STORES Magazine - January 2009 - (Page 16)

trEnDS people text the name of a product, its description or its UPC or ISBN to 262966. If Amazon stocks matching items, the service returns two results at a time: Shoppers can immediately buy one of them by texting back the number “1” or “2” or they can ask for more options by texting the letter “M.” Amazon.com techies seem to have figured out that if you’re going to develop a “free” iPhone application, you might as well design it to make people buy from you. Taking Stock of Out of Stocks How do shoppers react when they learn that the item they intended to buy is out of stock? If you’re thinking that they quickly switch to a second choice and harbor no resentment, think again. Research from Tennessee-based IHL Group finds that retailers lose out on sales of at least one item from more than one-fifth of consumers coming into their stores as a result of out-of-stocks. And too often, shoppers are so frustrated that they vow not to shop with that retailer again. The IHL data finds that consumer electronics retailers are Unemployment figures keeping climbing, 401(k) balances continue to tumble and the only thing building in the housing market is the inventory of unsold homes. What’s a consumer to do? According to the latest America Pulse Survey from BIGresearch, they are on a mission to simplify their lives, and words like downsize, decrease and de-clutter will become part of the 2009 consumer vernacular. The biggest step consumers have taken in the quest to simplify their lives is to decrease spending: 71 percent of all adults are plotting a course to spend less; 44 percent say they’re “settling for less.” That’s quite a change for folks who have been hearing the phrase, “Don’t settle for less” for the better part of their lives. For 42 percent of those polled, doing more at-home activities, including enjoying time with friends and family, watch- hardest hit by out-of-stock problems, with shoppers reporting that they leave the store without buying at least one item 21.2 percent of the time. Expressed in monetary terms, these retailers are losing $1.35 for every customer who comes into their stores. Other retail segments feeling the pain of out-of-stocks include warehouse clubs, which are losing $1.78 per shopper, and grocery stores, which lose 68 cents in sales per customer. “Retailers remain in denial when it comes to consumers’ perceptions of out of stocks,” says IHL Group president Greg Buzek. “Nine percent of all consumers in our study have simply stopped shopping at one or more retailers in the last 12 months due to the problem,” he says. Among grocers, Safeway posted the best in-stock performance; Ace Hardware takes the prize among home improvement retailers, and Fry’s Electronics has the best instock position among consumer electronics retailers. ing DVDs, catching up on reality shows and playing games with the kids, figures largely in their desire to simplify their lives. They’re also investing part of that at-home time decluttering: 36 percent of the more than 4,000 consumers who shared their opinions are focused on getting rid of personal junk – the very same junk that may have helped bury them in credit card debt. Women are far more inclined than men to decrease spending and settle for less — by a factor of 10 percent or more in each instance. Men are of a mind to downsize their house or opt for a smaller car. Respondents in the 35- to 54-year-old age range demonstrated the strongest resolve to decrease spending (75 percent) and to settle for less (49 percent); those 18 to 34 were more apt to downsize their cars than any other consumers. It comes as little surprise, however, that consumers who have a household income of $50,000 or less are furthest along on the path to simplifying their lives. Slightly more than half (51 percent) say they now “settle for less.” Sadly, cutting back on community involvement appears to be a casualty of consumers’ plans to simplify. Eleven percent of survey respondents are pulling back on volunteer work. 16 STORES / JANUARY 2009 WWW.STORES.ORG http://www.Amazon.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - January 2009

STORES Magazine - Jauary 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Mechanical Marvel P&G Invests in Ocado Now I Remember What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Breaking the Monotony Multi-Channel Concept2Watch E-Commerce Analytics Category Management IT Systems In-Store Technology IT Systems Communications Website Strategy Communications SOA Energy Video Surveillance Employee Theft Online Fraud Industry Perspective Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword End Cap

STORES Magazine - January 2009

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