Shopper Culture

Value Is in the Retailer

While I was recently on shopalongs spanning different CPG categories with female shoppers, there was one universal finding: value was associated with the retailer more than with the actual product. In marketing, value is defined as what you get for what you pay. However, when shopping certain categories, such as diapers or laundry detergent, many shoppers didn’t want to sacrifice performance to pay less. In those instances, it was all about where they chose to shop. They shopped at Target to feel good about receiving a free $5 Gift Card, or went to Walmart believing they’d find good prices on the brands they love, or bought their diapers from www.diapers.com to receive free shipping and five percent back. Value for these women was a product of the store and, therefore, factored less into their brand decision. It’s important for us to understand how different shoppers define value so we can overcome purchase barriers and effectively close the sale.  

Photo Source: www.allthingstarget.com

DOOH and the Omnichannel Shopper—What You Missed at the DSE 2013

Integer's own Amy Vollet attended the Digital Sign Expo this past February and lead group discussions on:

Cultivating Connections with Today's Omnichannel Shoppers 

Digital Out Of Home (DOOH) and The Changing Media Landscape

The presentations is available for download on the presentations tab as well as other presentations from fellow Integerites.

Enjoy!

Redefining Brand Engagement - British Airways

It’s the time of year when many of us are in planning mode for summer holidays because airline and holiday companies are holding big sales. I’ve scoured the internet for deals to good locations and on a recent glance at my Facebook news feed, I spotted a shared post about the chance to win a holiday. Lo and behold, it was a British Airways competition that offered a chance to win tickets to a chosen destination, such as Orlando or Barbados, every day for a week. Usually these competitions offer one pair of tickets and a highly unlikely chance of winning, but British Airways was giving hundreds of tickets away each day through two entry routes.

I could enter online via Facebook, where one person could win two tickets each day by answering a question about the chosen destination. It was an easy mechanic, and I completed the task in two minutes.

 

Three Things to Watch in Shopper Marketing for 2013

Happy New Year from all of us at ShopperCulture.com! There's a lot to be excited about in 2013. And the momentum behind shopper marketing continues to grow. Here are three things we're keeping our eyes on this year. 

1. Sophisticated Data Sharing and Usage. As retailers and brands get smarter about collecting shopper data and using it to create a more personal experience, shoppers are still reluctant to give up their personal information without knowing they're getting something in return. Even in this age, shoppers are still protective of their privacy and becoming more discerning about what they share on their social networks. In 2013, we're interested in seeing how retailers and brands will use data to achieve greater shopper loyalty and compromise with shoppers on sharing data in exchange for reward. 
2. Mobile Domination. Now that smartphones have outsold PCs and even feature phones, shoppers are more dependent than ever on their mobile devices, which means that these will continue to be an integral part of shopping experiences. As shoppers get more familiar with Passbook, expect marketers to continue with mobile efforts. This year, look for shoppers to accomplish even more on these devices and expect to see tablets play a greater role, especially as a preferred device for shopping activities. 
3. Social Shopping. In 2012 we saw social media and ecommerce evolve together in many unique ways, and we only expect that to increase in 2013. The growth of sites like Fancy and OpenSky and the social integration of other shopping sites like Gilt and Fab prove that engagement with social media fuels ecommerce transactions and that shoppers remain relient on opinions of those in their social networks to help make purchase decision. 

What's on your shopper marketing radar for 2013? 

The Checkout: Holiday Issue

The holiday shopping landscape continues to evolve. Department stores are giving way to mass merchants, brick-and-mortar shopping is colliding with online shopping, and Black Friday is becoming a multiday sales event. With so many choices, shoppers are able to shop the way they want during the holidays. Online, in store, browsing, or hustling, with coupons or without, there is an experience for every type of shopper. This holiday season, Hispanic shoppers opt for more experiential shopping. While the general market continues to embrace time-saving holiday shopping methods like online shopping, Hispanic shoppers venture in store with family and friends to partake in the holiday spirit.

Download the 2012 Holiday Checkout to learn more about when and where Hispanic shoppers shop during the holidays. This issue also digs in to the growing attraction of mass merchants during the holidays as well as holiday shopping preferences of groups including youth and female shoppers.

Click here to download.

Retailers Look to ecommerce This Holiday Season

With the holidays just around the corner, the usual hustle and bustle of shopping is expected to begin. Shoppers searching for just the right gifts, deals, and promotions up until the last minute can lead to a hectic holiday season.  But this year, more and more shoppers might not brave the crowded brick-and-mortar stores, but instead plan on buying gifts behind the safety of their screens. 

According, to eMarketer^TM, U.S. retailers with a web presence expect 51 percent of their holiday sales to come from eCommerce. This means that retailers are pushing to discover new ways to suit the needs of these convenience-seeking shoppers. One solution is to amp up the holiday deals by engaging shoppers through social media. Retailers are planning to take full advantage of Facebook^(R) and Twitter^(R) this holiday season, with 86 percent focusing on holiday promotions on Facebook.  One of the most desired promotions that more than a third of Facebook merchants expect to offer is free shipping, which highlights the opportunity for retailers to find key places to insert convenience for gift-givers and play up those spaces this holiday season.   

The question is, do you think these digital shopper behaviors will linger on after the holidays?

Contributed by Jillian Kyle

Chart Source: eMarketer

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

Which Has Greater Influence—an Expert’s Opinion or a Friend’s?

Shoppers are increasingly demanding a more personalized shopping experience. According to eMarketer, half of shoppers would like retailers to offer promotions tailored to their past purchases. And 46% would buy more if the shopping experience was personalized across retailer channels. This shows that personalization is not only important in-store but online as well.

While consumers express their individualism on social sites such as Pinterest^(R), they are also looking for their personal style and interests to show up more directly within their shopping or browsing trips. Pickie, the iPad Magazine that was recently introduced at TechStars^TM NYC Demo Day, fulfills this need by curating personal recommendations for the user based on whom they follow within their social network. On the other hand, e-commerce site ModCloth^(R) offers personalized expert advice. The site allows users to live chat with stylists who suggest products based on user history and profile information. So the question becomes, which personalized experience do online shoppers prefer—an expert opinion or a friend’s social mentions? 

We may not know the answer just yet, but it is likely to become clearer as more retailers incorporate personalization into their operations, both online and in store. The one thing we do know today is that to be more personal with our shoppers, we must make it comfortable for them to share more personal information. As with Modcloth^(R) and Pickie, the more they know about their audience, the more helpful they are in offering individualized input per shopper.

Contributed by Jillian Kyle, Planner, Integer Denver

New Moms in Asia Change Online Shopping Habits

According to Mom Central Consulting, in the U.S., new moms go online at almost twice the rate they did before giving birth. They are also willing to spend more to make the best possible purchases for their babies, on everything from infant seats and strollers to baby formula.

The landscape in Asia is showing signs of a similar trend, as evidenced by brands and websites zeroing in on the new-mom audience, in particular in the social and e-commerce space.

For new moms, social networks are places to seek advice and support, while sharing knowledge and experiences. For example, Webtretho.com in Vietnam, the largest women’s and parenting portal in Vietnam, boasts 4 million monthly visits. 

It seems that many of their conversations revolve around brands and products, and as a result, moms are assuming a role of brand ambassador with growing influence. According to “Secret online lives of Asia’s mothers,” a research study by Microsoft^® and Starcom MediaVest Group^®, 80% of surveyed moms agree that, “good brands are worth talking about.” Furthermore, 59% of Asian moms say they could “always” persuade their family and friends to buy the same items they buy, with 72% Indian and Malaysian moms saying the same. Interestingly, mothers in China even trust online communities more than their own friends and relatives when it comes to product recommendations for children.

The Checkout: Mobile Shopping Behaviors

Shoppers in the US have evolved significantly in the past few years in the realm of digital shopping tools. So much so, that the term "The Digital Shopper" has effectively lost meaning as about half of all shoppers in the country have adopted some type of digital behavior to aid in their shopping.  As many of the tools in this space are related to the boom in smart phones, mobile shopping tools are of special interest.

In this issue we take a look at many aspects of mobile and other digital shopping behaviors across different shopper segments to understand which shoppers are adopting what tools and how they are using them. What are the differences and similarities across gender or cultures and what is the impact of children in the household?

For example:

• Almost as many shoppers are using coupons from email and enewsletters (49%) as they are clipping them from the Sunday paper (57%).
• Men might be the traditional lovers of tech toys, but in using technology to enhance shopping, women are ahead of the curve.
• Having children in the household drives accelerated adoption of digital technologies to deliver shopping solutions.
• African-American and Hispanic shoppers adopt new shopping technologies at a faster rate than Caucasians do.

Click here to download the Mobile Shopping Behaviors Issue of The Checkout.

eCommerce in Asia: On the Verge of Something Big

Although Internet penetration in Asia lingers at only 26%, it seems likely that Asians will be faster to adopt online shopping habits than their counterparts in Western Europe and the United States. In fact, according to eMarketer, ecommerce sales in China are expected to lead global growth with a forecasted 94.2% compound annual rate from 2010 to 2015, in contrast to the U.S., which is forecast to grow 12% during the same period, despite boasting an Internet penetration rate of 78%.

Clearly, what Asia lacks in penetration, it makes up for in sheer volume.  Emerging markets with huge populations like China, India, and Indonesia help Asia account for nearly 50% (44.8%) of all Internet users in the world. And each active online shopper in the Asia-Pacific region spends an average of $607, up almost $80 from 2011 (eMarketer).

Brands and e-retailers might struggle with the vast disparity between emerging and developed markets throughout Asia, but the affordable access mobile technology provides is sure to help close the gap. While smartphone penetration varies throughout Asia (currently 20% in Japan and 30% in China), a 2011 Nielsen study indicated that nearly 50% of respondents in South East Asia planned to purchase a smartphone in the next twelve months.

Growth is inevitable in the eCommerce space, and opportunities abound in Asia. Is your brand ready?

Contributed by Integer Singapore

 

Popularity is Popping Up Everywhere

Hotels.com now features an interesting ephemeral pop-up when you view a hotel listing.

Not only do they show you the rating of the hotel and its overall popularity: they are now featuring the popularity of the hotel in the last day. 

Similarly, companies like MediaCart are building cart-mounted tablet systems that can put these kinds of messages at shoppers' fingertips. As you walk the aisles, the tablet could say, "The top-selling aspirin this week is Bayer Low Dose Baby Aspirin 200 ct."  

We are herd creatures, as Mark Earls has said for years. And one of the easiest ways to outsource our cognitive load—our decisions—is to simply do what others do (because if so many people do it, it must be good enough).

Research has found that this kind of 'social proof' is extremely persuasive. (Robert Cialdini is a leader in this work.) And the more similar the reference group is to you, the more persuasive the message is.

Amazon and Netflix are the kings of the recommendation engines. It's surprising that it's taking so long for brick & mortar retailers to catch on.

The Checkout: Holiday Shopping 2011

Not long ago, Thanksgiving-weekend department store sales were a key barometer of U.S. retail health. Does that model still work?

Probably not. According to our 2011 Holiday Shopper survey, fielded shortly before this year's holiday shopping season, holiday shoppers are overwhelmingly swapping store experience for savings, as indicated in the 2011 Holiday Value Equation shown here. This is bad news for department stores, traditionally the one-stop-shop for holiday shoppers, who in the past placed a value on elaborate window dioramas and jolly Santa visits to lure parents with children.

Today's shoppers are savvier than ever and happy to make trips to multiple retail channels, including eCommerce, if that nets them the greatest savings on the goods they want. While Department Stores are acknowledged to have the widest selection overall, 13 percent few shoppers plan to do most of their shopping in this channel. 

When Department Stores lose, who wins? Primarily Mass and Discount stores, which showed an increase from 16 percent in 2010 to 25 percent of shoppers this year planning to do most of their holiday shopping in more cost-effective channels.

Online retailers are also poised to win big this holiday season, as more shoppers plan to shop online over Thanksgiving Weekend and on Cyber Monday, balancing brick-and-mortar shopping with the saving and convenience that online retailers have to offer, including reviews, price comparisons and free shipping.

Please click here to download The Checkout - 2011 Holiday Shopping issue.

 

 

Holiday Shopping: Online vs. Brick and Mortar.

Recent data from our Checkout survey unveiled interesting data pertaining to shopping intentions during the 2011 holiday season. In September soon-to-be holiday shoppers were asked where they planned to make most of their upcoming purchases. 30% reported they planned to make most of their purchases online. That was up from 28% in 2010. And for the first time, consumers reported they plan to shop online for most purchases (30%) rather than department stores (28%). 
With a couple significant shopping days under our belt, we asked ourselves how does online shopping compare with brick and mortar this holiday season? Where are consumers doing most of their holiday shopping?  

According to ComScore, online spending during the week ending on December 2nd set a new single-week record ($6 billion in sales). Online shopping on Thanksgiving day grew 18% to $479 million, Black Friday sales grew 26% to $816 million, and Cyber Monday sales grew 22% to $1.25 billion. According to the National Retail Federation, online sales should grow 15% this holiday season to 37.6 billion. Incidentally, total online sales in 2010 grew 15% from 2009. Online is experiencing double digit sales growth. 

How does this compare to brick and mortar sales? NRF reported that consumers spent 11.4 billion on Black Friday, of which $816 million was online. Therefore, roughly 8% of Black Friday sales were online purchases. This year, according to NRF, total brick-and-mortar sales may rise 2.8% to $465.6 billion. Therefore, brick and mortar made up 93% of sales in 2010 (versus 7% online) and 92% of sales in 2011 (versus 8% online). 

It appears that both projected online holiday shopping and actual online sales demonstrate that its getting stronger and stronger. However, holiday shopping is still dominated by the brick and mortar retailers. Question is how with 15% online sales growth versus only 2.8% for brick and mortar, how long will that domination last? 

Turning Subways into Stores

In August, Tesco pioneered the use of subway platforms as virtual stores in Seoul (partly because they ran out of real estate for new stores). Chinese online supermarket Yihodian.com then installed walls in 15 subway stations in Shanghai. P&G launched a similar system in Prague with Mall.cz, the Czech Republic's largest e-tailer.

Now Sears is launching holiday toy walls in airports, movie theaters, and bus stations in the US.

One implication is that any 2D surface (outdoor, wild posting, ambient, print) can become a storefront. There's a new choice in these spaces: advertise or merchandise?

But these programs also reveal something about how humans work. Why doesn't Tesco just use that wall to say, "Shop thousands of products, right this minute, right on your phone"? Why the need to choose 200 or so SKUs and post life-size 2D depictions of them on the walls? 

Our brains need familiar schema, comfortable metaphors, and visual stimuli to spur action. It's why the email symbol is still an envelope, and why 'the red carpet' means star treatment, even if it's two meters long and not very different from the regular passenger boarding lane at Gate A18.