Shopper Culture

Mother's Day: Celebrating All the Mothers in Your Life

Mother’s Day has traditionally been thought of as a day to celebrate your mom. But increasingly, consumers are seeing the day as a chance to show their appreciation for all the special women in their lives who are mothers. Mothercare, a UK-based retailer, created a Facebook video showcasing the average mom’s point of view of the special day:

“It is a day set aside to dedicate and honor the women that give us so much love.”

This expansion of celebration is evident in shopper behavior and spending. According to Forbes, 23.5 percent of Mother’s Day spending will be on wives, 10.5 percent on daughters, 8.5 percent on grandmothers, and 8.2 percent on sisters. 

Retail is responding to this shift. For instance, while Ann Taylor Loft touts its Mother’s Day Must-Haves, they also remind shoppers of all the special women in their lives. As greeting cards are a common gift, retailers are expanding their collection to offer options for different recipients (e.g., aunt, sister, goddaughter). As marketers, we have to consider for whom shoppers are buying when we message around Mother’s Day.

 

Contributed by Jillian Kyle and Molly Paskal

What Role Should Retailers and Brands Play in Social Media?

Though the social web is an ever-evolving, complex space for brands and retailers to play; there are some guidelines for success. The Integer Group, in partnership with the North American Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council, recently released the final two parts of its series Untangling the Social Web. These final parts offer step-by-step tips for creating social media strategy for external communications (Part 6) and internal operations (Part 7).

Though internal and external strategies have their differences, the study indicates that both require a brand or retailer to truly understand their social role—that sweet spot where their own values and the values of their connections intersect. After all, the social web is a place that thrives on two-way dialogue. What's your contribution to the conversation? 

Download Part 6 or Part 7 to read more about how to define your own social role as well as how to activate it in the social web. 

New Integer Pulse: What's Heating Up in the Kitchen?

What’s at the heart of most homes? The kitchen. And in 2013, anything goes as long as it makes sense for the homeowner and their style of living. Below are five intriguing kitchen trends from Susan Serra on Countertalk and our thoughts on why they should matter to your business.

Modernizing classic styles: A good example of a classic reinterpretation is the new country kitchen. Forget the ducks with red ribbons. New modern country design elements include natural finishes, such as slate or matte, and engineered stone to bring an authentic look into the space. Those who are still into modern and austere will add antiques in small collections, oversized statement pieces or a touch of an urban/industrial vibe here and there to soften and warm the modern edge. Putting it in perspective: By making ads, displays and products topical to this trend, we can sync with shoppers’ design desires.

Click here to read more in this issue or here to read past issues of the Pulse.

Are You Buying Spirit for St. Patrick's Day?

I agree with NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay when he says,“St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect reminder that spring is right around the corner, and given the type of winter many Americans have had, it’s safe to say consumers are ready to shake off their winter blues with a little green.” 

But for most, St. Patrick's Day is not just about blowing off the winter blues by wearing green (and drinking green), it's also about spending green. According to NRF’s St. Patrick’s Day Spending Survey conducted by BIGinsight, the average person will spend $35.27 on green attire, décor for their home and office, and festive food and drinks. Though younger consumers may be the age group planning the most celebrations (77.3%), 35-44 year olds will be the ones spending the most at an average of $41.68. 

Knowing people are eager to spend, brands and retailers continue to market specifically to this holday and have already flooded the market with festive messages to push their products. What do you predict will be the biggest seller this year?

INSIGHTINGS 2013

Those most adaptable to change are the ones who survive ... and thrive.
To stay on top of the rapidly changing marketplace, trends help you see what shoppers are seeking, why retail is reinventing how they sell and how brands are behaving. Take a look at what Integer is looking at trendwise in 2013:

1| SHOPPERS AS SALES ASSOCIATES

No longer is it just the sales associate standing between you and the shopper. You now have shoppers ready and willing to give advice, help you sell, provide input and get rewarded for doing so.How do you ensure they add value to your brand? Make sure they have the right information. Leverage their social shopping power. Speak the same language (e.g., Are they talking about you on Twitter? Tweet back). Think about retraining your sales staff. And most importantly, never let the conversation die.

Click here to continue reading more 2013 Insightings and more from the latest edition of The Pulse.

 

2013 Shopper Trends In Light of New Year’s Resolutions and The Fiscal Cliff Scare

Though we have averted the fiscal cliff, I wonder how it will impact shopper trends in 2013. According to BIGInsight’s December 2012 survey, consumer confidence is down month over month (Index of 95) but remains stronger than 2011 (Index 139).  Combine that with post-holiday purse tightening and the popular New Year’s resolution to spend less and save more, shoppers may be a harder audience to woo in 2013. 

With expenses on the brain, shoppers will be looking for more in 2013—more bang for their buck, more entertainment (online and offline) and basically more of everything. The good news is that brands and retailers are already finding ways to do this via interactive retail, subscriptions and fashionization of their products. Trend Hunter’s 2013 trend video indicates that these retail tactics will continue in 2013 and that we should expect to see more semi-permanent (formerly pop-up) retail stores, vending options, upgrades to the average, and immersive branding this coming year. Though digital is an ever-growing force, it appears that digital and physical POS will continue to work in tandem to bring more to shoppers. Do you think this will be enough to woo shoppers in 2013 given the recent damper on the state of the U.S. economy?

 

Shopper Culture 2012: A Year in Review

In case you missed it; here’s what happened on Shopper Culture during 2012.

Market Posts Demonstrating Seasonal Agility

In this digital age, shoppers are thirsty for real-time ‘newness’ in the market. Seasonal fun appears to be one way retailers and brands are keeping things fresh. This year we saw more Super Bowl activity in store, innovative Valentine’s Day merchandise in Asia, retailers embracing less publicized holidays (National Mom’s Night Out) and brands playing in to current events like the election.

Shopper Posts Highlighting Behavioral Economics in Marketing

Psychological concepts such as social proof became hot topics for shopper marketers this year. Various posts demonstrate how these concepts have manifested in the market in the form of popularity and scarcity messaging—especially during the holidays.

Connecting Our Social and Consumer Psyches

In a post last week, we discussed the psychology that drove shoppers to buy in increasing numbers during the Thanksgiving weekend events, from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. One of the principles discussed, fear of missing out, (FOMO) is of particular interest today; the term has been used more and more frequently to describe a behavior resulting from the growing presence of social/digital connection to our day-to-day lives. JWT Intelligence released a study uncovering the drivers and anxieties related to FOMO. We've always had a fear of missing out, but that fear is exacerbated with the onset of real-time, location-based, and social media tools. Real-time digital updates to your computer or mobile phone from Facebook posts about the party your friends are a and Foursquare check-ins at a local restaurant are generating social angst. The study hypothesizes that as social media makes people aware of things to which they might not otherwise have been privy, it can spark a sense of vicarious participation or motivate real-world behavior.

The Psychology Behind Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and door buster after door buster—The Thanksgiving weekend has become a marathon of retail events, one leading in to the next in rapid succession. The weekend packs in a lot and is proving to be bigger and more successful than ever. In fact, the latest issue of The Checkout indicates that 22 percent of shoppers will do most of their shopping sometime between Black Friday and Cyber Monday (vs. 19 percent in 2010). This is not surprising, because there are more and more ways to shop the weekend. Be it with the crowds, at night, in the morning, from your couch (online), or browsing Main Street—there is an option for every type of shopper. 

But recent research indicates that Black Friday sales don’t always offer the best prices and that Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are still finding their footing. So why does this epic weekend continue to bring out record numbers of shoppers, their wallets, and sometimes wild behavior? We feel it’s because each event and day offers shoppers a different retail event or experience that appeals to something bigger than their wallets—their psyche.

Shoppers’ brains are hard-wired to look to others for guidance and to avoid risk (a psychological principle called social proof and risk aversion). This is true especially during the holidays when shoppers need to find the season’s must-have gift before it runs out. Retailers tap in to this principle by overflowing the market with news about their events that they hope will instigate FOMO (a fear of missing out) and drive shoppers to join in on the weekend’s events. Retailers also benefit from other psychological principles such as scarcity and loss aversion that drive shoppers to shop early and shop often.

Did you find yourself being pulled into the weekend’s festivities? Stay tuned for more perspectives and in depth coverage on holiday shopping here on ShopperCulture.com. 

Contributed by Jenna Taffet and Kira Torgersen

Photo Source: CNN Footage, When Black Friday Goes Bad

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

Sustainability Gains Traction in Southeast Asia

While going green has become mainstream practice in Europe and North America, sustainability as a mass movement has yet to catch on in Southeast Asia. However, signs of a green trend are surfacing, and
grocery retailers are leading the way.

In Malaysia, No Plastic Saturdays were launched in 2010 by multiple retailers, and have since been supported by the local governments. In Singapore, grocery chain Fair Price is implementing Bags From the Heart from April 22 through May 9, 2012, that combines sustainability with a charity angle. The initiative coincides with Earth Day and each purchase of a reusable grocery bag will result in a donation to the Rainbow Centre, a non-profit organization for children with special needs. Fair Price has a track record for supporting sustainability, as exhibited by opening Singapore's first eco-friendly supermarket,
complete with a recycling center, located in City Square Mall.

The approach Fair Price is taking is a wise one: involving shoppers in the process while encouraging them to adopt sustainable behaviors.

Contributed by Integer Singapore

 Stay tuned for more from Singapore in the next week.

Photo Sourced from Fair Price

 

 

Rising Gas Prices: Igniting or Just Fueling Change?

Gas prices have been a hot topic for most people this summer. How high will prices go? How long will this last? And for many of us in the marketing world, how will this affect shopper behavior? There is no denying it has impacted behaviors, and the ways are numerous. 

Shoppers are not just cutting back on spending; they are evolving and becoming more savvy, explorative, and efficient. When faced with rising gas prices, deal-seeking behavior is heightened, and BIG Research reports ~45% of consumers are reducing shopping-trip frequency.   

Though some retailers struggle during these times, supercenters excel as many shoppers view them as a cost-effective one-stop shop. In fact, a study published by the American Marketing Association reports that a 100% increase in gas prices causes an ~25% increase in supercenter share of shopper spending. So, it would appear that the $1.06 rise in gas prices we have experienced over the past year has increased supercenter business by ~8% - 10%.     

While change is evident, I question if gas prices are the origin.

Thinking back, this is not the first time shoppers have faced a gas spike (remember 2008) or reconsidered their spending habits – as during the recession. And the types of behavioral shifts resulting from the recent rise in gas prices are really nothing new. Perhaps this summer’s gas spike is just another log on the fire, one of many factors over the years that continue to incite shoppers to adopt smarter, value-oriented, and more efficient shopping practices. And if these behaviors persist, how do we connect with these shoppers for the long haul?  

 

Five Things Sticking Around Post Recession

As the recession slowly winds down, what new realities have become “naturally sticky”? And by that we mean the changes that will have a lasting impact on shoppers’ opinions or behaviors. We’ve identified five “stickworthy” macrotrends every marketer should know about in 2011. Each one feeds into the other to affect brands, retailers and shoppers alike as they connect and reconnect within the Shopper Continuum™.

1. THE NEW BUSY
Routines have been shattered. One in 10 out of work means shopping is no longer... 

2. COLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION
Borrowing has become big business. With a multitude of rental options for all, walking away... 

3. SHIFT TO THRIFT
The surge to save is huge. But it isn’t just about dollars — it’s also about saving energy...

4. REVOLVING DECORS
The winds of change are blowing sales your way. With shoppers sick and tired of...

5. “LUXYOURY”
Being rich has been reconfigured. It’s no longer only about having money: it's also about... 

Click here to read more on these 5 recession wind-down realities in the latest issue of the Integer Pulse.

Blurring Worlds

The world is changing exponentially, and what many thought was a long way off is becoming an everyday reality. The traditional boundaries of selling are collapsing and blurring as shoppers choose when, where and how they buy within these blended media/retail touchpoints. Phd Media has identified multiple trends, which they believe will shape the media landscape in 2014. TV and Internet, Entertainment and Advertising, Mobile Phones and Computers, and Online/Offline, are four that will significantly impact shopper marketing. Click here to read the latest edition of the Integer Pulse and learn more about these trends and their impact on shopper marketing.