A variety of retailers make adjustments to their pricing strategies

Observation:   An article in today’s New York Times sheds light on the reasons behind pricing shake-ups at stores like JC Penney, Stein Mart and more.  Click here to see the story.

Implications:   Early in the story, this NY Times story righteously focuses on the new sense of control that consumers have over the way business is done.  (Unfortunately, the piece quickly devolves into speculation by pundits about whether the new pricing strategies of various stores will work.  Pundits won’t decide.  Consumers will.)  In an age where competitive shopping can be done before arriving at Store #1, the game has changed.

Of course, there are other ways to attract consumers, beyond price.  (Quality, selection, service, to name a few.)  But the essence of this story is about control:  What customers want and whether you’re delivering it.

Have you sat down for a heart-to-heart with your best customers lately?

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Men join the recovery in apparel spending

Observation:   A story in yesterday’s New York Times explains that men are spending more than ever on fashion accessories.  But perhaps more importantly, it points out unemployment and other recessionary issues impacted men differently than women.  Click here to see the story.

Implications:   It’s good to see men back spending again, and especially on themselves.  Both male and female heads-of-household delayed personal spending during the recent 2007-2009 recession… opting to support the needs of their family first.  Indulging a little more—or updating one’s wardrobe—might be another indication that the recovery and consumer confidence gaining a little momentum.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Macy’s takes online interaction into the store with QR codes

A recent story from Online Media Daily asks the question, “Are QR codes worth it?” for both the retailer and the consumer.  It’s worthwhile question, and you can read that story by clicking here.

Implications:   Of course, QR codes are just another tool.  And like any piece of equipment, whether it’s effective depends on how you’re planning to use it.  Can consumers “shoot” your QR code to find a landing page with important information about your products, a map to your location, or a coupon that represents value?

One of the stronger uses I’ve seen lately is the way Macy’s has placed QR codes not just in their advertising, but in their stores.  When consumers see the signs—strategically placed throughout each store—they can scan the QR code to hear from designers and celebrities.  It’s like having a virtual sales person point-out the strongest attributes of the featured product.

If you’d like to see the visual explanation, here’s the one Macy’s offered on YouTube (very similar to the television campaign they’ve been running this month to tout this new “service.”)   Note how they emphasize simplicity, and not technology!

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Thought leadership: Are they media, marketers, or both?

This morning’s New York Times illustrates how the line between media company and marketing has become more blurred, as leading fashion magazines start acting as a direct conduit in the retail relationship.  Click here to see the story.

Implications:  The theme to these campaigns might be something we think of as “Thought Leadership.”  Consumers seek the counsel of fashion magazines to determine what’s in style; it is only a natural next step to click on the magazine’s website to commence the retail transaction of that style.  The consumer came to the media seeking information, and product was tucked conveniently into the equation.

Lets turn the tables and put the same principle be to work for your business.  Does your company provide information to its customers?  What kind?  How valuable is that information?  Does your messaging (marketing) include the kind of counsel or guidance which could be grown into your own Thought Leadership campaign?  Does your existing website—or could a new blog—provide the kind of intelligence that makes purchasing in your category easier?  Just as magazines have placed product close to the coverage, could you insert a knowledge campaign conveniently close to the products you sell?

We live in an age where media can be divided into three different types:  Paid (where you spend money to advertise), Owned (your company’s website, blog, publication or social media presence), and Earned (those actions on the part of your company which are covered by the press as public relations).  Thought Leadership can help you maximize all three types of advertising.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

The class of 2015: Wired and well branded

One of the more popular stories from Marketing Daily this week provided a glance at today’s freshmen class as they arrive on campus.  The article gives this new generation of college students a lot of credit for the way they’re using social network to build their personal brands.  Click here to see the story.

Implications:    Whether you’re a neighborhood bar and grille where friends can gather, or a home furnishings store that helps folks choose the kind of goods that make entertaining a little more fun… you might be in the business of helping your customers “brand” their lifestyles.

Don’t just think in terms of the brands you sell.  Think of the personal brand your customer would like to build.  I bet you can help them.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Disney reaches out to kids... on arrival

An interesting story in today’s New York Times cites the company’s maternity-ward marketing efforts in suggesting it’s never too soon to approach a new prospect. Click here to see the story.

Implications: Disney knows moms will greatly influence the formative years of their children. Why not build an alliance with that influence… before channel selection and favorite characters are decided by the infant?

Ironically, in their teenage years, it will be these kids who are more likely to influence the purchase behaviors of their moms! (Mobile phones, video games, places visited, etc.)

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.

Does your product focus blur the customer experience?

Okay, this posting is a little different, because it is based purely on personal observation and experience rather than an issue I found from some web site, trade publication or news organization.

My wife and I had stopped at a JC Penney store to pick-up a gift item we had ordered online. While walking to the catalog pick-up area, we passed a rack of nice sport coats that were just my size… so I tried one on. Then, wanting to see how it looked, I scanned the men’s department for a simple mirror.

There weren’t any.

Really? In the area of the store that sells sport coats, suits, tuxedos, pants, shirts and ties... no mirror? Thus, I placed the coat back on the rack, and didn’t even pick-up the other two that I thought might be nice. So the opportunity to make a perfect add-on sale was lost. (I say “perfect” because a spontaneous purchase like this involves no additional-overhead for the retailer; they already had me in the store on another mission.)

Implications:

Dear local clothing provider (and other small businesses),

Do you study these nuances to notice your competitive advantages? Companies so focused on the type or volume of the product they sell can easily overlook the other, more important part of the transaction: Their shoppers.

I really prefer buying clothes in-person, rather than online, for the simple reason that I can try-on an item to see what it will look like on me. (I don’t care what it looks like on the male model at the website or in a catalog.) But in this particular store, that advantage has been squandered… as the retailer had squashed so much inventory into the department that they did not leave space for even a single mirror outside of those in the dressing rooms down the hall (which nixes getting second opinion from my wife.)

How do you help people consider the product you sell? Has that that device or assistance been overlooked, in recent years, as you try to keep up with warehouse stores, big discounters, department stores or other competitors?

Mike Anderson

What are the benchmarks of customer satisfaction for your business?

Yesterday’s issue of the Lempert Report newsletter led me to rediscover the American Customer Satisfaction Index, published by the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. The ACSI is a monthly survey asking how pleased consumers are with various brands in the food, clothing, footwear, and pet food categories. You can click here to open the latest press release, which offers a convenient overview of the thinking behind the study. If details are your delight, click here to see the most recent report card.

Implications: This effort was fascinating to me not because of its relationship to food, clothing, footwear or pet food… but because of the information it extracts from consumers: How satisfied are you, and how has that changed since the last time we talked?

It got me wondering about “degrees of content.” Are you happy to simply be someone’s favorite restaurant (or bank or car dealership or store)? What if consumers rated your operation better than the competition; would that be good enough?

What if the consumer felt most of their usual restaurants were slipping, in terms of service, but yours has slipped less. Would that be good enough for you? Wouldn’t you rather compare the consumer’s opinion of your restaurant this month… to their opinion of you last month?
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The danger of competitive comparison is that when the competition is weak, it can make you weaker, too. When you compete with yourself, as well as the competition, you will see their weakness as your opportunity to strike.

Mike Anderson

Supply and demand could impact clothing types and styles

A story from the New York Times says that cotton prices are going up in response to limited supplies and increasing demand. Click here to review the article.

Implications: People could move to other fabric alternatives in the clothing they choose… when confronted with the prospect of higher prices for cotton garments. That states the obvious. But I’m wondering about other implications…

What impact this might have on clothing as a gift choice this holiday season?

Cotton is one of those rare products that is seldom challenged when referred to as “sustainable.” What other fabrics/clothing could emerge as an environmentally-friendly alternative? (Will people just bite the bullet and pay the higher prices for cotton garments?)

Mike Anderson

Gen Y: You had your reasons, and I have mine

I’m cleaning-out the newsletter inbox this morning, and glad I caught this story before deleting yesterday’s Marketing Daily. There was a story about some research by Levi’s designed to better understand Gen Y. Click here to read the piece.

Implications: Maybe we should stop calling it Gen Y, and start calling it “Gen Why.” Because this is a cohort that seems to do very little with the justification that, “this is the way people have always done it.” They seem to want a personally relevant reason for every decision they make and action they take. Not why something has been important for years and years… but why it is relevant now.

(This group is different. Sound like a group of folks who came of age in the 60’s-70’s?)

Mike Anderson

Ask Y: The times, they are a changin'

Last week, there was a story about bellwether change in Marketing Daily. It had to do with a company that is starting to sell anti-aging beauty products… to Gen Y buyers. (Specifically, Oil of Olay has retained Carrie Underwood to help sell Gen Y consumers on face creams to stave-off crow’s feet.) Click here to see the story.

Implications: As a late-stage baby boomer whose bald spot is proliferating into more of a bald “region,” I am acutely aware that age happens. But if you’re a marketer who thinks Gen Y stands for “generation young,” you might want to update your view of the group.

Like the rest of us, Gen Y is starting to show its age. How have their needs changed, in response to the products or services you sell? (And you would be smart to answer that question with regard to your Gen X customers, boomers, and new age seniors, too!)

Mike Anderson

Back to school: Delayed, reduced spending? (There are exceptions to that rule.)

Back in early August, I remember seeing an article from Marketing Daily which indicated the back-to-school shopping season had been slow to get started (click here to read the story). It seemed that many consumers were waiting for the all-important “list” provided by many teachers, explaining what incoming students would need to the year. Even through the Labor Day weekend, though, the BTS shopping season was looking a little weak, according to a story that was in Saturday’s New York Times (click here for a link to the piece).

Implications: If you sell clothing or pencils, you probably felt like the back-to-school season was a bit soft this year, at least in comparison to expectations. Compared to 2009, this year was supposed to be better. But before heading to the mall for blue jeans and notebook paper, it seems that students and parents stopped first in their closets, to see what might still fit and function without buying more of the goods which traditionally sell well this time of year.

In contrast to this fiscal conservatism, though, remember that there was some very strong spending on personal electronics this year; items the student did not have last year, and the parent could justify this year. (I wrote about this back on August 5, in another posting at ElmStreetTrends.com; click here to see that piece.)

Many people may have cut back in some areas, but it seems that many others ratcheted-up their spending in other areas. Worth noting: This season’s spending was a matter of shifting priorities, not just reduced spending.

ALSO WORTH CONSIDERING: Maybe the back to school season is not over. Perhaps parents (and students) will be buying supplies along the way, throughout the school year. Could it be that, instead of a "stock-up" mentality, consumers are switching to a "just in time" or, "buy as needed to even-out the pain" purchasing plan?

Mike Anderson

Consumer research leads to creative, timely, topical (literally) customer service

Gatwick Airport in London did some research with people about anxieties they might have before going on holiday. Turns out, travelers were concerned about showing up at the sun and sand… without a tan. So, their promotional folks worked out a deal with a tanning company to provide pre-boarding “spray-on tans,” right at the airport. For more, click here to see the story in this week’s Springwise, or see how Gatwick positioned it at their event landing page. (Note that this is not the only clever promotion that the airport has done, recently!)

Implications: Often, innovation is less a matter of coming up with something creative, and more a matter of paying attention.

Mike Anderson

Simple problem, digital solution

My wife and I were walking through a department store at Mall of America last week. Oddly, if you go in at the main entrance, you have to walk through the cosmetics and fragrance department (primarily aimed at women) to get to the men’s department on the same level.

As is typical on a Saturday afternoon, the store was offering a free make-over, giving consumers a chance to try-before-they-buy, and giving the store greater odds at making a sale. I asked my wife if she wanted to indulge while I shopped for the items I was looking for.

“No way,” she said. “You never know what some of those brushes and applicators have come into contact with.” Being an ignorant male, I hadn’t thought of that. (I don’t use make-up, so how would I know?) Turns out plenty of women have the same concerns. (And many are uncomfortable with having anything to do with make-up done in public.)

Out of sheer coincidence, a cool new product demonstration device was featured in this week’s issue of Springwise. It’s a mirror designed to be used at the cosmetic counter, which takes a digital photo of the customer, which can then be treated—virtually and hygienically—with samples of the make-up the store is selling. (To see the story about EZ Face, click here.) Trendwatching refers to this as a digital form of "Tryvertising."

Implications: Where do people come up with great ideas like this? By listening to people like my wife (or whomever they consider to be their target consumer).

What commonly-available tools could be modified slightly to create an extreme advantage for your company?

Mike Anderson

Happy Days: More companies look back to help customers look forward

On several occasions, I have written about the power of nostalgia in courting consumers during difficult times (see “Looking back as a means of coping” from 4/2010, for example).

A recent story from the New York Times added some fresh insight into the idea. Click here to read it.

Mike Anderson