Deloitte’s 2015 Retail Industry Trends: Now and To Come

Deloitte recently released their report on 2015 retail industry trends, and we could not be more encouraged by the results. Big moves are being made by retailers, and the ability to adapt to change is providing ever more opportunity to increase your bottom line.

Check out this handy infographic which outlines the top 5 retail industry trends for this year:

According to the report, these are the five emerging trends for 2015:

• Mobile retailing: expected to reach $640 billion in sales annually, this is a rapidly growing market that is making a huge impact. Globally, it is estimated that, by 2015, around 65% of the population will use a mobile phone and 83% of internet usage will be through mobile.
• Faster retailing: customers now expect same-day delivery and quick response time, all the time.
• Experience retailing: by adding technology, entertainment, and emotion, retailers can create a deeper level of engagement with shoppers. This will come with innovation to enhance the shopping experience, through social media campaigns or marketing co-creation.
• Innovative retailing: market disruption with disruptive creativity. The future of retailing is about adaptation and embracing changes within the industry.
• Travel retailing: redefining the role of airport retail in a company’s strategy. For many retailers, international tourism offers a great opportunity to engage with consumers due to lengthy layovers.

You can read the report in its entirety here: http://evigo.com/18700-deloitte-report-emerging-retailing-trends-2015/.

Whether you are stuck in a rut and need to revamp your retail strategy, or you just want to make sure you are keeping up with the competition, Storesupport can help. We have the tools and expertise to get a merchandising plan in place that takes into account these trends - using them to their full advantage. Call us today at 1-877-421-5081. 

Summer Retail Merchandising Strategies: The Customization Nation

Retail is changing - it is undeniable. Gone are the days when mom and pop shops ruled the roost and all shopping was done in store - none of this online nonsense. Ok, enough with the nostalgia, but really, thanks to a number of different factors, not least of which is technology, customer expectations and shopping habits have changed dramatically, and as a result retailers are finding that retuning their retail merchandising strategies has become a necessity.

These retuning strategies differ greatly, but some are clearly more effective than others. Check out this great discussion article from Retail Wire: http://www.retailwire.com/discussion/18046/the-rise-of-the-customization-nation. In the article, the author discusses a presentation at this year’s Food Marketing Institute Midwinter Conference during which the presenter (an author himself) discussed customization in the retail world and how it is impacting customer engagement.

Thanks in large part to technological advances and the growth and development of online shopping capabilities, consumers now take customization for granted and as a result expect it far more often. And the ability to customize and personalize has come to permeate every shopping experience - not just those taking place in the online sphere.

So what are retailers to do? Complete customization isn’t really practical, nor is it largely cost effective. The conference presenter’s advice: “success is based on reducing choices and curating the experience, which moves the retailer from the role of simply satisfying a need to a trusted advisor position that enables them to proactively sell.”

Additionally, the author notes that some grocery chains are recognizing this expectation and taking risks to challenge traditional retail merchandising strategies. Is it paying off? According to the article, “The reward is a distinct uptick in relevance to the shopper,” so clearly something is having an impact.

Is customization the way of the future? Perhaps, but perhaps it is one of the many innovative ideas that can be utilized, even in some small way, within the CPG industry to further drive sales and increase engagement.

Whether you stick to those tried and true traditional retail merchandising strategies, completely revamp and try customization on for size, or decide that your own custom plan which includes both approaches is the way to go, Storesupport can help get a plan nailed down. Call us today at 1 877 421 5081. 

Retail Disaster: Do These Images Represent a Positive Customer Experience?

In today’s retail environment, customer experience plays a major role in not only the perception of your brand, but also your level of customer loyalty. A happy customer is far more likely to both return to your store and purchase your product. They are also far more likely to recommend you to friends and family, or even to the world at large thanks to social media. Knowing this, how do you think these images work when it comes to customer experience? Do these represent a positive customer experience?

If your store is a mess, trust us, customers notice! No one wants to have to step over piles of stuff on the floor (nor are most willing to purchase items they deem dirty thanks to the mess). And not only does this impact your customer experience, it can turn into a legal hassle if someone gets hurt!

Long line ups are the bane of a shopper’s existence, and having to stand around makes people cranky - and can sometimes have a huge impact on customer loyalty. Continually having to wait in line inevitably leads to choosing a different store where the line ups tend not to be such a problem.

Target Canada had to deal with customer blow-back thanks to empty shelves - one could argue that this issue played a part in their ultimate demise - and we all know how this customer service issue impacts the overall customer experience. Shelves should NEVER look like this (and for most they likely don’t), but even a few empty spaces or the inability to find what one is looking for, or even an alternative, can have customers leaving the store in droves.

Don’t let a lack of people support impact the customer experience you deliver. Messy aisles, long line ups and empty shelves are all, for the most part, a direct result of not enough staff.

Feel like these issues only arise at particular points in the year, during the summer holidays for example? Don’t want to hire, train, and then lay off seasonal staff? Find a merchandising company that can offer trained, experienced, professional staff members, on a temporary basis, right when you need them. This not only saves you time and money, you can be sure these customer service issues are handled!

For more about people support that meets your needs and customers’ expectations, please call Storesupport today at 1 877 421 5081. 

Is Online Grocery Shopping Headed Our Way?

For many of us in the consumer packaged goods industry, the assumption that online shopping doesn’t pose the same threat to us as it does to some retailers is common, after all, not many online retailers offer milk or chicken. However, the looming threat of online grocery shopping, which seems to grow over time, if far closer to home than we might think.

Take, for example, this recent article from Buffalo News, “Dash’s Market launches online grocery shopping”: http://www.buffalonews.com/business/dashs-market-launches-online-grocery-shopping-20150224. According to the article, Dash’s Market, a grocery chain in Western New York, is the first in the area to offer online grocery shopping, giving customers the option to purchase online and then either pick up from the physical location or have the order delivered.

The trend being adopted by stores such as Dash’s is becoming quite common in the face of changing customer expectations. Store downsizing, rightsizing, even the move of previously online-only retailers to physical locations are all other examples of this trend to meet the growing needs of today’s consumer. And that’s not all. If you think that online grocery shopping isn’t really going to materialize, and that it really doesn’t pose much a threat, the fact that it is expected to become a $17.2 billion industry by 2019 may just cause you to reconsider that line of thinking.

And while Dash’s is the first in Western New York, two other top chains have already started the research to implement it in the area. Clearly this trend is picking up speed, and although it is across the border, it is just across the border. Really, how long before our major chains are taking a page out of their book?

This isn’t all bad news. It may be a threat, but does it mean that all consumers are going to switch? Of course not. As with all retail shopping, the customer experience is key, and since other retailers find that online shopping still can’t compete when it comes to that (and therefore a desire to shop at a physical location remains), it is pretty safe to assume that it will be no different for CPG. All of this being said, it does mean a further rise in competition, one that will need to be met head on.

Are you ready to compete? Storesupport has the strategies to make you more competitive, even when it comes to online grocery shopping. Call us today at 1 877 421 5081.