Shopper Culture

Lagerfeld’s Concept Store Provides Holistic Digital Experience

March 2013 saw the Kaiser of Fashion unveil a brand new concept store in Paris that offers ready-to-wear collections for men and women, along with a selection of limited-edition accessories, design, and photography books.

The 200 square meter black and white shop cleverly mixes baroque-inspired and state-of-the-art digital features, paying tribute to the off-the-wall personality of the high-profile fashion designer.

Topshop and Google+ Revolutionize London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is an opportunity for fashion brands to connect with shoppers and fans beyond showcasing the upcoming product lines. Topshop is fast becoming a best-in class-example in this space.

For the 2013 show, the retailer joined forces with Google+ for “The Future of the Fashion Show” activation.

A New Way To Pay

RetailingToday.com has a quick report on the success of Walmart's Scan & Go service. 

Photo Source: RetailingToday.com

Acording to the report, Scan & Go was introduced in select stores last fall and "the service allows shoppers to use their iPhone as a scanning device with the ability to 'skip the checkout line' touted as the key shopper benefit. The intent is for shoppers to scan items as they are put in a bag or cart and then render payment at a self checkout station, avoiding the need to scan items at the self checkout or wait in a regular checkout lane."

RetailingToday.com goes on to say that "The concept must be attracting some interest as both displays at this store across from Walmart’s home office were nearly out of tear pads with instructions for using the service and reusable bags that sell for $4."

So that's either an indicator that the service is attracting a lot of attention from Shoppers, or that the display is attracting little attention from store employees to keep it well stocked. Which do you think it is? 

Digital Signage Expo 2013

The Integer Group will be attending and participating at the Digital Signage Expo later this month in Las Vegas, February 26-28.

Our very own Amy Vollet will be leading a group discussion on Cultivating Connections with Today's Omnichannel Shoppers on Thursday, February 28th from 11 to noon. Amy will discuss how the evolving digital tool set available to today's shopper creates exciting marketing opportunities.

We'll share the presentation here after the conference. In the meantime, read Amy's article on DOOH and the Changing Media Landscape. If you are interested in attending DSE, visit the website for the full agenda and registration information. Come say hello! 

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.

Disney Characters Come to Life in Singapore Malls

To promote the upcoming ice-skating show Disney on Ice, Disney set up interactive playgrounds themed “Let's Celebrate!” at malls throughout Singapore.

The promotion incorporated augmented-reality technology to allow children to interact with and virtually ice-skate with Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters. In addition to the augmented-reality experience, the playground also offered various activities like real-life ice-skating, dancing, and a coloring station for children to create their own Disney art.

Creating unique experiences for shoppers is a great way to not only gain immediate awareness and promote purchase but also build brand advocates—children in this case. For many parents, it is hard to resist their child’s request, and it is likely that Mickey Mouse, Disney, and Disney on Ice were topics of conversation well after this mall experience was over.

Contributed by Integer Singapore

Stayed tuned for more from Integer Singapore next week.

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.

Tales From Russia - First Moment of Truth

In the emerging market of Russia, we learned that in shopper marketing, the first moment of truth is one of the most important steps in a consumer’s path to purchase. After interviewing several consumers in their homes and doing shop-a-longs, we observed an underdeveloped stage of above-the-line media when it comes to household needs and health/beauty products. TV, current print, and other media outlets we are accustomed to are not a highly consumed media in the everyday life of people living in Moscow. So how do they find new products outside of friend and family recommendations? They rely on in-store marketing. The moment when a consumer turns into a shopper.

Want to learn how merchandising plays a role in product selection and choice in Russia? Want to know what in-store tools and promotions work best in emerging markets? Want to learn the Integer approach to shopper marketing in the global market?

Click here to download the Tales From Russia study.

-Contributed by Stephen Moon

 

 

Millennials Go Mobile

There are more than 75 million Millennials in the U.S.¹, and, whether they’re graduating from high school or college, many are facing the challenges of adjusting to adulthood. For instance, learning to cook. In college, life is chaotic, and students look for quick and cheap meals. When they begin to find time for normal meals and a budget for groceries in postgrad life, they look for new food options. 

An important go-to tool for surviving these changes: mobile apps. Forty-one percent of Millennials own smartphones (according to Warc.com), making this fertile ground for brands and retailers to speak to this generation and reach them in transition. Back to the cooking conundrum—apps with recipes and cooking tips not only resonate but encourage the overlap of online and offline behavior. Before heading to the grocery store, many Millennials (myself included) look up recipes on mobile apps and use them to create shopping lists. My personal favorite is Epicurious^®. Though I don’t always stick to my list, I continue to reference my phone as I walk through the aisles of my local grocery store. Knowing that Millennials are mobile-dependent, I ask this question: Why aren’t more brands taking advantage of this space and catering to my subconscious need to make impulse purchases?

As the number of smartphone users continues to rise, and not just among Millennials, marketers must take notice that shoppers’ offline and online worlds coexist. For more about bridging the online and offline shopping gap, you can click here to download the Digitail^® edition of The Checkout.

-Contributed by Molly Paskal

¹ Iconoculture 2010, General Market Fast Facts

 

New Tech Players Lighting Up the Retail Space

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), an unlikely retail player emerged. Fulton Innovation, using their eCoupled technology, showed a surprising transformation to packaged goods:

 

eCoupled is a wireless power solution. Fulton quickly realized that their technology has infinite uses: from charging devices to heating food to making your packaging more eye-catching – they created these custom-lit cereal boxes for pennies on the dollar.

As we all look for ways to make our goods pop off the shelves into people’s carts, I can see this being the next wave of in-store marketing. While it might not increase trial of familiar products (new look, same great taste), this could be a great way to attract attention to a new product – or to a product with low shelf presence. Either way it will definitely make consumers stop and take a second look.

-Contributed by Desereé DeZalia, Dallas

Is Mobile a True Shopper Aid for This Holiday?

A recent release by the NRF and BIGResearch shows anticipated usage of mobile phones as a shopping tool for the holidays by smartphone owners will be significant. More specifically, we see the largest adoption of this behavior by men, higher income households, and younger users.

While smartphone penetration is only at about 23% (comScore July 2010), most predictions show smartphone ownership pass 50% penetration late next year.  So, while an app may not be the answer for every brand right now, and "check ins" or "barcode scans" may not be the promotional entry mechanism of choice yet, marketers need to start dabbling in these arenas so when they do reach critical mass, they aren't just figuring it out then.

Foursquare: The New Mobile Shopper Promotional Tool Of Choice

Who doesn't love a bargain these days? For those shopping on a budget, Ann Taylor has recently changed what it means to earn a discount by launching a Foursquare campaign for customers within the New York City area. Shoppers who check into one of eight stores in New York will receive 15% off, while holding a mayorship will get you a whopping 25% off. New York is currently designated a trial for the promotion, of which the company hopes to expand nationwide across all Ann Taylor stores.

While the idea of using FourSquare for a shopper promotion still feels somewhat novel, Ann Taylor is not the first retailer to use this type of promotion to drive sales and store traffic. Other retailers that have tested a similar campaign include Jimmy Choo, Sephora, Diesel and Cynthia Rowley, and Oscar de la Renta.

That said, are we reaching a tipping point for mobile promotions? Considering the growth of digital savvy consumers within the marketplace (Nielsen estimates for 2011 see SmartPhones representing over 50% of mobile market), the trend of these mobile promotions will continue to grow as consumers demand more interactive and quick discount options.  

 

And not only will these promotions drive consumer engagement between the digital savvy and retailers, they more than likely will increase redemption rates by eliminating the “clipping” of traditional coupons. Retailers brave enough to test these promotions may reap the benefits of gaining brand ambassadors, and in turn, a more loyal consumer base. 

However, looking toward the longer term begs the questions, "How can we take these promotion beyond discounts?" "Are we simply training a new generation of shoppers to always wait for discounts?"  And, "Can we use this technology to create stronger 1:1 relationships which have benefits beyond pure monetary value?" 

-Contributed by Kelly Moriarty

France's Monoprix Asks, What Have Brands Done For You Lately?

Monoprix, a French supermarket chain, recently launched a glossy in-store magazine and, with an ever expanding private label portfolio, it is interesting they have chosen to call it “Brand’s”. 

Perhaps even more interesting is the headline that graces the launch issue: “Les marques, elles font quoi pour vous aujourd’hui?” which roughly translates: Brands, what have they done for you lately?

The associated article consists of an interview conducted by a “Consumer Psycho-Sociologist” with Olivier Geradon de Vera, Vice President of IRI, a French consultancy specializing in retail trends and tracking.

The interview’s conclusion: “La marquee reste une vraie necessite pour les consommateurs…” Brands remain a true necessity for consumers… - is probably exactly what Yoplait, who bought the adjacent page espousing “Vous devez avoir besoin de plus de calins!” You probably need more hugs - wanted to hear.

Geradon de Vera goes on to say that the reason for this necessity is, “…car elle permet de romper la monotonie de l’offre des non-marques et d’apporter du plaisir au-dela de la necessity” because [brands] break up the monotony of non-brands and deliver pleasure beyond just necessity.

The article in and of itself does not really provide any new insights, but what is interesting is the subtle antagonism with which it is crafted. 

From challenging consumers with “What Brands have done for you lately?”, to using a Psycho-Sociologist to conduct an interview which concludes the value of brands is largely emotional, read irrational, seems a very bold tact for a retailer publication to take straight out of the gate.  Might be Yoplait will be needing one of those hugs before buying space in Issue #2.

Monoprix shoppers do tend to be more affluent, and are more likely to purchase branded products, so a concerted private label push could have a greater impact on brand sales than a similar push in a hypermarket like Auchan.  We’ll continue to monitor the publication to see if this is a recurring theme.

Contributed by Ian Whitney, Integer Paris

The Psychology Of Color At Retail

Recently we executed some in-market research for developing in-store POS pieces  to be used in a busy supermarkets. Wanting to make sure we caught the shopper's attention with the right in store media, we took a series of shelf extenders into a retail environment, affixed them to a store shelf and asked shoppers to shop the aisle without telling them what they were looking for. 

It was an interesting real-life test - shoppers denied seeing the extender in every instance except for one - when the extender was mostly yellow. In that instance, shoppers recalled either the sign or the messaging more than 65% of the time. Even a neon green sign, much loved in a sterile conference room, seemingly disappeared into the background once it was affixed to a store shelf.

Why? It wasn't that the design was different. The design, with the exception of color, was exactly the same. It's because people are conditionally programmed to respond to color in certain ways.

For example, in car-loving America, green means go. We're driving along see a green light and don't think or pause. When we see a yellow light on the other hand, drivers are conditioned to slow down, some even stop. By using a predominately yellow sign, we were able to tap into a shopper's psychological conditioning - we were able to get her to slow down and look.

Spenders Utilize More Experience- and Convenience-based Shopping Aids

Since the start of 2009, shoppers appeared to rely more on coupons, from both manufacturers and retailers, to help them shop for groceries. While coupon use had been increasing, other forms of traditional shopping aids, such as directional signage and in-store associates, were steadily decreasing. 

However, when viewing the shopping-aid preferences of Spenders (those who report shopping more) alongside Savers (those shopping less), stark differences in recessionary coping strategies appeared. The Savers segment showed higher price sensitivity and corresponding shopping strategy using circulars and coupons, from both manufacturers and retailers, significantly more than their Spender counterparts, who were using more convenience-based shopping aids such as directional signage, in-store associates, self-checkout, and mobile phones.

For more highlights from The Checkout's 2009 Year in Review, download the full report here.