Specialty Retail News Make it Mobile
We can’t stress this enough: your specialty retail business has to be mobile-friendly. According to Eagle Eye, a study of 1,000 UK and US customers revealed that “54% of customers have used a mobile wallet and 30% use a mobile wallet regularly, especially millennials. Mobile wallets are most commonly used for storing digital loyalty cards (60%) and coupons (53%), followed by mobile payments (23%).” In other words, creating frequent visits to your store is much easier on a mobile-friendly platform and equally important, you can measure outcomes in real time if needed. Given that, as
per Euromonitor International Global Consumer Trends, “fifty eight percent of consumers in 2016 used their phones for at least five separate activities each day, compared with 34 percent in 2015,” the trend is only pointing upward. Don’t make mobile an afterthought, make it the primary pillar of your online strategies. Source: Eagle Eye
The Experience Economy
You’ve heard this already: Millennials, the demographic to pay attention to, value experiences. According to an Eventbrite report, “more than 8 in 10 millennials (82%) attended or participated
in a variety of live experiences in the past year, ranging from parties, concerts, festivals, performing arts and races and themed sports—and more so than other older generations (70%).” Interestingly enough, “72% say they would like to increase their spending on experiences rather than physical things in the next year.” So how do you sell your products in such an experience economy? Make it as much of an interactive experience as possible, experts suggest. Stress value. Be authentic and they will come. Products are not going anywhere, they just have to be molded to fit into the new economy. Source: Eventbrite
22 Specialty Retail Report n Winter 2017
Who’s a Good Boy?
Americans love pets. So much so, that the money they spend on related products grows in leaps and bounds every year. According to the American Pet Products Association, between 2015 and 2016, the expected bump was to the tune of close to two billion dollars. The good news for specialty retailers is that the common area is a great venue for pet toys and goods and lend themselves really well to effective merchandising. Even better, they’re great impulse buys. Who can resist an adorable doggie or cat toy? This growing category continues to give specialty retailers plenty to wag and purr about. Source: American Pet Products Association
Health is Wealth
Watching what you eat? You’re not alone. Around the world, consumers are becoming more conscious of food ingredients and reading labels. In 2015, 35 percent of consumers avoided at least five specific ingredients. In 2016, this number increased to 53 percent. More consumers are taking their avoidance of specific ingredients a step further and eliminating, or at least limiting, entire categories and food groups. What does this mean for specialty retail? More health-based food concepts and stores. Look for juice bars in the common area and
food courts as well as a focus on “superfoods” and the like to really carve out specific niches in the sector. The number of automated retail units selling healthy food is likely to increase as well. Source: Euromonitor International Global Consumer Trends.
Clearance? BOGO?
After the craziness of the holiday season, it’s time to take stock of your inventory and record what worked and didn’t in terms of marketing, sales and products. If you sell seasonal products, these will need to be heavily discounted so as to not tie up valuable capital in unused inventory. If you want to clear your shelves for new product and sell non-seasonal items, hosting a sale might be a good way but don’t make it a habit otherwise customers get conditioned to wait for a sale. A quick flash sale might be a good idea. Take notes to time your pre-holiday season sales better so you’re not left with too much of the post-holiday blues. Offering special birthday-related sales is a great way to get a small nugget of customer loyalty and useful customer metrics. Source: Time
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