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.
(Originally posted by me on the Charteris Business Blog)
