Retail Marketing began to gain traction with increasing number of hypermarkets in the US and Europe. This wide and rapid spread of big shops that sell everything from vegetables to guns! triggered a need for research in shopping behavior and a holistic retail marketing strategy.
What do shoppers buy before noon? What gets their attention most? Everything from shelf placement to the color of labels and arrangements of stacks was put under the microscope. And it helped. But the shopper behavior is changing in the new millennium. Technology and the demographics on which this research was conducted doesn’t hold true anymore. People who grew up in the last 20 years are markedly different than those in the 60s and before.
Moreover, most of the research conducted in late 20th Century was based on surveys. Technology has now enabled researchers to get more data from more sources. Sometimes without the consumers’ consent. In Retail marketing Strategy, Constant Berkhout looks at the behavior of the new-age consumer. From Neuro research to Big Data, the author looks at different approaches and sources to redefine retail marketing strategy for different retail channels.
Constant Berkhout is an experienced retail marketing and shopper insights consultant, having worked at Kraft Foods, Gillette/P&G, and PepsiCo. As Founder of Rijnbrug Advies, he develops new ways to grow retail categories and connect with the shopper for a diverse range of food, non-food, and supplier clients.
Retail Marketing Strategy: Delivering Shopper Delight
Author: Constant Berkhout
Paperback: 296 pages
Publisher: Kogan Page (November 28, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0749476915, 978-0749476915
The author begins with the philosophy that shopper happiness is the key to retail success. Everything a marketer and seller does must be looked at from the lens of the shopper. Their primary objective should be to fulfill their shoppers’ needs. Only then will the retailer be able to deliver happiness and make shopping an enjoyable experience.
In Part II, Shoppers are People, the author aims to shatter the myth of impulse purchase behavior. He cites various research findings to show that only a fraction of purchases are impulse purchases. He gives a detailed account of when such an impulse purchase happens and what are the typical variables that people compromise on during an impulse purchase
With Internet at our fingertips, we now take pre-shopping research as a routine activity. There is hardly anyone who hasn’t looked up for a deal or compared multiple brands and specifications online before making a purchase in store.
But let’s say there are those who fall prey to these irrational impulses. The author also discusses how you can tap into that impulse buyer behavior and nudge the shopper toward your product.
Hypermarkets and big shops were the driving force in retail marketing. The author looks at the current decline in this model in the developed world and the reasons why hypermarkets may be on the way out. He discusses possible solutions that retailers can apply to keep their share in the mature markets and explore the emerging economy markets, where hypermarkets are still in the nascent stages.
From Hypermarkets to Online Retail, and from Neuro Research to Big data, Constant Berkhout covers every angle for retail marketers of today and provides solutions to tackle the changing shopper behavior in store and online.