Let’s start with a quick look at some of the key trends in consumer behaviour and the retail industry. I’ll pick out 3 each.
3 Deepening Trends in Consumer Behaviour:
- Customers are becoming more demanding – the Web 2.0 revolution has provided a forum for sharing opinions to the point where consumers really do call the shots. They expect choice and convenience or will go elsewhere.
- Social Media online is exploding – and is becoming a key vehicle for both strategic marketing and customer engagement.
- Premium products and services still sell well and Green is becoming iconic – many of the less price sensitive consumers are still highly style and status conscious, and consumers are going to increasingly great lengths to boycott brands that have poor eco-credentials
Ok, so that’s 3 consumer trends. How about the Retail Industry in general?
3 Deepening Trends in the Retail Industry:
- The credit crunch is getting worse – and negatively impacting retailer profits
- The e-channel is still growing fast – online spending in July for example reached £4.8 billion, up 80% on last year to a new all-time high. Retailers are expecting a major shift to online this Christmas.
- The leaders are merging channels – and providing seamless brand and customer experiences across them all. Consumers in return are becoming rapidly less tolerant of pricing, availability or service differentials online and offline.
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