Are you being served ?
On my way out of the store I couldnt help wonder on the irony. Here I was a regular shopper to the Store, spending close to an hour in the store running up a basket total of about $125 and there was no trace of my presence in the store but for my transaction at the checkout register. Till I walked up to the Store Manager seeking help he had no knowledge of who I was, where I had been in the store and what I was trying to buy. The retracing was useful in more than one way to both of us. I got to pick a couple of alternatives for products that were out of stock while the Store Manager got to know that I usually avoid walking past the pallets with promotional products to avoid running into other shopping carts who have no view of incoming traffic.
This incident reminiscent of the British Comedy "Are you being Served" was another reminder on the scant visibility to what happens in-store with a shopper once he or she walks-in.
Shopping in-store continues to be holy grail of Retailing. Rowan Pelling writing in The Telegraph UK notes that a real shopping experience beats E-Bay anyday with his preference to
prod and squeeze a product like a French peasant sizing up plums.
Prodding and squeezing may not be the only things shoppers are looking to do these days. The Belfast Telegraph notes that Irish shoppers are looking for ways to reduce grocery bills.
In a report out today, it says almost one-third of shoppers spread their spending across a number of supermarkets.
Retailers are being setup against each other for a greater share of that monthly grocery basket by that value conscious shopper.
A recent report by Unilever titled "Winning Shoppers in Turbulent Times" throws further insight on how the value conscious shopper is changing habits.
The number and types of shopping trips are changing. People are combining errands to make fewer trips and they are buying more on each trip.
People are already employing savings strategies, such as clipping coupons, as they seek both quality and value
But what can the Retailers do about this value conscious shopper ?
They have no idea who she is most of the time, atleast not until checkout. They very rarely know what the shopper has on her shopping list while she walks the aisles. What is worse as she wanders around the aisles in search of value, they have no way of getting in front of her with the right messages.
What if one were to conjure up an innovation with the intelligence to not just divine what shoppers are interested in but also the ability to influence what they actually buy - will the industry embrace such an innovation ?
Conversations with Executives in the Retail and Consumr Packaged Goods on this question have revealed some predictable and some intriguing reactions.
This looks like an interesting idea but I don’t know if I am the right person to champion this within my organization ?You have a cool technology but I need to understand what it will cost for me to deploy this across my business even before I decide if it is worth my time to experiment ?
But here is the challenge with Innovation that disrupts. It has a 360 degree impact on my organization. I don’t know how many different business cases need to be looked at to make a decision on adopting this Innovation ?
I don’t know how many different constituents or stakeholders I need to herd into a single room to make that leap of faith ?
Are traditional organization structures limiting Retailers and CP Manufacturers from taking the leap of faith to embrace disruptive innovations ?What will it take to get Retailers and CP Manufacturers to think 360 to embrace such innovations, especially those that can help unravel the mind of today's value conscious shopper ?
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Curious George Walks the Aisle
