DDi - February/March 2012 - (Page 74)

74 | Food, A glorious food ccording to the American Dream study referenced earlier, results show that 85 percent of Americans are satisﬁed with the quality of food they consume. “Interestingly, only 16 percent believe that businesses are concerned with their welfare—this indicates a clear opportunity for the food industry going forward,” the study notes. “While businesses appear to be offering consumers the food choices they desire, they have not been able to capture their trust.” Expect continued emphasis on local and healthy, with a rise in retailers offering expanded fresh, nutritious fare in urban food deserts and elsewhere. Walgreens is serving up more fresh grab-and-go food in areas where there’s not a lot of food options, and Walmart Express and CityTarget are also partaking in the goodfor-you food movement. Signs (it seems) are everywhere touting vegan or gluten-free and other intestinally friendly fare. “Consumers want transparency—(they are) looking for disclosure of everything from calories and allergens on menus to labor and local-sourcing practices,” says Mary Chapman, director of Chicago-based Technomic. “A small but growing number are serious about nutrition, labeling, sustainability and community involvement, and they are using such knowledge to make purchasing decisions.” Everywhere commerce he way we buy has drastically changed. Last year, Apple unpeeled its EasyPay, a payment app that turns an iPhone into an iWallet by using the credit card associated with the user’s iTunes account. Starbucks has also seen success with its mobile payment option, launched in its near 6,800 company-operated domestic stores. The program allows customers to pay for in-store purchases with select smart phones, and also included more than 1,000 Starbucks outposts in Target locations. And both Home Depot and Ofﬁce Depot recently unveiled a mobile payment option via PayPal. “No longer are purchases limited to in-store, destination sites or catalogs,” says Nita Rollins, digital business strategist, Resource Interactive. “The ability to buy is everywhere. Buying has never been so impulsive, opportunistic and peer-inﬂuenced. But, as emerging technologies create more shopportunities for consumers, CMOs and digital marketers have the difﬁcult task of discerning the right risk/reward equation for each marketing opportunity.” T Photo: Courtesy of Starbucks Photo: Courtesy of Treasure & Bond t seems as if most retailers—big and small, old and new—have found giving back is good. It’s a trend for the future given the past that will endure. A full 83 percent of consumers “want more of the products, services and retailers they use to beneﬁt causes,” according to Cone Inc.’s 2010 Cause Evaluation Study. This past holiday season, furniture manufacturer Stressless offered $200 off a recliner when customers donated $50 to charity. And Lowe’s, through its Lowe’s Heroes program, delivered gift cards nationwide to make much-needed repairs to community nonproﬁts. Panera Bread has opened three I Retail philanthropy nonproﬁt restaurants where customers pay what they can, versus assigning set prices. The stores, dubbed “Panera Cares Community Cafés,” bare signs that read, “Take what you need, leave your fair share.” In a little different take on charitable giving, last summer Nordstrom opened Treasure & Bond (shown at right) in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, which was to serve as an incubator for its possible entry into the Manhattan market. In an interesting twist, proﬁts from the experimental store, which is less than a tenth of the size of a regular Nordstrom department store, are actually donated to charity. www.ddionline.com | February/March 2012 http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - February/March 2012

DDi - February/March 2012