Shopper Culture

The CheckOut: Super Bowl Edition

The Super Bowl is one of the biggest retail occasions of the year. And while it is still a few months away, many manufacturers and retailers have the Super Bowl on their minds as they plan for their annual programs. The latest edition of The Checkout takes a look back at how people prepared for and shopped for the 2013 Super Bowl occasion. Included is information about interest level, party preparation, and channel choice. In addition, it examines the shopper marketplace and variations across different shopper subsets. A whopping 70% of general market shoppers watch NFL football at least occasionally. This interest culminates in the Super Bowl, which... Read more →

The Checkout: Mobile Edition

Our dependence on mobile devices for nearly everything in our daily lives continues to grow. The ability to access information where we want and when we want is becoming an expectation across all areas of the shopper journey. Who is most dependent on mobile devices as shopping aids? Are certain generations using smartphones in different ways compared to others? The Checkout: Mobile Edition takes a look at how mobile devices are impacting the shopper journey and how shoppers are leveraging technology to enhance their experiences, both in and out of brick-and-mortar locations. Mobile devices have changed the way shoppers seek and consume information, whether they’re used to find... Read more →

Shopper Culture Weekly on Paper.li

If you like the content here on ShopperCulture, please follow our weekly updates at Paper.li. ShopperCulture Weekly aggregates not only the latest post from the previous week but also articles tweeted by ShopperCulture capturing the latest news around shopping trends, shopper behaviors, and activities in the world of retail. Click here to check it out. Read more →

The Checkout: Private Label Edition

Over the last several years, private label has been becoming increasingly popular: lower prices and improving quality had made it increasingly attractive to the shoppers across categories, especially during the economic downturn. But is private label ruling the world today, and does the future belong to it? The Checkout: Private Label Edition inspects the shopping trends and consumer perceptions of private label and its fit in their lifestyles and shopping carts. It is interesting to observe how shoppers' perception of private label changes as they move down the aisle to different categories, and how their private label buying habits are changing. To read more about private label's role... Read more →

A More Frugal Back-To-School Shopper

Last Monday’s 2013 Back-To-School Checkout issue noted that the number of shoppers that plan to head out this season dropped by 3.5% and that most channels, with the exception of dollar and office supply, will experience a drop in traffic. It seems that shoppers are spending less as well; families with school-aged children will spend an average $634.78 on apparel, shoes, supplies, and electronics, down from $688.62 last year. Source 1 Interestingly, this drop in number of shoppers and spend is the result of more frugal and practical mindsets. Having splurged last year, parents will be reusing what they can this season. In fact, 35% of families plan... Read more →

The Checkout: Back To School Edition

The Checkout: Back To School Edition explores general shopping behaviors as well as opportunities to win shoppers over this back-to-school season. The issue reports on topics such as how many shoppers actually plan on shopping this year, when they will head out, what resources they will be using to source information, and more. Especially interesting are the grades retailers recieved for attributes such as fun, time, price, and quality this year. Where retailers have built up high expectations for providing timely, quality, and low priced solutions, it seems they can do better to make back-to-school shopping fun. With a fun back-to-school shopping experience being important to 1 out... Read more →

Hispanic Retail 360 Is Coming Up!

The Annual Hispanic Retail 360 Conference is happening this coming August 14-16 in Las Vegas. Integer Senior Planner, Martin Ferro, will be presenting What Makes Hispanic Shoppers Different From Other Shoppers. Register today and make sure to say hi to Martin in August. In the meantime, read the following article "Hispanics Get Smart When Shopping" from Hispanic Retail 360 on Integer's Hispanic Edition of The Checkout study. Click here to download the full Hispanic Edition of The Checkout. Read more →

The Checkout: Beauty Edition

The Checkout: Beauty Edition explores how female shoppers interact with the beauty category and dives into the nuances of specific product types. The report analyzes which products women deem essential, their brand loyalty versus exploratory behaviors, and how they research the category. For instance, women claim to go straight to the store when they need to make a purchase, but they do in fact research the category online (i.e., beauty blogs)—just in a more ongoing and recreational mind-set. As marketers, how can we make it easier for them to jump from consumer to shopper mode while they engage with the beauty category in the Pre-Tail® phase? To read... Read more →

The Checkout: Hispanic Edition

The latest issue of The Checkout: Hispanic Edition takes a deeper look at how these shoppers compare in the aisle to general market. This growing audience presents unique challenges and opportunities for marketers. Understanding their shopping behaviors and attitudes is paramount to generating long-term loyalty and revenue. Hispanic shoppers seek out experiences in-stores and leverage their mobile devices to find information at the shelf. In addition, we saw differences when it comes to seasonal shopping periods and types of products they are buying, which includes when they prioritize name brands versus private label. More details along with other key characteristics about Hispanic shopper behavior can be found in... Read more →

SMS? QR Code? App? Mobile Site? What Do I Do?

As marketers see the proliferation of mobile behaviors and devices, the natural reponse seemingly is to start integrating mobile into everything possible. Every campaign, promotion, tool, etc. Unfortunately, everyone isn't always asking the questions... "Is mobile right for this?" or "What mobile tools are right for my audience?" or "How am I going to know if mobile is successful if I don't know what to expect?" As a part of our on-going shopper study, The Checkout, we have asked about mobile marketing interaction and found some interesting differences that clearly illustrate the need to dig into mobile behaviors specific to our audiences, because like the rest of marketing,... Read more →

Shopper Culture 2012: A Year in Review

In case you missed it; here’s what happened on Shopper Culture during 2012. Market Posts Demonstrating Seasonal Agility In this digital age, shoppers are thirsty for real-time ‘newness’ in the market. Seasonal fun appears to be one way retailers and brands are keeping things fresh. This year we saw more Super Bowl activity in store, innovative Valentine’s Day merchandise in Asia, retailers embracing less publicized holidays (National Mom’s Night Out) and brands playing in to current events like the election. Shopper Posts Highlighting Behavioral Economics in Marketing Psychological concepts such as social proof became hot topics for shopper marketers this year. Various posts demonstrate how these concepts have... Read more →

I’m a Schizophrenic Holiday Shopper

When it comes to the holidays, the marketer in me sees several distinct types of shoppers, including list-making preplanners, die-hard Black Friday shoppers, online-only shoppers, impulsive mallrats, and last minute scramblers. But I do not think I fall neatly in to any one of these buckets. And it makes me wonder how many shoppers are like me when it comes to shopping for the holidays. I buy gifts in store and online. I find ways to splurge and save. I meticulously comb the Web to find the item I need at the closest location. But then I go to in store to “brainstorm” gift ideas. I feel like... Read more →

The Psychology Behind Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and door buster after door buster—The Thanksgiving weekend has become a marathon of retail events, one leading in to the next in rapid succession. The weekend packs in a lot and is proving to be bigger and more successful than ever. In fact, the latest issue of The Checkout indicates that 22 percent of shoppers will do most of their shopping sometime between Black Friday and Cyber Monday (vs. 19 percent in 2010). This is not surprising, because there are more and more ways to shop the weekend. Be it with the crowds, at night, in the morning, from your couch... Read more →

The Checkout: Holiday Issue

The holiday shopping landscape continues to evolve. Department stores are giving way to mass merchants, brick-and-mortar shopping is colliding with online shopping, and Black Friday is becoming a multiday sales event. With so many choices, shoppers are able to shop the way they want during the holidays. Online, in store, browsing, or hustling, with coupons or without, there is an experience for every type of shopper. This holiday season, Hispanic shoppers opt for more experiential shopping. While the general market continues to embrace time-saving holiday shopping methods like online shopping, Hispanic shoppers venture in store with family and friends to partake in the holiday spirit. Download the 2012... Read more →

Back-to-School Follow Up: Younger Parents Sought Quality and Experience While Shopping

As we saw in the 2012 Back-to-School Issue of the Checkout, price is becoming parity across retailers and the demands of shoppers are evolving. Interestingly, we saw the age of parents driving a lot of difference in shopper preferences. While 35 percent of 35-to-44 year-old parents think of back-to-school shopping as a chore, only 15 percent of 25-to-34-year-old parents do. Younger parents are more apt to find enjoyment in back-to-school shopping through high-quality items and experiential shopping trips than older parents are (see Figure 1). Younger parents are also 18 percent more likely than older parents to look for experience in their trips. And, even though they are... Read more →