The 2015 Retail Landscape
Todd Hale, senior vice president, consumer & shopper insights, The Nielsen Company, outlined opportunities for convenience retailers and their distributors during yesterday’s closing Super Session.
Given today’s changing economy and the financial pressures that many consumers continue to face, companies must reconsider even their most abiding assumptions as to how they do business, Hale pointed out.
Successful convenience retailers, with help from their distributors, need to find ways to creatively differentiate themselves and provide the kind of services and products that fit consumers in their specific marketplace.
This approach, he said, can involve “collaborative formats,” with two or more retailers working together to expand product offerings, as well as flexible formats and a store brand focus.
He advised companies to engage in effective consumer targeting and to take steps to keep shoppers engaged, using such tactics as social media, tie-ins of in-store purchases with discounts for fuels, and “finding ways to delight the consumer” in the stores. “We will see solution-based formats and promotions,” he predicted, “and steps to enhance the shopping experience as retailers look for ways to bring shoppers back again and again.”
Retailers must pay close attention to demographic changes in their regions, including the aging of consumers in the marketplace and increased ethnic populations, resulting in changing product and service needs and desires.
“We think there are a number of enduring trends,” Hale said, “including concern about health and wellness, the value-conscious consumer, convenience, comfort and enjoyment, and ‘green’ matters. With today’s connected consumers, global opportunities are absolutely amazing,” he added.
“The key,” said Hale, “is determining how to execute and identify opportunities. But keep in mind that people will go to a location they do not like just because it is more convenient. Having the right assortment is the most important, particularly with respect to consumer with ethnic backgrounds.”
