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Global Category Management News

August 31, 2010

Shoppers Scaling Back on Channel Shifting, Giving Retailers Fewer Chances to "Get It Right," New SymphonyIRI Research Finds; Visiting Smaller Number of Stores, Making Fewer Trips, and Shifting to Dollar Stores Represent Key Findings
Business Wire
Shoppers are cutting back on the number of stores they are visiting, concentrating visits on stores known for lower prices, generally visiting stores less frequently and spending less per trip. These are the principal findings of SymphonyIRI Group's new Times & Trends report, "The New Path to Purchase: An Escalation of Channel & Consumption Migration." "Shoppers are not enjoying the same financial success as corporations this spring and summer, and their continued search for lower cost retail channels reflects this," said John McIndoe, senior vice president, marketing, SymphonyIRI. "In addition to potential pressure on retailer revenues and margins, these trends point to managers having fewer chances to 'get it right' with shoppers. If a shopper visits a store and is unhappy with the experience, she will quickly go elsewhere."

Editor's Comments:CONSUMER INSIGHTS/SHOPPER MARKETING/SHOPPERS CUTTING BACK MULTIPLE STORE VISITS

Marketers using Twitter, Facebook to reach customers
The Economic Times
That Hrush Bhatt, founder and director (product & strategy) of Cleartrip, is a Twitter fan will come as a surprise to those aware of 'Kiruba incident'. The travel portal had a harried time last year, dealing with the incident initiated by a Twitter user, @Kiruba. Kiruba posted a link to his complaint on Cleartrip's customer support page, Cleartrip Forum. "Cleartrip.com took my money and did not book my ticket to Malaysia. Had a harrowing experience at airport...," he Tweeted. Within days, 40 other Twitter users took it up: Some simply re-Tweeted Kiruba's post while others demanded explanations and crucified Cleartrip. The portal had to act fast. It apologised to Kiruba on Twitter and promised to look into the issue immediately. Cleartrip took ownership of the problem, which it says involved other parties as well, and refunded Kiruba. It also paid to upgrade the return ticket of Kiruba and his wife from Malaysia to business class. While Kiruba incident may remain in the conscious memor...

Editor's Comments:INDIA/CONSUMER INSIGHTS/SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECT BRAND BEHAVIOR

PETCO Renews Agreement for DemandTec's Promotion Planning and Management Solution
Wireless News
DemandTec, a provider of merchandising, marketing, trade, and shopper analytics solutions for the retail value chain, announced that PETCO, a pet specialty retailer, has renewed its agreement for DemandTec's Promotion Planning and Management software service.

Editor's Comments:RETAIL NEWS

JDA Software Offers Price Optimization Strategies to Retailers
Wireless News
JDA Software Group said it is offering effective merchandising and pricing recommendations to help retailers maximize sales. "Retail is becoming much more competitive today, as price sensitivity continues to erode consumer loyalty," said Jane Fazzalari, vice president, retail industry strategy, JDA Software Group, in a release. "The challenge of meeting margin goals while offering prices appealing to consumers has made time-phased markdown decisions a critical component of the product lifecycle strategy. It can cost a company dearly if done incorrectly. Therefore, more than ever, retailers need an optimal pricing strategy to achieve their business objectives."

Editor's Comments:RETAIL NEWS

Gauging the Consumer Mind-set: Has It Really Changed?
Women's Wear Daily(WWD)
“Mindless excess is over.” So says Faith Popcorn, chief executive officer of marketing firm BrainReserve, when asked whether women will go back to their ferocious shopping habits once the economy fully recovers. “The entire consumer mentality has changed across the socioeconomic spectrum,” said Popcorn. “We understand and buy what we truly need, and we actually want less — stuff is clutter and we want simpler. We call it cashing out.” So is this the dawn of a New Consumer Age, as many experts contend, one that will force brands and retailers to make tectonic changes in the way they do business and transform the nature of shopping in America? Or is the consumer simply the same — just slightly different due to economic pressures? It's a debate obsessing companies at all price levels and industries — from fashion to food to cars. Regardless of which side of the argument one falls upon, it's clear the shopping rules have changed and key trends include:

Editor's Comments:CONSUMER INSIGHTS/SHOPPER MARKETING/CONSUMER MENTALITY CHANGED ACROSS THE SOCIEOECONOMIC SPECTRUM

The Sustainability Liability: Potential Negative Effects of Ethicality on Product Preference
Journal of Marketing
Products that espouse positive social and environmental ethical principles have received considerable attention in recent years. Stories about "ethical consumers" and terms such as "green" and "sustainable" appear regularly in such popular press outlets as Business-Week (Beaven 2009), Time Magazine (Betts 2009), and the Wall Street Journal (Johnson 2009). Companies are responding to this heightened attention with new brand and product introductions (e.g., Clorox's new line of household cleaners; see Story 2008), and retailers (e.g., Wal-Mart, Whole Foods) are responding with comprehensive sustainability initiatives (Gunther 2006; Whole Foods Market 2010). Despite the widespread attention sustainability is receiving, sales of sustainable products (i.e., products with positive social and/or environmental attributes) still represent "only a small fraction of overall demand" (United Nations Environment Programme 2005, p. 3), and there appears to be a significant gap between consumers' exp...

Editor's Comments:CONSUMER INSIGHTS/HOW DOES A "GREEN" MESSAGE AFFECT A BRAND

Economy - Keeping up appearances
Retail Week
When news broke on January 27 this year that Britain was officially out of recession, it came with an ominous caveat from politicians and economists that the road to recovery would be a slow and painful one. Seven months on and those predictions are proving prescient. Consumer price inflation is running at 3.1% - well above the Government target of 2% - and plans drawn up for further swingeing budget cuts threaten the jobs of thousands of public sector workers. Austerity Britain is living up to its bleak billing and the sombre mood has started to permeate the high street. Until recently retail sales figures had remained relatively buoyant in the context of the challenging macroeconomic environment. However, in July the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) monthly retail sales monitor showed like-for-like sales grew just 0.5%, held back by what director-general Stephen Robertson described as "poor results for non-food retailing". The BRC's gloomy prognosis came just a week after Next had ...

Editor's Comments:EUROPE/CONSUMER INSIGHTS/RETAIL NEWS/RETAILERS NEED TO CHANGE MARKETING MESSAGE TO WIN CONSUMER

August 24, 2010

Implications of FDI in Food Supermarkets
Economic & Political Weekly
This survey of the global and Indian experience with retail supermarkets, against the backdrop of a recent official paper on foreign investment in retail, highlights malpractices due to buying power, employment loss in the value chain, and an unwillingness to share the risk of the growers. In this context, it would be prudent to slow down supermarket expansion by using mechanisms such as zoning, business licences and trading restrictions. Measures to ensure smooth functioning of the contract farming system should include strengthening competition laws to limit buying power, providing legal protection to contract growers and encouraging farmer cooperatives and producer groups. The discussion paper "Foreign Direct Investment in Multi-Brand Retail Trading" put up by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) for public comment on 6 July 2010 describes the various aspects of the Indian retail sector like its size and nature, recent growth, and its economic and social signifi...

Editor's Comments:INDIA/SPACE MANAGEMENT/A VIEW OF THE INDIAN RETAIL SECTOR

The multiple buyers' opinions on whisky
Off Licence News
What focus have you put on Scotch over the past year to increase sales? Mark Suddaby, spirits category manager, Tesco: We have blocked brands in the fixture more clearly by stripping out peripheral whisky lines, and giving more space to the main brands. We are ensuring any NPD has real heritage. If you remove products which no one has heard of, you allow space for exciting brands such as the broader Johnnie Walker range, J&B Rare or Monkey Shoulder. Taking out four or five tertiary blends at £9 or £10 allows us the space to bring in better-quality lines. Vanessa Pearson, spirits buyer, Sainsbury's: Scotch is an established category so maintenance of a compelling promotional plan has been important to give ongoing relevance to customers. Innovation through mid-tier ranges and within malts is important to ensure the category does not become dependent only on promotional activity.

Editor's Comments:EUROPE/SPACE MANAGEMENT/THE STATE OF THE SCOTCH CATEGORY

Keeping it modern
Off Licence News
Innovation and a focus on the contemporary might not be the first things that spring to mind when considering Scotch whisky. But, increasingly producers are concentrating on attracting a more diverse audience in a bid to boost its appeal. Phil Huckle, Chivas Regal brand ambassador at Pernod Ricard UK, has no doubt the current level of growth in Scotch whisky can be maintained. "The long-term future is looking healthy as there has been an increase of interest in premium, aged whisky and we are seeing a lot more women sampling the product," he says.

Editor's Comments:EUROPE/CONSUMER INSIGHTS/SCOTCH PRODUCERS TRY TO ATTRACT NEWCOMERS