In our most recent webinar, Driving Store Traffic in a Digital Age, we executed a Q&A session with some very interesting questions posed to our speakers. Here are a sample of them below:
Consumers increasingly may lack the tolerance for all messages and offers that they receive – at least the ones they have been seeing for years now. What today’s connected consumer is looking for is relevant information on product performance and/or on price when it’s convenient for them. What we might be thinking on is what the consumer wants and needs, then how to make the right personalized offer and in the right medium that would entice them. The old personalization rules are built on historical trends and very simple preferences, and a new breed now trying hundreds of triggers and thousands of data points to make a very hyper-personalized recommendation and in timely manner.
“How do you keep the personalized greeting of a customer from being a bit creepy, in a Big Brother sort of way?”
The first thing we have to recognize is that, notwithstanding the fact that some people feel the creep factor (if you will) or Big Brother or in this case Big Business, we are all on the grid in some way, shape or form 24/7. The point is that it is about relevance. It is only intrusive and invasive if it’s just that. As a retailer, the purpose is not to sell things; it’s to serve your shopper, your guest. So, if you start from that central premise, then it’s not about how many dollars were made this week and how many items were sold, etc. It’s about how many shoppers have we satisfied. If you go from that standpoint, one can articulate an offer which is more authentic and would be more welcomed. And you will start to see that showing up in your metrics. People will start to respond to that authenticity in a way that reinforces your brand messaging
Mobile has become a huge part of consumers lives, some of us do not know how to live without them. And leading retailers understand the importance of mobile platforms in their marketing and promotional strategies. Beacons are something that we are all becoming very familiar with. These devices can communicate using a shopper’s smart phone to improve the in-store experience. This is Bluetooth technology that detects nearby smart phones, where merchants can send shoppers customized ads, coupons or supplementary product information.
What about the many consumers that do not have smart phones? How can we keep them from feeling like second class shoppers?”
An enabled associate is a great answer to that. There is some other alternatives like the Walmart scan and go that has an option that doesn’t use smart phones but utilize a wire card and some other apps around that. So the answer is, again, you can connect to your consumers with a familiar demo but you have to understand how digital best works and at each stage because consumers will decide the path – whether it’s digital or not, whether it’s in-store or out of the store. So having that understanding and personalizing that through shopping preferences, and knowing the way and the where are just as equally important.
To hear and learn more information from our speakers, click here to view our webinar!
Have Questions? The Consumer Markets experts have answers…
by Heather Bowman on October 31st, 2014 | ~ minute read
