The right product for right price in the right place… isn’t enough
The retail industry has always been disrupted by change. The year ahead will be no different. But one particular challenge is the consumer. These technologically savvy and increasingly informed consumers are connected through a multitude of devices to gain access to product and retail data. Therefore, retailers need to understand that competing on product and price are no longer sustainable strategies for success.
Why trust matters
In this fragile market, it’s not enough to market to individuals. Retailers have to market to communities—what the IBM Institute for Business Value called “communities of we.” And how well retailers and product brands identify the arbiters of taste to build trust with communities of like-minded consumers will determine whether they benefit from a base of loyal advocates… or are left to fend with more transient and fickle customers.
A new IBM Institute for Business Value survey of more than 28,000 global consumers confirms that, while consumers actively discuss, critique, promote, and even dismiss many brands, they are willing to give their loyalty to only a select few retailers.1
Download the report, Winning over the empowered consumer: why trust matters and learn more
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Winning over the empowered consumer
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Everything is known: the connected consumer
In years past, retailers were faced with a more informed consumer who was able to research prices and products before purchasing. Now that research takes place right in your store, with smart phones connecting consumers to reviews, ratings, price comparisons and communities, even as they peruse your aisles.
From smart phones to computers to social networks and even television remotes, retail will continue to digitize as the vast majority desire to shop and to browse with an expanding number of technologies. In fact, 24% of the global population says they are willing to use three or more technologies when shopping.
For customers to be loyal to you, you must be loyal to them
It´s not about catering to the growing use of technology. Instead, it is about winning consumers over by anticipating their behavior and preferences, and engaging with them on their terms. To accomplish this, retailers must take these steps:
Listen and learn.
Utilize analytics to gain a 360 degree view of the customer, spot trends before they emerge in the market and use social media to engage at a local level.
Anticipate and adapt.
Establish single view of the customer across channels, using consumer insights to localize assortment and personalize marketing, allowing store personnel to respond to local needs and support your customer’s path to purchase.
Execute and excel.
Make the most of marketing expenses with a mix of targeted advertising and segments, personalizing and tailoring your price and promotions and modifying processes; let the consumer be king.
Control the path to purchase
In the course of our research, IBM has consistently found that the consumer is growing more complex, more competitive and more sophisticated. They have higher expectations than ever before. That’s why retailers need enhanced customer insight and segmentation. According to a recent study of nearly 3,000 executives by the MIT Sloan Management Review and the IBM Institute for Business Value, analytics-driven organizations do, in fact, see greater success in the market.2
The fact is that consumers think the future is about them. They are right. And there is an over-arching message that consumers are giving retailers:
Serve me… don’t sell to me.
The consumer is armed with information and technology before they even arrive at the store. They know what they want, when it comes to being served. Consumers don’t want your opinion―they have formed their own with the help of their community. They want you to serve them. If they ask a question, respond. The assistant doesn’t need to be the expert. The consumer is and they expect to be treated as such.
So if you want to serve them, listen to them know them and empower them.
1. Our survey was conducted in November 2011; it includes consumers in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico Spain, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States.
2. Analytics: The New Path to Value. Joint study by the MIT Sloan Management Review and the IBM Institute for Business Value. Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010.