For a local grocery store that sells baked goods, veggies, meat, dairy, and household packaged goods, why does my local grocery choose only bakery items to feature on exterior signage?
Do consumers want “bagels, croissants, donuts, muffins” prior to heading to the store or only after they see the sign? (Donuts tried to woo me, luckily I have resisted.)
Would a store that featured “broccoli, cabbage, zucchini, spinach” have different purchase patterns and sales figures?
Posted in advertising, retail space
Happily for retailers, research shows compulsive savers tight and compulsive shoppers spend approximately the same amount on gifts during the holiday season.
The NSF did a Q&A with Scott Rick, professor of marketing at the University of Michigan about his research on tightwads and spendthrifts and their spending during the holiday season. It’s an interesting presentation which covers underlying differences between these two types of shoppers and also gives recommendations about how to market to tightwads to encourage them to increase their purchase consumption.
Given the current economic times and a trend toward reduced discretionary spending, understanding the “tightwad” mentality has become increasingly important. Rick and Lowenstein’s research on the decision making and emotional aspects of spending provides a wealth of information about how consumers shop and the path to purchase.
Check out the webcast of the discussion here or the research paper by Rick, Cryder, and Loewenstein (2008), “Tightwads and Spendthrifts,” in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Posted in retail space
Tagged academic research, consumer behavior, decision making, holidays, perceptions, shopping
Isn’t the point of an exclusive membership, designer sale site to offer haute products at almost everyday prices?
Today Gilt Groupe had an exclusive sale of Mulberry products created for Target. When I first saw the avatar of the sale, I thought, why is Target on here? I shop there normally. To me, the point of flash sale sites like Gilt, is offer products that you can’t find everywhere.
Another top reason to use the site is to get a deal. In this case, it looks like the Gilt price is the price you would probably pay at Target.
Gilt, this Target sale is tarnishing your brand.
Posted in Brand, ecommerce, retail space
Shopping online is not for the faint of heart.
Certainly when I first started, I was weary of the sizing, the shipping, was terrible at browsing, and had no idea what styles to buy. Through research and trial and error, I was able to become a savvy online shopper, one who trusts the process from browse/search to payment, delivery, and, if necessary, returns. Although I may buy over half of my apparel purchases online, most consumers do not. Ecommerce is growing and the potential to attract new customers or increase return visits by current customers is huge. The e-tailer that is able to assuage the fears of e-tailphobic consumers will have the opportunity to grab consumers attention and discretionary income, when they come online.
To help these retailers who want to attract internet shopping shy consumers, I have created a recipe for what I think would be the ultimate consumer-friendly shopping site. My recipe focuses on pre-owned goods, but I do think that it could work just as easily for new products sold by traditional brick and mortar companies.
Recipe:
(While I could write a thesis about each of these ingredients, in this post, I will briefly outline the social and selection ingredients and what I think a few select sites are doing well or badly. If you, dear reader, want my further comments, email me, and I’m happy to elaborate.)
For many (women), shopping is socially-motivated.
Three sites offer social browsing, but each in different ways:
Etsy offers the ability to “See who hearts this item” and “See who hearts this item.” The ability to connect with like-minded individuals is a strength of the site. It is curious though, that the site doesn’t enable the user to search for other users. One can only search for sellers or items. I think being unable to search directly for other users is a missed opportunity. I had to find my friends through searching for items they favorited.
Facebook offers the ability to connect with real-life friends. Payvment, a new Facebook app for buying things or selling ones things, appears to be easy to use and offers the ability for users to buy items from people they know (and hopefully trust) and people whose style they may wish to emulate. Downside, Facebook is a leaky cauldron on the privacy and possibly the financial side. I personally would not trust them with my banking information, so unless the items on Facebook could be purchased with PayPal, I wouldn’t be interested.
ShopStyle offers the ability to have friends based on your favorite styles, create and share outfits, join groups with individuals who have your same sense of style, and buy items directly while browsing. While these digifriends my have excellent style online and create outfits costing more than my Manhattan rent, their shopping advice may not be that helpful when it comes to actual purchases. I do like that ShopStyle links the item directly to the retailer’s website, enabling the consumer to purchase the product in three clicks or fewer. Guided impulse shopping could almost not be easier. The site is also great to get new ideas about styles, new brands, clothing combinations. It’s a great resource for ideas and products alike.
Selection is always key. Nobody wants to show up to the party wearing the same dress as someone else.
ShopStyle is spades on broad selection of new items. Every time I check back, it seems that they have more retailers signing on and having their products represented on the site.
eBay is king of the pre-loved goods. Personally, I love me some good vintage. I prefer the structured styles of bygone days, and eBay has a better selection than similar sites. eBay sellers are also more professional on the whole. I have also noticed that successful sellers who have a loyal following have begun to start their own sites separate from eBay, thereby avoiding eBay’s sellers fees. (Cross selling of items on multiple sites by sellers is a topic for another day.)
Etsy, eBay, Payvment, and Shopstyle, all have the makings of great e-tailer sites; however, a site that combines the strengthens of each could rule the roost. Combining the ability to shop with friends (real life friends and similar fashion-minded friends), providing style references or ideas, offering a broad selection of products, and getting people comfortable with the online format by providing beaucoup information are all key aspects to converting people into online shoppers.
Idea for article inspired by Springwise‘s post, “In 15 minutes, a Facebook storefront”
Posted in online space, retail space
L.L. Bean is going to launch a “Signature” line, which follows on the heels of Lands’ End newly launched “Canvas” line. I find it interesting that both companies have decided to launch new lines aimed at the young adults. I’m assuming that both of their market research shows that they are primarily shopped by older consumers and that they may have perception problems among younger consumers. While cruising the L.L. Bean website, check out their reviews- most consumers seem to be over 45. Not that there is anything wrong with most of their reviews being written by older people, but being 25, I do wonder if I will agree with older women about the fit of garments. It also makes me contemplate why I am purchasing clothes that more mature women favor.
I do think that these two new lines can fill a void in the current market. From the Lands’ End Canvas site and the pre-launch of the L.L. Bean Signature site, both lines look similar in design to J.Crew, a modern take on classic items. Also, great offerings for young professionals.
What sets the lines apart from J.Crew is their price points; they aren’t as expensive as J.Crew. To me, that’s point to L.L. Bean and Lands’ End, and minus one to J.Crew. From my experience, L.L. Bean offers higher quality items than J.Crew as J.Crew’s items can be flimsy at times. Now that L.L. Bean will be offering clothes with more modern cuts, they definitely have my attention.
Signature L.L. Bean appears to be serious about giving the launch a strong start, they even snagged Maggie Rizer to model for their first marketing campaign.
Posted in Brand, retail space
In early February, Ella Moss womens clothing appeared on Gilt Groupe, HauteLook, and Rue La La in the same week.
What does it say about the Ella Moss brand and Ella Moss sales when their products appear on three members-only discount websites at the same time?
First, it makes me think that in-store sales must have been slow, so now they are off-loading much of their stock on the internet. Do they have so many unsold pieces because of the economy or because their brand is no longer as desirable? Perhaps more importantly, it also makes me think I should not worry about buying Ella Moss in-store, at full-price, since a large part of their inventory will probably end up on discount boutique websites.
My recommendation to Ella Moss is to stagger these sites’ sales of their items. By staggering the sales, it won’t be as obvious that they have a lot of stock to liquidate. This will also protect the value that people associate with their clothes. If it seems that their clothes appear on these sale websites intermittently, then consumers may continue to seek the clothes for full-price in-store.
The sample sale websites could also ask Ella Moss what other vendors will be selling the same items. The members-only sites feel less exclusive and like less of a deal, when another site also features the same products on sale.
Posted in Brand, ecommerce, retail space
