Shopper Culture

Shopper Marketing: Keys to Succeeding at Retail

Consumer behavior is changing, and these changes are having a big effect on shopper marketing. These behavior changes are also driving retailers to push their brand partners to deliver even more innovative shopper marketing programs. Wendy Reeves, Account Director at Integer, and Brad Josling, VP Sales at Hip Digital Media, recently explained what it takes to create successful retail initiatives including account-specific shopper marketing programs, mobile and omnichannel shopping experiences, redefined value offers, and relevance to retailer priorities. Click here to watch the webinar.

Image Source: HipDigitalMedia.com

How Hues, Tints, and Tones Can Influence Shoppers

Artists and designers typically master the power of cohesive color palettes. This seemingly overlooked area of study can also provide account managers and retailers with insights into the art of shopper persuasion.

Whether the shopper is browsing a brick-and-mortar store environment or trawling the web for their next hot purchase, the visual cues they find strongest and most persuasive is color. Recognizing how color influences shoppers sheds light on the human cognition process from a strategic and creative perspective.

Neuroscientist Bevil Conway examined neural processing of colors and suggested that the brain includes specialized clusters of neurons that primarily tune to red, followed by green, and then blue, with a small proportion of cells caring about yellow. These clusters of neurons act as a mechanism that further signals behavioral experiences and emotions. With 93% of consumers placing visual appearance above other factors when shopping, marketers’ ability to understand how humans are hardwired to respond to color could convert potential buyers into lifelong customers.

To make visual appearances even more complicated, the success of a retailer in turning shoppers to buyers is not only influenced by the chosen color palette, but by whether the scheme is appropriate for the intended target audience. Conway’s study revealed that shoppers are conditioned to be visually stimulated and that perceptions are shaped by the viewer’s expectations, cognitive development, experiences, and varied cultural exposures. Hence, understanding the fascinating neuroscience of color in coordination with understanding target market wants, needs, and shopper behavior is imperative to positive brand and retailer ROI. 

 

Conway Hue Study 2007

What does Low Price Look Like?

People instinctively and universally believe that high-quality products are higher priced. But the first signal of quality is the quality of the packaging itself.

Walmart's no-frills packaging for its Great Value brand clearly says "low price". 

But they've recently started using packaging that mirrors the conventions of category leaders.

"Beauty" Displays: How Can They Tell an Emotional Story?

In store, displays obviously play a fundamental role in “stop-hold-close.” For beauty, displays must do more. They must tell a seductive story to capture the shopper. Beyond the key visual, every element including graphics, materials, shapes and lighting are carefully thought out and combined to express the brand territory and personality. “God is in the detail” could be the mantra of any shopper marketer or designer when they conceive a display for Beauty brands.

On the “I love Dior” display, for example, the use of the black and gold colors, the subtle mix of sophisticated materials, the reinterpretation of the key visual with the curved shape and the glorification of the product by using a mirror, all contribute to building a story of absolute, sensual, and triumphant femininity with of course, a touch of luxurious and glamorous sophistication.

Kenzo Madly builds a story of ethereal and natural beauty for young women by glorifying the blue and the butterfly’s icons and applying them systematically on every retail tool to leave an unforgettable impression in shoppers’ minds.

Givenchy communicates the benefit of the hydra sparkling formula by immersing the consumer into a world of bubbles, water, light and transparency.

 

Implications: In store, beauty brands think brand story and brand experience. Their displays and retail tools are each built like a story for which emotional and sensorial triggers are key. For a beauty brand, the challenges are: beyond the key visual, how do we tell the story? How can we leverage the design to be more emotional and stimulate shoppers’ senses? When promoting multiple brands or products, how do we build a compelling story?

Photo source : http://luxemode.over-blog.com

Predictive personalization—a win for shoppers and retailers

I like to think of myself as a foodie, and I love to explore fabulous new recipes to cook at home. That’s why I was thrilled to discover the innovative predictive personalization application from McCormick called FlavorPrint.

The application provides you with a FlavorPrint based on 12 different flavor personality types, and makes new flavor, product, and recipe recommendations to match. Of course, you can then share these recommendations with your friends via social media or print a shopping list to take along on your next grocery trip. The more consumers engage, the smarter the service becomes.

Enhancing the Shopper Experience in Australia

Recent evolution in the Australian retail sector has caused a strategic shift from price discounting to an enhanced shopper experience, giving shoppers more reasons to visit, dwell, and spend money. Our local market seems headed in the same direction as the more sophisticated retail markets found in other countries.

Australia’s largest supermarket group, Woolworths, has recently launched a specialist beauty bar in its well-known Sydney Town Hall store, offering beauty treatments, make overs, skin consultations, and manicures. The store stocks a range of premium, professional-quality hair and beauty brands such as Bliss, Essie, and Model Co. that were previously only sold through speciality stores. 

The Latest in Promotional Techniques - Lights!

Remember the Golden Age of Hollywood? Everything in Lights—the classic movie poster marquee fenced in illumination by those tiny circular bulbs. My mind can visualize the amimated scene strolling down Hollywood Blvd past Chinese Mann's Theater captivated by the brilliance. 

Fast-forward 80 years to me bustling down a local shopping mall hallway in search of a last-minute gift and a gleam caught my eye. I swung around to behold—marquee Lights!

Adorning the window of a action sports clothing retailer was this promotion—three distinct sweepstakes positioned as the next box office smash. In the bag of retailer sales tools, the consumer sales promotion has experienced a ressurgence over the last several years. Retailers continue to gain intelligence regarding the volume of consumers making decisions at the point of purchase and the factors leading to those decisions. For this retailer, tapping into an nearly century-old jazzy tactic earned them this author's eyeballs. The question is, what other culturally sticky devices can retailers revive? 

Celebrating the "Little Things" in Dad's Life

With Father’s Day right around the corner, the question is “What do I get Dad for his special day?” Most families plan to update Dad’s wardrobe, according to offers.com, with 39 percent of shoppers planning to purchase clothing. Gift cards (30 percent) are the second most popular gift followed by tools (28 percent) and electronics (13 percent). The majority of dads, however, prefer spending time with their families over gifts. Almost half (46 percent) desire going out for nice dinner and 21 percent hope to watch sports with the family.

The Saks Fifth Avenue Father’s Day Fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital celebrates the day through both gifts and time spent together. The Miami-based store hosts a charity event each year to celebrate the “little things” that make a big difference in Dad’s life –his kids. 

The event provides entertainment through carnival games and treats such as cotton candy to make the event family-friendly and fun. Saks promises to donate five percent of Men’s department purchases to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a donation that helps define what fatherhood is all about to these special dads. To treat Dad to a little something as well, Saks emphasizes the little things such as lapel accents, watches, socks, and bowties.

What have you seen other retailers doing to celebrate Dad?

Photo Source: Soul of Miami

Brand Experiences Come to Life at the Sweets and Snacks Expo

Walking into the 2013 Sweets and Snacks Expo was eye-popping fun. The Expo was full of color, design, giant characters, and treats to taste. But, while the Expo was not lacking in variety, popular trends could be detected at the show. Innovation and health and wellness were brought to life through a sense of discovery, which allowed attendees to truly experience differences across brands.

Innovation Alley was home to unique treats including peppermint-chocolate flavored popcorn from 479° Popcorn or the reverse popcorn flavored chocolate from Chuao Chocolatier®. The combination of different flavors and sampling showcased how manufacturers are using temptation and taste to encourage exploration and discovery.

The shift to a more health-conscious culture was also popular at the Expo. The sweets and snacks category is helping shoppers tap in to healthier options—despite that it’s a category not typically described as healthy—by labeling products with key words such as non-GMO, gluten-free, and allergen-free and always allowing the option for miniature sized bars and bags so consumers can indulge with less guilt.

Through innovation, taste, texture, and brand presentation, the Sweets and Snacks Expo attendees were able to experience brands first hand. It will be interesting to see how these manufacturers continue to bring their brands to life in store to maintain the stopping power at shelf that they had at the Expo. Have you been tempted by a new flavor in store lately?

Lagerfeld’s Concept Store Provides Holistic Digital Experience

March 2013 saw the Kaiser of Fashion unveil a brand new concept store in Paris that offers ready-to-wear collections for men and women, along with a selection of limited-edition accessories, design, and photography books.

The 200 square meter black and white shop cleverly mixes baroque-inspired and state-of-the-art digital features, paying tribute to the off-the-wall personality of the high-profile fashion designer.

Burberry Introduces Smart Personalization for Shoppers

For the launch of its new Fall/Winter 2013 womenswear collection, the London fashion house Burberry created a seamless digital shopping experience. Following a similar principle to the Topshop “Enter the Catwalk” campaign, which provided viewers with live-streamed footage of the show and customization features, The Burberry smart personalization allows shoppers to browse and shop for items they like straight from the catwalk via their mobile devices.

Once an order is placed, shoppers receive tailor-made outerwear and bags with personalized, engraved nameplates. Shoppers are also invited to virtually

Shopping in your PJs: How a Children's Hospital understands Shopper vs Consumer

If any of you readers have elementary aged children, you’re well aware of Pajama Day at school. Wake up and wear your jammies to school all day. Of course Moms don’t allow their girls to just wake up and go. No. They wake up, change them into new, freshly pressed pajamas, brush their hair, doll them up and then send them to school. Boys? Boys just wake up and go. Bedhead and all. But this post into about the reasons why parents want their girls looking their best and boys looking like…

This post highlights how marketing to the shopper was applied to a children’s hospital -- a top ten hospital in the country. I, for unfortunate circumstances, spent the last three days at this children’s hospital with my son, who had a serious runaway bacteria in his stomach. The first morning, after a long night at the hospital caring for my son, I woke up, showered, shaved, deodorized, combed, changed and wandered off to find some food and fresh air. What I witnessed was nothing less than Parent Pajama Day at the hospital. Are all rules of public dress and hygiene suspended at this hospital? Did I not get the memo?

As I spent the next couple days becoming more familiar with my environment, I, too felt okay milling about in my flannel bottoms and two-sizes-too-large t-shirt. The hospital obviously took great care of children, but they knew who the shopper was. The Parents. They created an environment filled with places, spaces and activities for the adults to take care of their children and themselves.

The Unofficial Brand Olympics, London 2012

As the final wisps of smoke from the Paralympic flame dissipate over East London, and the gates to the Olympic Park close (until 2014), London after the London 2012 euphoria finds itself in a period of reflection. While the media and the government reflect on the golden summer, and Brazilian Olympic organizers reflect on learnings to apply to their plans; we at Integer London have reflected on the brands that decided that official status wasn’t for them. An unofficial Brand Olympics, if you will.

 

For guerrilla product placement, the gold medal goes to Dr Dre and The Beats 

Athletes from the top 20 countries in the last Olympics were invited to The Beats store in Shoreditch, not far from the Olympic Village where, after having their photos taken in front of the “b” logo they received a free pair of headphones in their team colors.

Open Sell, A New Trend in Retailing

Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Clinique, a top cosmetics brand, has revised its in-store selling strategy. The brand changed from a high-service, pressure-selling approach to a softer, hands-on approach that lets the shopper play. This new type of shopping environment is known as an “open-sell” environment. This approach was made popular by Sephora, the specialty beauty chain whose hands-on product displays attract a lot of shoppers seeking experiential play with products. Clinique now displays its products in open shelves and drawers for people to interact with rather than being stocked behind the counter. This allows shoppers to easily pick products up, sample, and help themselves. 

Target's New Shops

On Sunday, Target will launch the long-awaited The Shops at Target, the retailer’s latest installment of its design and limited-edition boutiques. But this time around, the retailer took a different approach. Rather than signing a big designer name like in past years (Zac Posen, Missoni, and Calypso St. Barths, to name a few), Target sought out unique specialty stores and boutiques from around the country.  Products from five different boutiques will be featured: The Candy Store (candy, out of San Fransicso), Cos Bar (makeup and skincare, out of Aspen), Polka Dog Bakery (pet items, out of Boston), Privet House (home goods, out of Connecticut), and The Webster (apparel, out of Miami). Each boutique has designed and curated a special selection of items that will be available online and in select stores.

Past design collections have sold out within hours of launching and have shut down the Target website. People are naturally reactive to scarcity. Retailers are tapping in to this human quality by providing limited-edition offerings to drive sales and seek out a point of differentiation in the market. It’s especially relevant among Millennials. Data from our latest issue of The Checkout® shows that Millennials are more likely to make impulse purchases to treat themselves. 

We’ve seen a few teaser ads for The Shops at Target, such as the video below, and some print ads to get shoppers excited for Sunday’s launch, but not much is being advertised in stores. A lot of the buzz about The Shops is online, from shoppers and fashion publications and blogs. Do you think Target’s new design project will be just as popular and successful as previous collections? Do you think they’ve done a good job of building anticipation among shoppers?