Consumer, Shopper, Retail Expert
Consumer, Shopper, Retail Expert
My good friend and business partner, Toby Desforges, recently published a post suggesting that availability is the most important thing for a shopper marketer. Well, no argument from me on that front. After all, online or in a store, it’s really difficult for a shopper to buy something that isn’t there! I had this in …
Take a look at that! In-store bakery, gorgeous fruit and vegetables. Doesn’t that produce look good? Much better than shopping in one of those horrible discounters eh? Well, no. These images are all from those ‘horrible discounters’. The truth is that while major chain supermarkets are scurrying to compete on price, the discounters are quietly …
Many companies spend small fortunes on market research every year, and while much of this research is valuable, and helps many smart marketers achieve amazing things for their companies, a lot of it is wasted. ‘We didn’t learn anything new’; ‘there was nothing actionable’; ‘the agency didn’t really do their job’; are all quotes I’ve …
Omni-channel. It’s become a marketing buzzword almost overnight. You find it in retail manifestos and brand strategies the world over. Digital technology has shattered media into myriad shards: consumers and shoppers now want seamless brand experiences in every channel. Makes sense, right? However, I’ve been skeptical about the practicality and even the desirability of omnichannel …
Aldi, and so-called hard discounters like them, are taking the world by storm. From their German heartland they are charging across the globe, taking significant share in neighboring markets such as the UK and Ireland, as well as challenging the long-standing grocery duopoly in Australia. Even the United States, which has withstood many retail invasions, …
While many people at first thought Amazon dash was an April fool, the reality is that no, it’s real. Now shoppers, at the push of a button, can order their favorite brands and bypass the supermarket completely. Will it succeed, or is it just another technological gimmick which will be all hype and no substance? …
I was inspired to write this by a recent quote from Stan Sthanunathan, senior VP-consumer and market insights at Unilever. Inside the article there was a lot of solid, sensible stuff. It was especially great to hear that Unilever is not resting on its laurels when it comes to finding new ways to create better …
With both manufacturers and retailers struggling to adjust their paradigms to adapt to a new world of empowered shoppers and broader competition, there is an opportunity for both parties to reassess and redefine the largely destructive relationships they have with each other and to create new terms of engagement. Last week I discussed what brand …
It appears that the time is right. Or at least, desperate times call for desperate measures. Some of the world’s biggest retailers are finding life a lot harder than before, and are finally being forced to reconsider the very heart of their business model. Brand marketers too, are finding it harder than ever to engage …
The consumer goods industry has been sleep-walking towards the edge of a cliff for some time. Too many brands and too many retailers have simply been too internally focused, or too comfortable with the cosy status quo to notice that the world around them is changing. Of those that have noticed, a few have begun …