Click the Integer Pulse tab under the Our Thinking section for a monthly update from our Midwest office. They explore some really interesting topics surrounding the shopping world. This months issue uncovers a trend/counter-trend they call "Get Real|Unreal World" which dives into the mindset of today's consumers. Getting real about spending habits while at the same time longing to escape to an unreal world.
We've a project going on in the Denver office on the notion of convenience. So this little blog has been set up by Paul to discuss the opposite - those things that inconvenience and bug the hell out of us. He's looking for comment and stories about things that get on your nerves and you see as inconvenient in your day-to-day life. We thought we'd enlist our Shopper Culture readership to contribute the things that you all find inconvenient in your day-to-day life as we're sure there is a lot!
So
please have a look and leave your own story of things that are not convenient to you somewhere on the blog, or feel free to email Paul to add to his collection of stories. If
you also find your way to pass this on to other people you know get riled up
by life's little inconveniences, that would be fantastic.
Thanks
Paris recently hosted a Retail Marketing event called Point De Ventre. Ian Whitney from our Paris office went along, shot some video and made a quick presentation of some of the innovative technology that delivers meaningful shopper engagement.
Great sign-off Ian!
Retailers offering sustainable products and habits continue to grow and gain momentum – and more and more retailers are thinking of innovative ways to engage consumers on becoming Green.
Sam’s Club, like so many other retailers, is focusing their retail efforts around sustainability and Saving Green. They offer great eco-friendly products and tips both in-store and through their catalogue – but are now taking their sustainability efforts to a whole new level, by offering a “for purchase” Eco Home Makeover. For just $44,000 all of your eco-dreams can come true. The package includes solar panels, a wind turbine, high efficiency appliances for your kitchen and laundry, and energy efficient lighting. All of this aside, you also get put up in a luxury eco-lodge in Maine during installation, and you come home to a house-warming party to celebrate your eco-wonderfullness! Now that's what I call a package deal!
"Bundling" seems to be a relatively new concept, at least in its current context. Companies are bundling/packaging their services left and right. What began with vacations is now being offered by companies like Comcast, the largest cable company in the United States. It seems to make sense. As our lives get more and more complex, the more we want (and need) to simplify.
This offer is quite unique, however. Never before have I seen such a 360 degree approach. Comcast is certainly not sending you for a mani/pedi while they sync up your wireless to cable to tv to music. In fact, your schedule is at a disadvantage by opting for their services. Sam's Club, however, has pretty much covered every possible excuse you could think of to not do this. For example:
1. "I don't want their unsightly appliances in my kitchen."
With Sam's Club, you can choose the appliances yourself.
2. "Where are we going to go while they tear everything apart?"
Sam's club will not only put you up, but fly you so far away that the sound of wrecking balls is the furthest thing from your mind.
3. "How am I ever going to clean up the inches of dust they're going to leave in order to show off our new home?"
They're not only going to clean, they'll throw the whole darn thing for you! And bring PBS camera men!
It will be really interesting to see what kind of traction this gets in the marketplace. This is clearly not a "bundle and save" offer, nor is it a "go green, save green" initiative. This is pure convenience for the eco-minded shopper.
In this lies the potential to change the way we offer services. Is there a limit to what people will pay for this type of worry-free experience? Will brands/companies/services be forced to turn into experiencial machines to stay afloat? Time will tell. But it seems as though the gap between "do it yourself" and "have it done for you" is getting wider and wider.
Read more at http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?catg=11606
The Super Bowl is a tremendous opportunity for anyone in the retail business to capture momentum in sales volume early in the year. Though cash-strapped from the holidays, consumers spend an estimated $11.7 billion on Super Bowl parties, a month after the traditional holiday season is over. The event is bigger than the game, as we all head to Super Bowl parties to sample part of the $5 billion worth of goods the hosts bought, or the $6.7 billion worth of goods the rest of us guests threw in nationwide. Sales data shows us that its not just chips ($33.4 million), meat ($16.6 million), soda ($18.6 million), and beer ($20.7 million), being purchased incrementally, but nearly 4 million HD TVs (65 % bought at Wal-Mart or Best Buy) and 1.8 million pieces of furniture outfitting living rooms. This, and the fact that it is consistently the highest rated TV program of the year, makes the Super Bowl a boon for all the brands that stand to benefit from the occasion.
Brands market at retail for the Super Bowl in a variety of ways. Brands
like Coors Light, Pepsi, Doritos and others pay the NFL for official
sponsorship and rights to the marks for the Super Bowl. Non-sponsors
like Coke, Miller Lite, and Kellogg’s use generic terms like the “Big
Game” to try to capture the essence of the big game. The biggest
retailers “took back” the Super Bowl by creating their own programming
themes. But promotional programs that most brands execute offer fewer,
bigger prizes, don’t interact with the shopper beyond their experience
at the shelf. Despite their efforts, most promotions seem generic
because everyone is doing the same thing. Brands with the greatest
connection to football parties – especially food and beverage brands –
tout the “Ultimate Party” but don’t give us a compelling reason to
believe them.
It’s as if most Super Bowl brands are talking to themselves and not their audience – the fans. And the fans can tell the difference.
We the fans want to have the best experience possible. And, unless you
are a one of the few fans that has connections, your chance of getting
tickets to the game is nil. The biggest fans, the most loyal ones, are
watching at home because they simply can’t go to the live event. So
the game becomes a reason to get together with friends, consume copious
amounts of stuff and enjoy a pop-culture event with no equal. Outside
of the host stadium, the Super Bowl is 28 million parties with 154
million viewers, who are there for the game, the advertising, and to be
with friends, in that order. The host's success is measured on putting
out a great spread, showing off the home theater, or placing a friendly
bet on which quarterback will throw the first interception.
So, what can brands do more to enhance our experience before, during and after the pinnacle moment of kickoff? How can brands connect with the shopper at retail when there is so much clutter and noise in the context of a shopper wants to get in, get out and get to where they are going? At a time when everyone is sponsoring everything, how can a brand be authentic to an increasingly skeptical audience?
When there is so much opportunity to make a great impression for the Super Bowl, brands need to create programming that breaks through the clutter at retail and communicates a relevant message for the shopper. Brands must connect with the consumer in a meaningful way, understanding the insights of what the Super Bowl occasion is about. And perhaps most importantly, brands need to connect to their audience in a way that is authentic to the brand, while most of all remaining true to the fans.
- Contributed by Eric Anhold
Source: ACNielsen: average weekly sales for two weeks ending Feb. 10 2007; BigResearch: CIA survey, Jan 2007
Image credits: In-Store Marketer
As a relatively recent arrival to the USA, my family was put through some major changes to their lives, one of which was a change in how we undertake our weekly grocery shop. We came from a city where we had shopped on-line for most products, including weekly groceries, for the last 5 or so years. The convenience of having what we ordered delivered to our door within a two hour time slot is fabulous. However, we moved to an environment where that is no longer a viable option, having instead to drive to a supermarket and walk the aisles. (And as I am at work most of the time, I confess that my role in this activity is now non-existent!)
We were discussing this with friends the other week though and I was amazed at quite how quickly my wife had fallen into a pattern of behaviour that, when we thought about it, is driven purely by habit. Very quickly she fell into a new routine - she uses the same supermarkets, walks the aisles in the same order, buying the same brands, on the same day of the week at about the same time. It's clockwork. She doesn't even particularly like one of the supermarkets she uses - it is cluttered, cramped and not the nicest environment. Yet there is little incentive to change going there, and when I asked her about why if she is not that impressed, she doesn't go somewhere else, she hadn't really thought about it. It's just part of how she lives her life now.
So how much of our shopping behaviour is actually driven out of habit? How sedimented do we become with regular purchases like this? How much more difficult is it to change our shopping behaviour than to establish it? When was the last time you thought about and changed how you shop?
And what impact would a change in the store environment have on our shopping basket? I guess the impulse to act is not that great for my wife, but how much
better could shopping be (and how much more money a supermarket, in this case, might extract?) if they could break down this cycle of habit? What could the store and/or brands be doing to make this a better experience, to help her discover new things and make it interesting?
As a fan of live music, and a musician myself, I recently made my way to the Fillmore Auditorium where the Brian Setzer’s Orchestra was performing. Brian Setzer has performed with a number of guitars, but his primary “ax” is a Gretsch “Hot Rod” – a flashy hollow-body that Setzer designed to his own specifications. 
Gretsch markets and sells the “Hot Rod” as a signature model within the Brian Setzer series. Of course, as a consumer, you can only purchase a brand new “Hot Rod” at retail outlets like Guitar Center.
What's this got to do with retail?
I wasn’t at Guitar Center when I recently encountered the “Hot Rod” – I was at the Fillmore. Prior to the acts beginning, I spotted a Gretsch Guitar “pop-up” display positioned around stage right. The pop-up featured a large graphic panel highlighting the cover of Brian Setzer’s latest CD and an even larger image of Brian himself cradling a vintage Gretsch guitar. Below was a rather large assortment of the Gretsch guitars - beautifully shimmering in a variety of luscious colors.
Neither Gretsch or Brian Setzer are brands of the masses – they can’t compete on that stage. To that end, marketing has to be targeted and the messaging truly engaging. Communicating within an active environment where consumer are open, receptive and can interact with the brands on a purely emotional level heightens consideration. Breaking through the clutter and noise at traditional retail outlets like Guitar Center or Virgin Music isn’t efficient for these brands or meaningful to the consumer.
While the messaging was specifically targeted at Setzer fans and Gretsch guitar enthusiast, the venue provided natural transitional moments (waiting for the show to start or that time between acts) where consumers felt comfortable interacting with the brand. How often do brands try to reach us when we are rushed or the setting isn’t natural?
Equally, how often do celebrities endorse brands where the endorsement feels neither real nor relevant? Is a Buick really the car of choice for Tiger Woods? He knows golf inside and out, but what is his credibility with cars?
Brian Setzer knows guitars. Brian Setzer designs guitars. Brian Setzer shreds a guitar like no one else. Brian Setzer plays Gretsch. I get it. I believe it.
So, to rephrase the question - is this retail?
At The Integer Group, we have started to think of retail as:
“Any environment (physical or virtual) that has been constructed to process or facilitate an exchange of items of value (transaction).”
This certainly was a physical environment and the intent was to elicit a transaction between audience and brand – I gave my time and Gretsch allowed me an intimate product experience. I also gave something else. Next to the row of glittering guitars was a computer kiosk. Many of us enthusiastically gave away our names, addresses and e-mail addresses for a chance at winning a Brian Setzer autographed signature Gretsch.
Later comes the true test of audience/brand engagement. Buying a Gretsch represents a high involvement purchase – they run about $3,000. None of us at the Fillmore were prepared to pull out our debit cards and take one home, but I imagine (and hope) I will soon start getting e-mails and further messages from Gretsch as they have now pegged me as someone hopelessly climbing from consideration (yeah I would like one) to intent (damn, I need one).
Gretsch wasn’t selling that night and no one was making a purchase. What they did do was to place a permanent brand image squarely within the right hemisphere of my brain – the part where creativity flourishes and any inkling of reason and rational decision-making is noticeably absent. For me, my aspiration of owning a Gretsch is the epitome of practicality. It makes all the sense in the world.
No, they weren’t selling that night, but I was buying – buying into the realization that I really needed that guitar.
Now that’s retailing.
- Contributed by Paul Ballew
Our Dallas office recently completed a very interesting study on shopper behaviour in the consumer electronics segment. Topline findings were posted on adage.com yesterday. The original article can be found here.
The study takes an interesting look at the decision making process and the impact of various stimuli on the purchase decision in this category.
For more information you can contact Lisa Deatherage in the Integer Dallas office at [email protected]. Or check back soon for more on this.
(Photo credit: AP)
The recent debacle of World Series ticket sales in Denver raises an interesting question. While the Internet, in all its glory, is quite fabulous, are there some real world experiences that consumers don't want replaced? Aside from the fact that online-only ticket sales opened up the ticket market to the entire world resulting in many many Denverites getting shut out of the game, it also robbed local diehards of a time honored tradition, waiting in line.
Camping out in front of ballparks or music venues to get tickets to the big game or big show is a shopping experience. While many enjoy the ease of e-tail, there are many that cherish the real world experience of shopping. They go to malls on Black Friday, hit after Christmas sales at Macy's, etc. Despite the crowds and mayhem, they go. Similar types enjoy the badge of honor that a fan gets to wear when they say "I slept on the sidewalk for 3 days waiting to get tickets".
Badges aside, ticket window sales also ensure that locals get an exclusive opportunity to go to the game for face-value. It is after all the local fans that have been filling seats and buying hot dogs and beer all season to support the team both financially and emotionally.
Its not exactly clear what the Rockies management was thinking... as it turns out online sales certainly didn't end up being easier for the team. More importantly, they robbed their fanbase of a brand experience. As we think about how we create brand experiences, it is important to balance new and innovative ideas with experiences consumers have grown to expect and love.
Walking along East 49th Street in New York these days you come across a fairly new retail concept from ING Direct Bank. A hybrid bank branch, coffee shop, meeting place.
According to the guys in this store, the bank now has 5 such outlets that combine a coffee shop within the bank environment.
While that concept is nothing new (Abbey in the UK has had Costa Coffee shops in it’s branches for sometime) it struck us as interesting for two reasons:
1) Because it is from a direct banking brand, which by previous definitions meant not having a retail presence.
2) For the staff and the environment. The staff call themselves bankaristas, and they were what you would expect from a high end coffee shop. Not necessarily what you would expect from a bank. They can sell you a latte and a loan, a shot of espresso and a savings account. They were bright, energetic, clearly having fun and very engaging.
From a link at the American Library Association (ALA), we found a post and overview of a similar store near their headquarters in Chicago. In the Chicago store you can find:
- Full coffee/espresso drink menu, a decent variety of pastries, prepackaged sandwiches, and juices, all at low prices
- Staff equally trained in pulling espresso and helping you with your on-line banking
- A seminar room that’s free for public use (by reservation) when not occupied by the occasional ING presentation
- Free wireless
- 10 terminals
- Free newspapers and financial magazines for use on site
- 6 flat-screen TVs (all on CNN, all muted)
- Branded merchandise (duffel bags, computer bags, portfolios, travel mugs, etc.) and a few financial tools (books, mechanical savings bank for kids) for sale
- Strong return visit incentive: buy four coffee drinks and the fifth is free
One of the points the ALA makes is that the store could be mistaken for a library (and we're big fans of library's here at Integer)
The guys in NY we spoke to let on that their store is doing very well in attracting new deposits and bank business was brisk. You could see why. It was inviting, welcoming and useful from a shopper point of view. If I lived in NY and were I to be shopping around for a savings account I’d have opened one there and then. I will also be telling everyone about it simply because it is cool.
In addition to the space as a coffee shop, meeting place, bank, they were also retailing ING branded merchandise (much of it linked to their F1 sponsorship). This was discretely merchandised and a nice additional use of the retail space.
They’re also using promotions to good effect As well as the five for four given in the Chicago store, when you make a deposit into your savings account you receive a free brew of your choice. Great use of incentives to keep you coming back regularly and maintaining good financial habits. And the place was buzzing.
We thought it was a nice disruption in the category that provides real value to customers and shoppers alike in the urban environment.
What will the next such innovation in the category be?
Will we see more embracing of cross-over retail environments from this category?
Who will be first to really capitalize on the retail footprint of a bank network and converge the offering with something of equal or greater value to shoppers? Or apply other retail principles?
And do you see this going on anywhere else in the world?
Recently in Columbus, OH the Kroger company installed a giant hybrid convenience store / vending machine next to its gas pumps.
Local TV station NBC-4 reported on it, saying:
When operational, the machines will provide everything from drinks to pain relievers. In all, more than 150 products will be available at the so-called automated convenience stores.
The machines will accept credit cards, coins and cash.
"Product falls into a soft basket. Basket goes into a delivery bin, drops it in and it comes out the front," said Tom Riske, an installer.
The concept is from a company called Shop24 which is based in Belgium and has installed similar machines throughout Europe.
For a while now there has been tension between the grocery and c-store channels, with each creeping toward the other. In this move Kroger is dipping its toe in more automation territory. First, along with other grocery chains, they have given shoppers the self-checkout option. Now they are looking at a store-without-a-store. It will be interesting to see how this catches on. I couldn't find any pictures of the one in Columbus but here's a picture from a similar Shop24 unit attached to a Shell station in Portugal. 
One of the interesting things about this concept is how people use it. It appears to follow a purchase pattern similar to that of a standard convenience store. On their website Shop24 outlines the highest selling Europesn items and typical dayparts for each, along with shopper needs. It shows the breadth of occastions for this type of retail channel. 
It all raises a small but significant question: What is this channel
called? Un-manned C-Store or SuperVending? I imagine it will live
under the Vending banner. And although it can't compare to the vending jungle that is at play in Japan, it's a pretty interesting development for us stateside.
An oldie but goodie from The Onion: Shopper Insecurities Laid Bare in Wal-Mart Shopping Cart. Thanks to Todd for forwarding.
There has been a lot of media attention lately about bottled water with countless articles written about the issue in recent months.
It seems as though every water-type brand is coming out with a quick save, and now it's water filtration's turn.
Brita's FilterForGood.com is taking a stand against the bottle by asking consumers to pledge against using disposable water bottles. Instead, Brita is making a case for using their filtered water with a reusable water bottle.
Brita has partnered up with Nalgene for this project, who has basically just made a green Nalgene bottle and slapped Brita's messaging on it.
Will a promotion like this really have any impact? Using a water bottle is not a new idea and yet people are out there buying bottled water. To me this begs the question - Why do people really drink bottled water?
If it's really about health, Brita's solution seems to be a good solve. For the most part, home water filtration effectively gets rid of the bad stuff. In fact, filtering at home could be even healthier than some bottled waters. Not to mention the cheap plastic that leaches into your water.
But- what if it's purely convenience? Bottled water is so easy. Unscrew it, drink it, trash it. Water bottles are slightly less convenient. You don't want to lose them. You have to carry them around with you after they're empty. They have to be filled, cleaned, stored. When it comes down to it, are consumers ready to give up the convenience of bottled water?
Asking people to switch their behavior is a huge task. And who should be providing the solution? Water filtration brands like Brita? Local governments? Water bottle manufacturers?
As the media presents the information, we're left to make the final purchase decisions. And let's just say sales in bottled water are not suffering. It will be interesting to watch the issues and see how it plays out in-store.
A few (of many) interesting links to ponder:
USA Today: Bottled water awash in a sea of controversy
Fast Company: Message in a Bottle
MSN: A video from the Today Show
CNN: Aquafina labels to spell out source - tap water
Terrapass: Bottled Water - good for who exactly?
Ebay has come out with a couple new TV spots that put the thrill of shopping front and center. These are all about the outcome, the prize at the conclusion of an auction. While another spot highlights the thrill of the hunt in all its competitiveness and passion, ultimately these folks plainly feel like, well, losers if they don't end of with the prized item.
It closely parallels something we looked into in our Shopper Study, namely the path of a shopper in a Master relationship with the retailer.
More here.
From Craig Elston:
Tesco. The paragon of British retailing has been getting much press in the US as they prepare to launch their Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores in the American West.
That they generate so much coverage is of no surprise. Tesco has talked about entering the largest grocery market on the planet for some time. And I am in no doubt that they will be a success. Having been a customer of Tesco for as long as I can remember in the UK, their continual development of store formats and own label products will be welcome again in our house (when they get to Colorado).
The last five years or so of grocery shopping by our house in the UK was undertaken online. The fact that when you register on Tesco.com your eons worth of Clubcard data (i.e. things you have bought in the past) automatically make up your shopping list, meant there really was little need to actually go into a store for our family shop other than for something to do on a wet Saturday afternoon.
So it was a shock (and surprise) to come to the US, have to go shopping for groceries and find ourselves faced with such choice. Far too much choice in fact - it is completely overwhelming. There are these huge sheds of food products, often quite devoid of any people, in which you have to choose from so many options in every category.
And here-in lies what will probably be the key to success for Tesco; they are superb at editing. They have made it clear that each store will have a limited, edited set of SKUs. And no doubt each store will vary based on local demographic so that the SKU set is relevant.
Back in the UK, when I used to visit the Tesco Metro near my office in Soho at lunch time, its product range was very different to the product SKUs available in the Tesco Express by the tube station close to my home. But both were undeniably Tesco - high quality good value products. They just understand the neighborhood and the differences in the mindset of the shopper there. They then meet their needs through a highly edited set of products. Interestingly, it never felt like you weren't getting a choice.
There is nothing to suggest that the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market concept won't be the same. Nor that local residents won't be flocking there in their droves.
More to come.
