Consumer, Shopper, Retail Expert
Consumer, Shopper, Retail Expert
Trade Marketing has always been a bit of a strange function. It still defies a clear definition (if anyone can make sense of the , please help!), despite being in existence for decades. The official role it plays varies across companies. And there is always a significant variance between the role trade marketing is supposed to …
In a recent report Nielsen suggested that the significant changes in shopping behavior I predicted are happening. Shoppers are responding to changes at retail by going to more shops, more frequently, but buying less per trip. This shopping trip fragmentation is turning back the clock on decades of progression towards one-stop shopping. And it is the …
There was a time when a lot of people I spoke to didn’t think much about e-commerce. E-commerce was small and while it might grow, it was something to be concerned about at some non-distinct future time. Now it appears that e-commerce is being roundly acknowledged as being definitely ‘now’. Even those countries where e-commerce is …
I was speaking to a client the other day who said, “We’re not too focused on e-commerce right now. It’s only growing by a couple of percentage points a year.†True enough, we were in a market where online is relatively small, and my clients business online was tiny. And despite the myriad articles making often …
Bricks and mortar grocery retailers have long realized that physical stores alone will not be enough to prosper in the coming decade. So where exactly is the excitement in the news that Sainsbury, the supermarket operator, is looking to buy a non-food retailer Argos? What does this acquisition have to do with omnichannel? Pretty much …
Unilever announced this week that they will adopt a ‘zero-based’ approach to setting and allocating marketing spend budgets. The announcement met with a reception that surprised me. It was seen as drastic, and an ‘austerity’ approach. Why? Zero-based budgeting is, as far as I can tell, a best-practice approach to managing any spend, so why …
A New Year! 2015 was an ‘annus horribilis’ for many bricks and mortar retailers, large and small. What might 2016 hold for them? It appears Landor, the branding and design company, think that 2016 will see a resurgence in brick and mortar retail. But before you go off and buy shares in Tesco and Wal-Mart, …
I was in conversation recently with a friend who works at a large shopper activation agency, and we were talking about the briefs they receive from clients. I was surprised that in many cases, one of the key goals was ‘to delight shoppers’. Really? Apparently, yes. For many shopper marketers their goal in life is …
Yes, I did say consumer. It’s not a mistake! Those of you who have subscribed or followed my posts for some time will know that I am a strong advocate for understanding the differences between consumers and shoppers, so I guess this might seem strange. But I’ll say it again. If you really want to …
Have you conducted shopper research projects? If so, have you sometimes been less than energized by the results? If so, you are not alone. Too often a first piece of shopper research can lead to not much more than a large PowerPoint deck and a vague feeling of disappointment. The agency reels off a whole …