Weathering an economic storm: successful retail marketing in interesting times
Topics: Category Strategy, Channel / Retail, E-Bulletins / Newsletters, Insights, Point of Purchase, Segmentation / Clustering, Shopper
By Norelle Goldring, Director, ShopAbility, Marketing Magazine Retail Marketing Feature August 2008
Macro consumer & economic trends impacting shopper behaviour and how to leverage them
We are living in interesting times for retail. On the one hand we have a growing pool of high income earners and the ubiquitisation of luxury brands, and on the other a set of economic factors that are beginning to curb retail spend.
In this article we will cover the major consumer and economic trends impacting retail, likely changes in shopper behaviour, and implications for marketers.
The headline trends we will discuss are:
- Changes in household makeup
- Market polarisation and trade up/trade down, growth of the discounters
- Affordable luxury and masstige
- Health, wellbeing and obesity
- Sustainability and organics – the rise of the ethical shopper
- Economic slowdown, rising fuel and food prices.
But do you? And which ones? And what for?
‘Development plans’, or lack of them, are one of the most often-cited reasons for good people to move on from a company and seek greener pastures. Capability and skills development are items that regularly fall to the bottom of the priority list, swamped by day-to-day concerns.