mix: Kirin beverage vending machines. Thirsty patrons need only swipe their loyalty cards when they buy a drink to earn points. 

Vending machine loyalty programs have been done before, but hooking them up to a larger network is definitely new news. It seems there is no end in sight for loyalty programs, and it will be interesting to see what opportunities emerging technologies such as NFC could allow in the future for this space.

Contributed by Integer Asia-Pacific

Photo source: ubergizmo

Open Sell, A New Trend in Retailing

Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Clinique, a top cosmetics brand, has revised its in-store selling strategy. The brand changed from a high-service, pressure-selling approach to a softer, hands-on approach that lets the shopper play. This new type of shopping environment is known as an “open-sell” environment. This approach was made popular by Sephora, the specialty beauty chain whose hands-on product displays attract a lot of shoppers seeking experiential play with products. Clinique now displays its products in open shelves and drawers for people to interact with rather than being stocked behind the counter. This allows shoppers to easily pick products up, sample, and help themselves. 

Download The Five Part Series: Untangling the Social Web

Five years ago, as Thomas Friedman put it, “‘Twitter’ was a sound, the ‘cloud’ was in the sky [and] ‘4G’ was the name of a parking space.” It is apparent that the world of social networking is rapidly evolving but it is also fundamentally changing the way individuals and businesses interact. Today, individuals can have real-time communication with their favorite brands, earns special perks for following a retailer, and receive job updates from companies they dream to work at.

This is a space that businesses can no longer ignore. Therefore, the North America Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council (CCRRC) partnered with The Integer Group(R) to provide a five-part series on the current state of social networking entitled Untangling the Social Web: Insights for Users, Brands and Retailers. This series aims to provide the entire retail community with the foundational knowledge to decode the complexities of the social web and seed inspiration for how companies can set a path for change. Topics include: the social networking landscape of today, the allure of social networking for users, social networker shopping habits, and the role brands and retailers can and should play in this space.  

Click here to download parts 1-5 of the series Untangling the Social Web.

Is Low Credit Card Penetration Holding Up eCommerce in Developing Markets?

Credit cards are a way of life in western markets, but emerging markets do not appear to be developing the same addiction to plastic. In India, for example, only about 2% of the population owns a credit card.

On the surface, this would seem to be a major barrier to e-commerce, and for more established e-retailers such as Amazon, this might indeed be the case. But local e-retailers have adapted. Or, perhaps more accurately, they have built their infrastructure with this knowledge in mind.

For example, India’s largest e-retailer, FlipKart, as well as Vietnam’s Rocket allow shoppers to make purchases online, and then accept cash payment upon delivery.

Is this model sustainable? Will these emerging market shoppers get on the plastic bandwagon? Or will new technology save the day? Dealing in cash undoubtedly hurts efficiencies for these e-retailers, but trying to convert cash cultures to credit is a monumental task.

Contributed by Integer Asia-Pacific