Shopper Culture

Food Delivery Needs More Innovative Ideas to Grow

A big question in home delivery has been, when are groceries going to catch up with online books, clothes, and shoes? For a long time, the costs and logistics has kept the perishable food and beverage deliveries lagging other e-commerce efforts. Others have said, shoppers haven't gotten over the perceived hurdle that fresh groceries shouldn't be delivered. 

According to a recent Business Insider Intelligence report, only about 1% of all U.S. consumers do their grocery shopping online. 

Despite that, many start-ups have ignored the barriers, and have innovated their way onto shoppers tables -- By offering a service that brick and mortar is not. Companies like Plated, Blue Apron, and Sun Basket deliver all the pre-proportioned fresh ingredients for shoppers to cook chef-inspired meals in their kitchens. 

New Summer Edition of The Urbanist

Deliveries, technology, and new-wave sampling--The Urbanist takes a closer look at what's ramping up in retail this summer.

• YUM! Brands Add-Ons Make the Meal
• Old Navy's Use of Emojis
• Curb Couture
• Beringer's Taste Station

Click here to read the latest Urbanist and don't forget to follow us on Twitter for even more urban retail news updates. @_The_Urbanist  

Check out old issues of The Urbanist here.

Reimagining the Digital Shopping Experience

 

 

As e-commerce sales continue to grow, more brands are starting to reimagine the digital shopping experience. Who’s in the winner’s circle now? Brands that have brought a new consumer experience to life in an interesting and surprising way are the one's who are snagging long-lasting loyal bonds.  Click here to read more about which brands are being praised:

Reimagining Brick-and-Mortar

The role of physical stores for modern shoppers has been under quite a bit of debate. First we were told that the "death of brick-and-mortar" is here. Then, as it turns out, they matter more than ever. With the increasing presence of e-commerce and retailers fighting back with more of an omnichannel approach, it's no wonder that there's confusion about the relevance of physical stores in the modern shopper culture.

A recent interview with Andy Dunn, CEO of Bonobos, brought an interesting perspective to the table. When it comes to brick-and-mortar, maybe its role is neither dying nor thriving--maybe it's just being reimagined.

New Edition of The Urbanist

Looks like the cold weather is taking its sweet time to leave. Take a break from the chill with some hot news for spring urban retail. 

In this month's issue:

• The Rise of Retail Robots
• Brands and Periscope
• Commerce in a Dash

Click here to explore past issues of The Urbanist. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter for even more urban retail news updates. @_The_Urbanist  

Solving Problems and Selling Goods

There are many reasons products become popular. Sometimes it's simply because it's the coolest new gadget or brand. But sometimes it's because it solves a problem (perhaps a problem people didn't even know they had). Problems, big or small, matter to people. As a result we have not only seen a craze in lifehacks but also innovative solution based products.

I recently read about two such product innovations. The first, solved a rather "small" problem, the subconscious shame some women feel because they wear their hair elastic around their wrist.

Amazon Dash: Push-Button Ordering From Your Laundry Room

Three years ago, Red Tomato Pizza made an ingenious little fridge magnet that let you order pizza with the click of a button, via a bluetooth connection to your smartphone.

Now Amazon is getting into the game. Their new Dash Buttons let you order common household products (this time through your home Wi-Fi) with a single click.

Our Group Director of Mobile, Ben Kennedy, weighs in on this service over at Digiday. "Will Dash transform the future of shopping?" Find out what he says in the article.

The Color of #thedress: Shopping Just Got Weirdly Public

When Tumblr user swiked posted the photo of #thedress, she caught an innocent snapshot of a classic shopping dilemma: did I buy the right thing? 

Cecilia Bleasdale was asking for advice on what to wear to her daughter's wedding. She had no idea that the poor quality of the photo would set off a global debate about what color the dress really is (here's a good quality product shot). The original Tumblr post got 73 million views. At its peak it got 140,000 views per minute.

The Impact of the Changing E-Commerce Landscape for Australian Retailers

In just a few short years, e-Commerce and now m-Commerce have made global goods and services readily available to all Australians. At the end of July 2014, online retail sales hit the $A15.6 billion mark. Furthermore, online retailers grew at around 8.6% from the beginning of the year through July.

According to Roy Morgan Research, until the end March 2013, travel was the leading sector in e-Commerce in Australia. However, moving into the future it has been predicted that electronics, groceries, liquor, appliances and fashion will capture a larger e-Market share. eBay can take most of the credit for this change in purchasing behaviour, with one in five Australian retailers now successfully transacting through the e-Tail giant.

So, what does this mean for small businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups wanting to get a slice of the e-Tail action?

In the Mobile Payment War, Will the Shopper Win?

The battle buzz is burgeoning on the mobile payment front. Some are calling it Apple Pay versus Walmart. The race to be the established mobile payment frontrunner is on among retailers, credit card companies, merchants and brands.

 Photo Source: StarTribune

But what about shoppers? Where do they fit into the fight? First of all, although it seems like people use their smartphones for everything these days, many of them don’t want to use them to make payments. According to a study by Avangate, 48% of consumers surveyed said

iPhone 6 in Hand and Ready to Grocery Shop

With all eyes on the launch of the iPhone 6 today, it's safe to say that interest in mobile development is still going strong.

Not only are manufacturers continuing to make advancements in mobile functionality and features but businesses and shoppers are advancing the way they use mobile phones—including using them for simple chores like grocery shopping.

Today's mobile shoppers can not only make their list on their mobile phone but also buy their groceries.

Instacart is one of several companies that use the power of mobile to make every grocery shopper's dream comes true—the dream of having your own personal grocery shopper and delivery service.

Through the Instacart app you can request items that a "personal shopper" will hand pick from select stores and deliver. The company recently expanded its offerings beyond Costco and Kroger and teamed up with Whole Foods. It even has Instacart personal shoppers embedded in the stores to make delivery times faster—a key differentiator for shoppers looking to ease the grocery shopping process.

While Instacart is only active in select cities, it will be interesting to see how it resonates with mobile shoppers and shoppers in general. Will shoppers trust an app to select their produce the way they trust their iPhone to manage their schedule? We'll have to wait and see. 

Photo Source: Kantar US Insights, Tracking Tweets on iPhone 6

Consumers Drink Up Beverage Innovations

If it feels like everything we drink these days is touted as having some kind of "new and improved"  feature, Beverage Industry magazine's recently published 2014 State of the Industry report reveals that the products making the biggest waves are the ones providing novel, often trendy, benefits. 

The functional and sensational needs these new products satisfy are delighting consumers, innovators, and marketers alike. Combined with new information from IRI that "15% of consumers will increase usage of premium brands in the next 12 months," innovative beverage products are well-positioned to succeed. 

How fulvic is your water? Image source: getblk.com

One factor playing an influential role in their growth and popularity is the attention brands have placed on developing products for specific audiences and unique drinking occasions. Thanks in part to renewed support in research and development by companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, and venture capital-funded startups and entrepreneurs experimenting with obscure or exotic ingredients, consumers are enjoying the freedom they have to control and shape their health, mood, and identity any time of day. 

Visa Helps Remove the Barrier to Wearing Sweatpants in the Office

I came across these "bedroom comfort, boardroom style" pants while recently surfing on my mobile phone. I was even thinking about purchasing them, but the reality of tediously typing all my credit card and billing information into my smartphone, caused me to abandon ship.

If only I'd known about Visa's new service. Visa Checkout is a brand new system that removes the payment process barrier on your smartphone. Visa Checkout stores customers' credit card numbers and billing addresses once without having to re-enter the information ever again. Retailers that sell in the digital space — from big-box retailers to mom and pop startups — have all struggled with converting filled online shopping carts into actual purchases. 

"All of the wonderful benefits that consumers get from using their mobile phone when you're out and about kind of fall apart when you get to the payment part of the process," said Jim McCarthy, Visa global head of product in a recent NPR interview. 

The concept of ordering is simple and similar to 1-Click™ from Amazon. Every Visa customer receives an account that stores his or her credit card number and billing address. These shoppers simply set up a username and password and all the information is provided securely to the retailers. Thusfar, Neiman Marcus and United Airlines have joined the merchant list and many more and ready to sign up.

Soon, I'll be wearing sweatpants to the office. The question is, will shoppers adopt the Visa Checkout system? What impact will it have on smartphone shopping? Will it convert online browsers to buyers? 

Photo Source: Betabrand    

Think Beyond Product Innovation; Think UXI

Product innovation was once the strategy used to increase revenues, market share and loyalty, and it was how businesses thrived. But in today’s world, product innovation often only yields incremental growth.

Given today's marketplace dynamics, you may be looking for a new path to success. It’s time to look at User Experience Innovation (UXI).

Click here to read more about UXI in this month's edition of the Integer Pulse. 

And don't forget that all past issues are available here to browse as well.

Explore the Latest Urban Retail Happenings

It's the middle of the summer, but shopper trends are just heating up. Sit back and soak up the latest in urban retail.

In this month's issue of The Urbanist:

• A New Twist on Dining
• Payment–Right in the Palm of your Hand
• Minibar Delivers
• Install Ads In Twitters' Future

Click here to explore past issues.