The Connected Shopper: A Mighty Retail Force
A shopper with a home computer and a smart phone in hand has become a market force equivalent to a tsunami in retail. The data that is available at the click of a button has created hyper informed shoppers who are more informed, and prepared, than ever.
A recent survey conducted by Motorola Solutions revealed that 55 percent of retailers believe that shoppers are better connected to consumer information than they’re employees who are hired to serve them. Online shopping tools and mobile phone applications enable instantaneous product comparisons, price checks, e-coupons and social networking that are changing the shopping behavior.
Smartphone sales are rapidly increasing, and predictions indicate that this trend will continue. People are attracted to the wide range of shopping and pricing applications that their Androids, iPhones and Blackberries provide. Smartphone technology and apps like Bakodo and Stickybits give them unprecedented power of information and product research.
Today a motivated shopper can perform their research on a website, find the best price and check stock availability of an item before they even get in the car. For the time-stressed and over -scheduled consumer, going to the store is more like hunting than shopping. In most cases, the purchase decision has already been made for most consumers long before entering the store. They are armed with knowledge that leaves little opportunity for retail merchandisers to engage in face to face sales.
The fact is; if your product or store is not a target in their sites, how can you become part of their buying process? One answer is to focus on more effective and engaging merchandising and make displays more interactive. An emerging trend is many manufactures moving toward hands-on or visual monitor merchandising displays that demand the attention of shoppers at the point of sale.
At DisplayMax, we are currently installing interactive displays for Blackberry phones in Verizon stores throughout the country. When purchasing a new mobile phone, it would be safe to say that most consumers do some major research prior to before arriving at the store. Blackberry utilizes a display which contains a monitor as the focal point to deliver a message about each phone’s features and benefits. Below the monitor are samples of all the Blackberry devices for hands-on consideration and inspection. The entire merchandising experience is meant to engage the shopper at point of sale and involve them so the Blackberry is in mix during the decision making process.
Merchandising and displays like this will demand more attention and likely have a positive effect sales no matter how prepared the shopper is of their purchase before they enter the store. Consumers are more educated and, thanks to technology, have more decision leverage than ever. But they make decisions emotionally, especially then it’s time to commit to the purchase.
As a retail or grocery merchandiser, designing displays that attract attention and invite interaction is one strategy to persuade the tsunami to move in your direction.
Choose DisplayMax Merchandising Services to be your partner in execution and find out how we can make a difference to your bottom line. Call us today at 810-494-0400
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