SHOPPERMARKETINGTRENDS

DISCOUNTERS EVOLVE TO MAIN SHOP LAND GRAB

RING FENCED MOBILE SHOPPER JOURNEYS

REAL TIME AMBITIONS FOR DELIVERY

SOCIAL SHOPPING TO COME OF AGE

FACE TO FACE RE-EMERGES AS A USP

SECOND GENERATION ETAILING

SURPRISING IN STORE BED FELLOWS

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SHOPPERMARKETINGTRENDS

Value proposition retail operators across grocery, homewares and fashion have undergone a speedy self-styled revolution moving their basic, low-cost product selling enterprise to offering shopper-demand lines within retail experiences that are at least comparable with long-standing High Street retailers.

Progressing with the volume model, these retailers are continuously improving their propositions to gain an optimised share of shoppers’ regular essential and stock-up purchases, leaving the original players facing increasing pressure on their everyday ranges, leading to further strategic focus on daily-convenience and special purchase opportunities.

The resulting effect in 2017 will see a significant jump in mainstream shoppers broaden their trust and commitment on a regular basis to retailers that they previously considered as a value-basics provider.

DISCOUNTERS EVOLVE TO MAIN SHOP LAND GRAB

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As near-field payment transactions have become the norm in recent years, 2016 finally saw the beginning of mass adoption of NFC and wallet-led mobile payments through the provision of solid, simple solutions from trusted handset manufacturers, platforms and carriers.

Whilst the ongoing Internet of Things evolution will increasingly drive payment mechanisms across all appliances in consumers’ lives, it’s the fruition of the human relationship with their phones that makes the selling cycle opportunities around mobile handsets unique.

Along with the fast paced adoption of mobile payments in 2017, mobile payment platform owners, dynamic POS retailers and innovative brands will cooperate to share data to build new and excusive mobile touchpoint activation strategies that will allow shoppers access to more efficient and personal shopper journey experiences.

RING FENCED MOBILE SHOPPER JOURNEYS

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Availability and access to required goods and services has long been the pivotal factor in the decision process in determining whether shoppers buy online versus bricks and mortar stores. Immediacy has often come before relative price sensitivity or brand and retailer loyalty – in essence the very driving force of supply and demand.

More recently a widening variety of sectors leveraging the nimbleness of online trading, whether as their principle window or a growing part of their go-to-market mix, have heavily focused on defining advancing distribution solutions equitable to traditional point of buying scenarios.

Flourishing time-guaranteed and next-day supply chain networks concentrating on more efficient and increasingly sought same-day solutions will continue to drive brand and retail growth opportunities and bring about new shopper preferences and buying behaviours in 2017.

REAL TIME AMBITIONS FOR DELIVERY

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At the dawn of online brand presence, there was a voyage of discovery to determine the role emerging media could play along the shopper journey and equally the purpose of the brand in a space that was personal and only socially transactional at the time.

The social space opportunity model has incessantly redefined itself and until relatively recently evolved to be a hard advertising environment and hands-off reco’ space among guests within invited networks. Brands were not alone in their inability to work it out. Shoppers were not ready to purchase directly as the platforms had not achieved the comfort factor to change already instilled online buying behaviours.

2017 will see a surge of Shop Now activity across personal, follower and brand social sites powered by advancing image recognition and direct and click-through transaction technology. Brands need to reimagine their early shopper journey resources to meet and capture the sales opportunity that will exist.

SOCIAL SHOPPINGTO COME OF AGE

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Brands and retailers in 2016 sustained their strategies to offer live or instantaneous responsiveness to shoppers’ need for information as they perused aisles in both online and physical form in an effort to soften and extend the quality of audiences’ en-route purchasing experiences.

Online, there was a proliferation of newly introduced live chat services; Call-centres rebalanced the press-#-now trend in favour of more voice connectivity; Brands and retailers in real-life environments have begun to heavily reinvest in engaging experiences.

Whilst technology offers ever-improving audio and CGI alternatives to person-to-person interaction, brands who choose to further invest in real humans within their live or over-the-net selling spaces in 2017 will achieve exaggerated stand-out engagement and preference from shoppers versus their competitive set.

FACE TO FACERE-EMERGES AS A USP

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As web retailing took hold, two distinct groups emerged: Established compaies moved online as a source of expansion and exploration. The second group were bold emerging vendors that used the web as a low cost entry point that simultaneously pigeon-holed them as online retailers and came with guarded perceptions.

As a generation of learnings are adopted, the plus or onlyonline status has become redundant as shoppers openly accept a trading space as long as it holds both relevancy to the shopper mission as well as meeting the experience expectation along the engagement journey.

In 2017 we will increasingly see powerful retail propositions – born out of both existing and new enterprises – launching within the online space, mirroring large investment and communication budgets previously aligned to physical stores. They will make a statement on the cyber High Street through exclusives, unprecedented immersive experiences driven by interactive tech and new levels of after sales servicing.

SECOND GENERATION ETAILING

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The pressure on retailers to optimise the return on their physical estates continues unabated as sales channels extend, strengthening competition evolves and margins are further burdened through supply chain and other environmental factors.

Whilst brand concessions are not a new concept, their relevancy to the host retailer has been a considerable factor in who becomes a sub-tenant and are often chosen for the vertical alignment to the retailer’s proposition. Challenging times seek innovative solutions and ones that can offer unexpectedly convenient or exciting aspects to the shopper experience.

In 2017 there will be a convention-busting utilisation of space from brands and services that shoppers will be surprised but not upset to experience ranging from health and medical, utility and professional services as well as the return of brands leveraging destination areas to engage with their own audiences in unique ways.

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CONNECT Darren Keen Greg Thorpe Sam MoqbelCEO Europe Managing Director Managing Director, Eventsdkeen@marslondon.co.uk gthorpe@marslondon.co.uk smoqbel@mars.events