Canadian Retailer - Summer 2016 - 13

customers become ambassadors for your brand."
Dumas grasps the significance of the task since it fits in with
Sobeys' corporate philosophy that their employees' job is to provide better food for all. Its social media strategy is more about
helping customers find out what they want to know rather than
simply about price and promotion.
"We want to arouse our customers' curiosity about food products and inspire them to do interesting things with them."
Connecting with shoppers

customers, retailers can avoid being blindsided and be better prepared to get out in front
of an issue quickly with their own message to
deal with potentially damaging concerns.
"Such interactive connections with customers are very important," says Dumas. "If you
don't respond to issues and concerns in a timely manner, or don't do it properly, the customer
will go elsewhere."
To emphasize the impact of social media on
a retailers' base of support, Anderson suggests
they establish a solid corporate cultural position and train all customer-facing and backoffice staff on what they expect them to say to
customers on social media and how to behave
when meeting them in person. "What employees say and do reflects the company's values
and where it stands," he says.

Other retailers use social media's outbound function for different purposes. Anderson points out that every U.S. Walmart
stores has, in addition to its paid [Facebook] ads, its own Facebook page. It contains a great deal of useful information to keep
shoppers up-to-date, including hours of operation, special deals
and new products. It's one way the store establishes a closer
connection with its regular customers, some of whom check in
as often six times a day.
Social media differs from conventional
broadband. It's a digital destination filled with "The inbound aspect of social media is a listening
crowd-sourced contributions, which people post to the world of collecting unsolicited
can dial into or ignore. But after individuals
contribute their responses using text, photos, comments from all kinds of people about all
video, music etc., other visitors can download subjects including those related to the business.
them and share with others. And because so- Not long ago retailers used other techniques
cial media sites are quasi-public space, any such as secret shoppers, exit interviews, focus
given retailer and its message are just one of
groups, surveys for feedback. Since they retained
many voices, not the only one.
As a result, retailers enjoy much less control some degree of control over such inquiries,
over the digital pool of open-sourced content. it could sometimes skew the responses."
But they benefit enormously from a motherlode
- TONY KLEINER, Teradata Corporation
of consumer thoughts and opinions. It's something that Tony Kleiner, Senior Business Consultant at Los An- Brick-and-mortar value
geles-based Teradata Corporation, says elicits honesty and frankThere's so much attention being paid today to
ness that can help improve retail experiences for the customer.
website design, online shopping and determin"The inbound aspect of social media is a listening post to ing where the next disruptive technology will
the world of collecting unsolicited comments from all kinds of come from. However, the physical grocery store
people about all subjects including those related to the busi- is still king. Dumas notes that because consumness. Not long ago retailers used other techniques such as se- ers typically shop at their local supermarket,
cret shoppers, exit interviews, focus groups, surveys for feed- social media becomes that much more powerback. Since they retained some degree of control over such ful a tool to understand their local shoppers.
inquiries, it could sometimes skew the responses."
Here, social media plays a crucial role in soBut today's social media links offer participants an opportun- called sentiment analysis-assessing people's
ity to speak their minds about the store and their experiences views, opinions and feelings. It provides valuwith it. This constant flow of unrestricted public comment able insights to marketers who, armed with a
enables retailers to find out what matters most to customers- more accurate view of what their customers are
what's really on their minds.
actually thinking, can find ways to help them
better meet their needs. According to Tony
Informing data
Kleiner, the topics that usually top the list of
In fact, after such raw data has been analyzed it provides re- comments on social media are current store
tailers with a clearer idea of current trends and where they are facilities, recent renovations and customer sergoing. Big data analytics has become the driving force behind vice. Canadian grocers are paying attention. In
most retailers' future marketing strategies.
January, Loblaw Companies Ltd. announced a
In addition, by constantly monitoring positive and negative $1 billion plan to build about 50 new stores and
comments and reports from all sources, not just from their own renovate 150 existing ones.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Summer 2016