VMSD - June 2011 - (Page 18)

NS NEX T STORE By Jim Crawford How Advanced Is the Shopper of Today? She’s much savvier than you might think. ONE OF THE QUESTIONS that frequently arises about the role of technology in the store is, “Who are we designing these experiences for?” And while this question is absolutely critical to designing great store experiences, it’s often answered flat-out wrong, leading to digital experiences launched with great fanfare and received by shoppers with, at best, a disinterested yawn. Misunderstanding how technologically advanced shoppers have become over the past couple of years is one of the biggest mistakes a retailer can make. In part, there’s a generational tendency to think of anything we don’t individually embrace as less important than the skills we have mastered. Yet, while senior to get SPECIAL DEALS texted to your phone!!!” or “Check out our FACEBOOK PAGE for the latest news!!!”) end up reinforcing the idea that the brand is out of touch rather than creating a stronger connection with the shopper. So, how different is today’s shopper when it comes to how she embraces and uses technology? Here, we take a look at some of the data and statistics on how communication channels, expectations and shoppers’ habits have changed. SHE MULTITASKS. Today’s shopper doesn’t focus on one channel of influence at a time. In fact, a whopping 80 percent of consumers today will use a laptop or smartphone while watching TV. Disney has embraced this trend with “Second Screen” experiences, designed to run synchronized content on an iPad while watching a Disney movie on Blu-Ray disc. The idea that a shopper is either watching TV or surfing the Web is no longer true for the vast majority of consumers. SHE’S CONNECTED. Today’s shopper is deluged with information. Dozens of emails and text messages per day, hundreds of channels of television and a nearly unlimited buffet of Web information all clamor for her attention. But she isn’t just listening to this flow of information; she’s creating it. Each week, more than one billion tweets are sent out by Twitter users. And of these billion tweets, 20 percent are related to shopping, either requesting or providing information about product purchases. That’s a lot of traffic talking about what to buy. It also In the past few years, shoppers have radically changed their relationship with technology, creating expectations for engagement, transparency and responsiveness. retail executives may pride themselves on decades of experience in merchandising or store operations and laugh at their inability to do more with a smartphone than check email, the younger generation that’s tweeting about a low price they found using a barcode-scanning app is more representative of the majority of shoppers. In the past few years, shoppers have radically changed their relationship with technology, creating expectations for engagement, transparency and responsiveness that go far beyond what most retailers are providing. And many of the “next generation” experiences that retailers do create (“Sign up NOW The Shelf Life of a Shopping App In January, the 10 billionth app was downloaded from Apple’s App Store. This milestone was heralded throughout the mobile industry as proof that apps have become the dominant way consumers use their smartphones. But behind that impressive statistic lurks a harsh reality – only 5 percent of those downloaded applications remained in use after 20 days. However, shopping apps are proving to have staying power. In fact, 50 percent of shopping apps, to do things like keep track of lists, scan barcodes, deliver coupons, check prices, find products, etc., were still in use after 30 days. With millions of shoppers using these apps, some of the basic rules of retailing will need to be rewritten. Take Black Friday, for instance, the most heavily advertised and promotioncentric day of retailing. In 2010, 64 percent of smartphone owners used a shopping app to compare prices. That makes the millions traditionally spent in advertising and discounts far less effective at influencing a shopper with instant access to all your competitors’ prices. 18 JUNE 2011 | vmsd.com http://www.vmsd.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of VMSD - June 2011

VMSD - June 2011
Contents
From the Editor
VMSD Editorial Advisory Board
The Goods
Design Detail
Next Store
City Blocks
The Colors of Black
Urban Canvas
The Shoe Fits
Showroom
Ad Index
Checking Out

VMSD - June 2011