Interesting bits coming from a survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation.
While multi-channel consumers spend nearly twice as much as their single channel counterparts on average, they are also more likely to purchase from multiple providers, according to a new study from Opinion Research Corporation, an infoUSA company (NASDAQ:IUSA). Consumers who use more than a single channel to interact with an organization – for example, shopping online as well as in a company’s store – also tend to spend more than those who rely on only one channel.
“Multi-channel retailing is growing at a rate of approximately 30% a year in transaction value,” said Jill Glathar, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of the Market Planning and Development Practice at Opinion Research Corporation US. “Multi-channel customers are often the most astute about pricing, and as such, may not be the most loyal. Successfully implementing a multi-channel strategy to retain them requires an understanding of the behavior and attitude of this savvier type of customer.” This means that companies may now have to do more to keep such consumers, which can add additional costs in marketing and/or customer service.
The research also indicated that internet shopping will continue to grow, with 65% of respondents expecting to make a web-based purchase in the future, vs. 42% who use this channel now. This suggests that the internet will continue its transition from a research or browsing tool to more of an actual selling channel. Somewhat surprisingly, telephone shopping will also continue to rise, as 39% of respondents plan to use the telephone to make purchases in the future, compared to only 21% who currently do.
Additionally, the survey found that consumer’s multi-channel usage varies by industry. For example, big box retailers such as Borders and Home Depot (17%); mass merchants such as Walmart and Target (16%); department stores (14%) and restaurants (11%) have had the most success at implementing multi-channel strategies.
“The ability to successfully integrate direct and indirect channels in to a customer-centric multi-channel sales and service environment will really define the market leaders of tomorrow.” Dr. Glathar said.
Good story on how Retailers are using Mobile Technology
Consumers are not yet using their mobile phones to do all their shopping, as some forecast, but retailers are still finding them a powerful tool.
Multiple Food retail and wholesale operators gathered at the recently conducted The FMI Show plus MARKETECHNICS and got to see the latest consumer product trends and explore strategies for satisfying customers and generating growth. For all of us who could not make it to the Show, FMI has released the presentation decks that were used. There are lot of good presentation on Retail Technology, few good presentations on how to reduce shrinkage, Data Security, Category Management among others. Something that will keep you occupied for few days atleast.
- Emergency Preparedness Update
- Organized Retail Crime — Issues and Opportunities
- Winning the War on Shrink
- Anti-Theft Technology and Fixture Updates
- Energize Your Bottom Line
- How Do Retailers and Manufacturers Win With High Gas Prices?
- Impact of the Changing Senior Market on Retailers
- Let’s Walk the Store With a New Perspective
- Succession Planning for Success
- Sustainability in Action
- What’s New in New Products
- How to Market Fresh Foods to Moms and Children
- Latin America: Evolving Formats — Changing Consumers (Presented in Spanish only)
- Next Generation of Category Management
- Pharmacy’s Connection to Health and Wellness
- Shopping for Health — The Growing Health and Wellness Market
- Understanding Local From a Consumer Perspective
- Understanding Multicultural Consumers
Wal-Mart is promising low prices on ice cream and sundae toppings during the summer.
To celebrate these savings and kick off the American Summer, Wal-Mart will host what may be the world's largest ice cream social event on Sunday, May 18, complete with complimentary ice cream sundaes in more than 2,500 Wal-Mart Supercenters across the country. Wal-Mart will have on hand more than 5,000 ice cream scoopers to build an estimated 1 million free ice cream sundaes, complete with whipped cream and other toppings, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., while supplies last.
Now, 1 Million Free ice-cream sundaes is a lot of money (My guess would be USD 1 Million), but the amount of traffic the event will bring to it's 2500 supercenters will certainly result in much more dollars for the Retailer.
More here:
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?Feed=PR&Date=20080515&ID=8650858&Symbol=US:WMT
Research: How Consumers Actually Shop For Retail Products Across Channels
by Deepak Sharma on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
From Forrester Research, How Consumers Actually Shop For Retail Products Across Channels.
While cross-channel shopping is expected to top $1 trillion by 2012, less is known about specific consumer behavior that drives customers across channels. In a recent Forrester consumer survey, we found that for considered purchases where shoppers research products first, more than half of consumers begin their research process online. Those consumers who begin their research process online are also more likely to ultimately purchase products through the online channel. Although consumers are actively cross-channel shopping for their considered purchases, retailers fail to create a seamless multichannel shopping experience. To meet the multichannel imperative, retailers should conduct frequent cross-channel reviews and competitive site assessments, educate customers with comprehensive product detail pages, and ensure that product promotions are consistent across channels.
Good Read.
Wal-Mart has launched an Online Resource Guide, "Save More".
Wal-Mart launches today a new on-line platform for customers hungry for ideas to stretch their dollars during tough times. The site, located at http://www.walmart.com/savemore, will feature tips and advice from Ellie Kay -- America's Family Financial Expert® and best-selling author of 11 books including her most recent release, A Tip A Day With Ellie Kay.
With 20 years of financial experience, Ellie has appeared on numerous television and radio talk shows speaking about practical ways in which women, families and children can better understand how to save and spend their money. Her advice will serve as a resource for budget-conscious shoppers looking for tips and tools as they face a summer of rising costs for gas, food and other necessities.
In addition, Wal-Mart merchants and everyday shoppers will have the ability to contribute content to the site by offering their own ideas on how to spend wisely and save more money. Over the last six months, nearly half of Americans say they have tried to become more practical in their purchases and more budget conscious.
Tough times calls for Innovative ideas. The site allows for users to share their tips also, although I am unable to see user shared tips so far. All in all a good way to engage consumers. Making sure that they know, Wal-Mart cares for them in these tough times. No wonder Same-store sales are up.
Understanding the Indian Retail Customer—in Bits and Bytes!
by Deepak Sharma on Tuesday, May 06, 2008
The India Practice of Diamond Management & Technology consultants has come up with an insightful research article titled, "Understanding the Indian Retail Customer—in Bits and Bytes!". Summary in their own words:
Organized retail in India is expected to grow at an astronomical pace over the next four years, making it critical for companies to differentiate themselves in a highly competitive environment. Retailers can use a datadriven approach to create a competitive advantage by better understanding customers and their needs. Retailers should overhaul/build their data analytics capabilities now if they hope to remain ahead of the curve.
Good Read.
By reading this TMCnet article, "The Grocery Game helps food shoppers save money", I got introduced to The Grocery Game, a website that claims to save you hundreds of dollars on grocery bill each month. Idea is simple, if you're ready to do a little stockpiling at home, just paying attention to the discount cycles at the major chain supermarkets, can allow you to buy nearly all your food and other household necessities at near-wholesale prices. Match that with manufacturers' coupons and weekly specials, you can save even more than bulk discounters like Sam's club or Costco.
The Grocery Game takes help of "high-low" pricing strategy followed by most chain supermarkets.
In those stores, most items are not on sale at any given time, and on average will be more expensive than at stores like WinCo and Wal-Mart that follow the "Every Day Low Prices" approach, which relies less on short-term discounting, three industry consultants said.
But to lure shoppers into the store, high-low supermarkets always have some items on sale -- and the sale prices generally dip below what's available at the discounters, according to Gault and the industry consultants....
High-low pricing was pioneered by department stores in the early 20th century and has been standard in the supermarket business since the 1950s. The quarterly cycles have taken root in the business patterns of both retailers and manufacturers, Lilien said, with managers relying on discounts to meet their quarterly sales volume targets.
Newspaper advertising has been central to the high-low strategy since its inception. While supermarkets now list their discounted items on their Web sites and e-mail coupons to customers, the schedule of the weekly newspaper insert still determines when displays are rearranged and sales begin and end, said Bob Reynolds, a Moraga retail economist and consultant.
"In the culture of the business, even in this day and age, it is that print ad," he said.
The Grocery Store has built a nice payment structure around their service,
For a dollar, first-time members can try Teri's List for four weeks! After that, it's is just $10 every eight weeks for one store. Most areas offer only one store list. But if you happen to be in an area where more than one list is available, for each additional store list you choose, you'll be billed an extra $5 every eight weeks.
Little bit of Retail Insider knowledge can take you a long way. Stay tuned :)
With the first wave of US economy stimulus checks being deposited into bank accounts past week, retailers have started getting aggressive to pick up their shares of the checks. Forbes.com is reporting that, retailers like Sears and Kroger are giving 10% bonus to those who turn their stimulus checks into company gift cards. Another story reports that other retailers like Walmart, Lowe's, CVS etc are offering discounts this weekend. But that may not be sufficient to pull the consumers to stores, recent polls are suggesting that most of the people will convert the checks into cash and pay off debt or add to their savings.
The checks and payments are part of a $168 billion tax rebate plan passed by Congress to help spur the lagging economy. Under the plan, individuals who have filed their tax returns for the year can receive up to $600 and families can get up to $1,200, plus $300 per child. The rebates are expected to reach 130 million households. The direct deposit payments began on Monday and paper checks go out May 9.
This quarter results will tell us who which retailer picked up maximum store traffic thus boosting amount of cash on their balance sheets.
