Shopper Culture

Hustle Harder: The Vicious Cycle Of Productivity

The topic of optimizing productivity continues to be a pervasive point of discussion; but why does it feel like everything we’re doing still isn’t enough? Well, for all the moneymakers out there, you might be surprised to hear that our productivity has increased nearly 400% since 1950, while wages have remained virtually stagnant. Just look at the data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. If today’s expectation is that we do more and more for less and less, at what point do we see people break?

Professional moms feel the brunt of this burden the most—sacrificing (happiness, commitments, relationships), just to stay afloat. Pair that with the cultural pressures and stigma of being a working mom (only 21% of adults say the trend toward more mothers of young children outside the home has been good for society) and you have women who give up on their dreams and stop reaching for opportunities.

As consumers look to streamline their day-to-day to-do lists, these tradeoffs and compromises become the norm. The myth of about “having it all,” is just that. A myth. But we continue to chase after these unrealistic dreams.

The New Meaning of "Live"

From live streaming to in-the-moment experiences, “live” has taken on a broad meaning when it comes to content consumption. Many of today’s shoppers seek out experiences rather than physical items, and marketers are faced with the challenge of delivering those experiences in relevant, engaging ways. While these experiences are created both online and off, technology is starting to play a larger role. Over the past few years, we’ve seen all the major social media hubs beef up their live capabilities in attempts to create experiential user engagement.

Brands and retailers are taking advantage of these growing capabilities. They’re also creating branded experiences of their own outside the social media realm through VR and immersive branded content. Doing so will be increasingly important as the spending power of experience-loving Generation Z grows. The technological options for reaching audiences through experiences continue to expand, giving brands, retailers, and shoppers more experience-centric options than ever before. 

To read more about the new meaning of "live," download our white paper, 10 Years in Shopper Culture, here. 

Image Source: Business Insider

Prime Time for Prime Day

Amazon’s Prime Day has truly come of age. This year it became the biggest day in history for signing up new prime members AND generated approximately $1 billion in revenue at a time in the calendar normally not associated with sales. While Amazon did not give specific numbers, they did say it surpassed their 2016 results on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Wow. That says a lot. What’s even more interesting is how it turned almost everyone on planet earth into shoppers in a single 30-hour timeframe. And, transformed online influencers like bloggers into curators of what’s hot/what’s not. Plus—these shoppers ‘showroomed’. They shopped around to see if what was being sold on Amazon was really the best deal out there. And in so doing, provided an uptick in online traffic for other retailers/brands who were smart and agile enough to have competing summer sales.

Homebuyers with Big Ticket Desires

With big box stores, like Lowe’s and Home Depot, reaching and in some cases surpassing their sales numbers, it’s easy to see that home improvement projects are on the upswing and driving sales. But it’s no longer about selling the traditional upgrades— new kitchens, appliances and such—it’s also about new big ticket items. What those new items are and who is buying them nowadays might surprise you.  

The highly coveted Millennial shopper is ripe for the taking as they shift into new life stages. Home ownership among this shopper base continues to rise. According to the National Association of Realtors report, 35% of Millennials currently own homes. In addition, 89% are buying existing properties ripe for renovation.

While millennials are known for redefining almost all they touch, it’s time to look at what appeals to this audience as homeowners: Quality, convenience and of course, technology.

What are some of the truly big ticket items on the radar this year? According to HBS Dealer’s April 2017 issue these are a few of the ones to watch:

Papa John's Offers A Convenience Upcharge

Shoppers have been known to make trade-offs in certain categories, retailers, and price points based on a wide range of variables impacting their purchase decision. One area they are sacrificing the best price is for greater convenience. This behavior has led to the proliferation of on-demand services in transportation, food and beverage, and even apparel. Shoppers are open to paying a little more for the convenience of having to literally do less (like pre-prepared meal kits they can cook at home). Now, Papa John's is getting in the game. 

Recently they announced a minimal fee of $2.99 that will allow customers to literally cut the line. This "Papa Priority" fee can be added to an order by customers that want their pizza faster. However, Papa John's says that while this fee guarantees your pizza will be made faster, it does not automatically guarantee that the pizza will be delivered faster. Even so, sometimes it's just enough for a shopper to feel like they have done something to speed up the arrival of their dinner. 

Invoking Brainpower to Fuel the Future

Netflix, AT&T, Target, and Walmart. What do they have in common? These four behemoths, and countless others, regularly embrace and host Hackthons events that encourage outsiders to come together, all in the name of creating, building, and prototyping new ideas. What’s the common bond that links these people together? The art of experimentation. Within the seemingly endless options to explore, hackers at a recent Netflix Hack Day cracked Mattel’s MindFlex technology (which measures brainwave activity and allows you to circuit those impulses to an electrical toy through a series of computer processes). By rewiring the technology, they created a way for users to navigate and control selections on Netflix, through the power of their minds. The team affectionately labeled this technology, MindFlix.

These innovative breakthroughs signal the exciting possibilities of the future. Though the technology is in its infancy, just imagine the possibilities. Could advertisers eventually preemptively send ads, samples, or a personalized engagement based on the what we’re thinking? That reality may not be so far-fetched. What are the potential pitfalls of a technology like this? Are we on the verge of a Big Brother-esque reality? Only time will tell.

Image Source: Netflix: Stranger Things

Is The Superbowl More Effective Than Social Media?

Companies are willing to spend upwards of 5 million dollars on a Super Bowl advertisement because it's one of the biggest ad engagement opportunities of the year. But what happens if you don't have that kind of money? Well, The Honda Dealerships of Southern California have developed a different way to prompt Super Bowl viewers to engage with their brand; they are encouraging consumers to continue doing something they do every year--judge commercials and tweet. 

These Honda dealerships have preemptively put a dollar amount on every possible cliché Super Bowl advertisements could include. For every dollar that adds up, the dealerships (with the help of their agency, Secret Weapon) will match the amount with a donation to the Boys & Girls Club of America.

Secret Weapon has watched commercials from the last three Super Bowls and noted common trends, assigning each a dollar amount. These trends include babies ($1,000), hipsters ($5,000), famous people ($500) and talking animals ($1,000) among others. Throughout the event, Honda of Southern California will be live tweeting each cliché they spot and supplying updates on the total donation. The total dollar amount will be immediately donated to the Boys & Girls Club.

Easing Choice Paralysis At Retail

Previously, having options was something that appealed to shoppers. It was nice to be able to choose the best one for a specific need that is unique, compared to just using the same products as everyone else. But have we reached the tipping point? Are there just too many choice at the shelf? According to the most recent annual Global Brand Simplicity Index study, there may be much to gain from easing choice paralysis at retail. For the fourth year, supermarket retailer ALDI retains the top spot on this global ranking. Known for low assortment (and low prices to match), ALDI shoppers experience less choice paralysis by eliminating thousands of superfluous SKUs and focusing on a core set. This doesn't automatically mean that simplification can only be achieved by shrinking assortment to reduce the number of SKUs offered. Brands are seeing success by simplifying the overall shopping experience and making the path to purchase easier and more intuitive, too.

Take Sephora for example. They rose 44 spots in the global rankings this year which may attributed to integration within their entire digital ecosystem as well as in-store to help shoppers find exactly what they need, provide access to elements like ratings and reviews to aid in purchase confidence, and to also inspire trial with relevant product recommendations. Shoppers want choices, but if they get swept up too many, the likelihood that they will be overwhelmed and walk away without purchasing anything only increases. 

Image Source: Sephora.com

NEW Issue of The Urbanist

The Urbanist highlights some interesting urban trends in shopper marketing this issue including:

- Crazy shopping environments at Nike and Adidas

- How Pirch appliance stores are helping ease shopper research 

- Frictionless shopping with Panasonic technology

- The celebration of Singles Day 

- And a VR Wonderland

Click here to read the full issue

Meet the World’s Smartest Marketer: Artificial Intelligence

While much of the mainstream market remains largely unaware of the potential impact of that new technology thing called artificial intelligence (less than 20% of consumers feel that they know a lot about AI), marketers can’t contain their excitement. Marketers believe the possibilities are endless. This transformative technology holds the power to elevate the memorability of an engagement with brands and retailers. Case in point: Starbucks is building a Siri-like virtual assistant for its app called My Starbucks Barista. How does it work? Just click the button and watch/talk to the virtual barista--sparking conversational commerce. Or take North Face’s Fluid Expert Personal Shopper powered by IBM Watson, which makes its search tool even more intuitive. After answering a series of questions, the machine will spit back a customized recommendation suited to consumers' exact needs. But as this momentum continues to grow, what’s the implication for marketers? Data.

Artificial Intelligence Ordering: First Up at Starbucks

With the announcement today of Starbucks opening 12,000 new cafes worldwide by 2021, they also announced the development of a new ordering system to be piloted in several cafes. 

Dubbed My Starbucks Barista,  this new ordering system will add artificial intelligence to the company’s mobile order and pay app. With the artificial intelligence feature on the app, customers will be able to place their orders via voice command or messages. The My Starbucks Barista feature will roll out first on iOS in limited beta in early 2017 and be made available to more iOS and Android users later in the year.

“We are today executing against an ambitious, carefully-curated, multi-year strategy to further elevate the entire Starbucks brand and customer experience around the world, and further extending Starbucks leadership around all things coffee, retail and mobile,” current Starbucks President and COO Kevin Johnson, who will take over as CEO for Howard Schultz in April 2017, said in a statement.

Why Scarcity is Working for Snapchat Spectacles

When the Wu-Tang Clan released their new album in 2015, ‘Once Upon A Time in Shaolin,’ it was met with an immense amount of hype. The year prior, a double CD of the album was stored in a vault at a hotel in Morocco, you know, as one does with a new album. But this wasn’t any album drop – they only released one copy. ONE. And that single double-disc sat inside of a vault in northern Africa until someone bought it at an auction for $2 Million. It was unattainable to the nth degree. It was as much an innovative music launch strategy as it was a wild PR and marketing stunt. And it got people to notice, with social chatter skyrocketing for several months after the album’s initial announcement.

Of course, the Wu-Tang example is extreme. Six years of work and creativity, in secret, only to allow one wealthy human to hear your production – it seems crazy. But with marketing, "crazy" can sometimes work. And then when you think about it, it all doesn’t seem that crazy. Even though there were legal regulations put on the leaking of the album once purchased, in this day and age, do you think they all really thought the masses wouldn’t hear at least some of the music in the end?

People create hype, not brands. Until people start talking, hype doesn’t exist, regardless of what off-the-wall plan your brand comes up with.

Co-Created Holiday Cups Connects Shoppers to the Brand

Shoppers want more and more every year. More transparency, more value and more connection to the brands they like.

This year, Starbucks opens its doors for connections and creativity from its consumers. Their iconic holiday cups are back and this year the company co-created the famous red cups with input from fans. Thirteen holiday themed cups are adorned with artwork from over 1,200 individual submissions, according to the company website.

The cafe I visited this morning had this dynamic three-dimensional display highlighting all thirteen designs. Definitely starts to get you in the spirit of the season!

Image Source: Integer ShopPicTM

Is Facebook Live the Next Evolution in Content Creation?

As digital engagements become more pervasive, brands are looking for new, more meaningful, opportunities to connect. Cue the mass scale of Facebook and the early adopters of Facebook Live. The platform enables brands to capitalize on the cultural zeitgeist of trending moments and occasions. For example, this past Halloween, Tomcat (yes, the pest-control company) hosted a Facebook Live event in which viewers were active participants in the hunt to kill off a cast of rodents. Through their votes, viewers became coauthors in the content creation of this rodent-horror mayhem. It was unique. Unexpected. And highly entertaining.

Why does this matter? Because content is king; it’s a brief reprieve from the drudgery of daily life. As anticipation builds for these experiences, it also forges a strong connection between the consumer and the brand. In fact, according to Brightcove, a software company and online video platform, social videos generate 1,200% more shares than text and images combined. While the share-worthiness of these executions builds excitement and affinity for brands, it’s also an effective way to establish relevancy quickly. Because it’s less manufactured and scripted, it feels more authentic and resonates more deeply than traditional methods. This form of content creation is paving the way for new conversations between consumers and creators. What lessons can we take and apply to our promotions and engagements?

 Image Source: Adweek

NEW Issue of The Urbanist

The sharply-dressed mannequin in its first-day outfit. The pristine binders already organized with color-coded tabs. And the display placards, alphabetized and hung with care. This month's Urbanist is giving you a retail refresher course in back-to-school spirit. This issue includes:

 

- Shopping Under The Influence, Retailer incorporation of adult beverages

- Beat Your (Previous) Best, Nike's Unlimited Stadium

- Brick and Mortar Built with a Wall of Sound, the Sonos flagship Store experience

- World Trade Center: The Mall

 

Click here to read this issue or explore the website for past issues.