In merchandising, if everything starts and ends with the consumer, you need to understand their wants, needs, and motivations. This is even more important considering your modern consumer is both smarter than their fellow consumers of yesteryear and has developed different shopping habits.
Knowing that, as a retailer, you need to understand the motivating factors behind their shopping behaviour and how it will impact your merchandising strategies.
Mobile is a force to be reckoned with
At the beginning of 2017, We Are Social and Hootsuite unveiled their Digital in 2017 Global Overview report, which revealed that more than half the world now uses a smartphone while two-thirds of the world’s population has a mobile phone.
Other interesting statistics include:
- More than half of the world's web traffic comes from mobile phones.
- 5% growth in unique mobile users since February 2016.
- More than half of all mobile connections from across the world are now broadband.
- More than one in 5 of the world's population shopped online in the past 30 days.
While the above figures are on a global scale, let’s narrow that down and focus solely on South Africa:
- 28.66 million Internet users.
- 79.91 million mobile subscriptions.
- 27.52 million active mobile Internet users.
Considering that mobile connectivity in Africa alone stands at 81%, it would be difficult to deny that mobile has a growing influence over consumer behaviour. In fact, mobile has a growing influence over consumers the world over.
Retail marketing and merchandising must speak the same language
Knowing that mobile has such a major role to play, retailers must acknowledge the influence that mobile has over the consumer. However, it’s not about e-commerce vs bricks and mortar stores. Rather, the two should work together.
1. Ecommerce is important, but it can’t replace the in-store experience
If you trace the roots of ecommerce, you can go as far back as the early 1970s. By 1979, the first online shopping system was unveiled. Since then, e-commerce has grown steadily. The e-commerce industry in South Africa itself has blossomed as more e-stores are offering their services. However, that doesn’t mean that e-commerce will replace the in-store experience.
While a clothing retailer may be able to cash in on the rise of e-commerce, that doesn’t mean that the bricks and mortar store will be no more. In fact, for some retailers, like those who sell fresh food, bricks and mortar retailing still plays a dominant role.
A measured retail sales plan would include an understanding that consumers still enjoy a great in-store shopping experience.
2. Online isn't necessarily e-commerce
As technology evolves, your customers are becoming increasingly connected via the Internet and their smartphones, making the consumer experience online an influential factor in any decision you make as a retailer.
If you want to influence customers’ purchasing behaviour, you need to meet them where they are. It also has to be in a more personal, local and relevant way.
Fortunately, online gives you that exact opportunity as you can connect with your customers on a different and more meaningful level.
3. The link between merchandising and retail marketing
There is a critical link between merchandising and retail marketing that cannot be ignored. In fact, without it, you won’t be able properly to sell your products
Here are two examples to show why:
On the one hand, a consumer is watching their favourite television show and during an ad break, they are presented with a general advert about a new product at a store.
On the other hand, that same consumer is surfing social media later that night. They come across an advert indicating that the product they saw on TV is on special at their local store. This advert is not only local and relevant but it’s also so personal that it’s actionable. Your customer knows exactly where to go to purchase the product.
These adverts wouldn’t have been possible if marketing didn’t have the data which showed how the store is merchandised.
As an added note, it’s absolutely vital to check inventory levels when running a marketing campaign on a specific product so that you can meet customer demand. After all, your marketing efforts would be pointless if you find out that there is no stock once the customer is in the store.
4. Ecommerce should be an option
While e-commerce is still a fraction of the retail industry, it shouldn’t be ignored. The statistics in the report from We Are Social and Hootsuite mentioned above should validate that. In South Africa, 17.11 million people purchase goods via e-commerce.
However, some consumers still treat an e-commerce store as their own personal online catalogue to help them make in-store purchases. This is especially true for your high-ticket items.
Others like to have the option of purchasing goods from their favourite retailer online as well as from their mobile device.
Whichever route your customer decides to take, they need to have a choice. By catering to them with a well-designed e-commerce store, you will not only build loyalty for your retail brand but you’ll also improve your overall sales.
Conclusion
Retailers win when they present consumers with relevant marketing that comes across as a helpful gesture and then follow it up with a rich, in-store shopping experience.
*Editor’s Note: This blog article was updated on 12 June 2017 for accuracy.
