Retail Marketers: 3 Strategies to Thrive in the New Shopper Environment

As a retail marketer, one of the biggest challenges you can face is the change in shopper attitudes and behavior with the advancement of digital, mobile and sensor-related technology. As a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC program with a keen interest in retail and shopper marketing, I have found the following two views on the potential effects of technology-driven Amazon Go on the retail industry.

Three Reasons Retailers Should Fear Amazon Go

In the Forbes article, Phil Lempert identifies the reasons why Amazon Go is revolutionizing the retail industry. He highlights Amazon’s simple and straightforward communication skills, their use of advanced technology and smart food marketing. Amazon Go has removed the need for checkout lines, creating a new experience where shoppers can “just walk out.”  Because of their ability to seamlessly merge technology into their retail stores and to know their consumers, Amazon Go could be seen as the future of food retailing.

Source: The Drum

Five Reasons Amazon Go isn’t Necessarily the Future of Shopping

On the other hand, Lisa Lacy of The Drum argues that this form of seamless shopping has been around for a while and that other retailers such as Starbucks and Apple also offer similar experiences. Furthermore, Amazon Go doesn’t completely remove all of the customer pain points and “won’t be dramatically moving the industry.” They still need to consider consumer privacy and in-store engagement. Ultimately, it is important for retailers to think differently when connecting with consumers and to reduce their pain points while shopping.

Based on my review of these two articles and relevant studies I have done in the Northwestern Medill IMC program, I have developed the following 3 action items to consider when preparing for the future of retail marketing:

• Integrate Omni-channel Retailing - With the rise of mobile technology, combine all of your retail channels to provide a holistic experience for your consumers.

• Incorporate Advanced Technology - Incorporating digital technology like computer vision, algorithm, sensors and machine learning into store can create a seamless shopping experience when done correctly.

• Enhance Consumer Experiences - Anticipate what your customers want and solve their problems before they are even encountered. 

As you develop your retail strategies, think about how to best understand what your shoppers need and know how to best deliver it in order to thrive in a new shopper environment.

Tasmina Chhugani is currently a graduate student studying Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University’s Medill School.

With over 6 years of international experience in branding in the CPG industry, I wish to pursue my interest in retail, brand and shopper marketing when I graduate in December 2017.

Feel free to connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Fashion Marketers: Can Gamification Rescue your Retail Strategy?

Fashion marketers need to use more techniques to engage their consumers and increase shopping experience to compete with the rise of e-commerce.

As a graduate student in Integrated Marketing Communications at Medill, Northwestern University, I've found two articles about how gamification motivates sales that can help you win the battle.

In the article Retailers Must Reinvent Their Stores, reported by BOF team (The Business of Fashion) on January 27, 2015 points out the importance for retailers to reinvent their physical stores to better suit the behaviors and expectations of today's hyper-connected consumers. The article suggests physical stores to retain the advantage of personal interactions, further extend these interactions through new technology to offer deeper and tailored lifestyle suggestions and communal interaction. According to the BOF team, physical retail store has its nature to engage customers and can should learn from e-commerce to enhance services. 

The “mirror” lets the customer see how a current outfit looks in comparison to one she just tried on. 

source: http://bit.ly/1zmDuEd

In How To Solve YourBiggest Marketing Problems With Gamification by Steve Olenski (@steveolenski) and published in Forbes on March 5 2014, introduces how can gamification increase engagements. According to a survey conducted at the end of 2014 by Gartner,Inc, 70% of the Forbes Global 200 saying they are going to gamify. The influence is going to expand with the number of Millennials increase. Steve points out the reason why companies are adapting Gamification is because it can getting people engaged, coming back and feel involved, it can also turn average into the exciting.

Based on these 2 articles and my graduate learning at Medill IMC program, I have three actionable things I would recommend you as a fashion marketer to do:



1. Gamify to Increase Motivation － Use the Gamification techniques to leverage customers’ desire.

2. Start Personalize － Learn form e-commerce and provide each customer with personalized customer service.

3. Start Innovation － Physical retailers can implement interactive gamification devices, to make the static environment more dynamic and increase shopping experience.

Shopping in a physical retail store has its core advantage over e-commerce. It can provide authentic shopping experience and a real connection with the product and retailer. I believe, with the right gamification approach, retailers can successfully manage customers motivation and desire, and provide the experience and service that e-commerce cannot compete with.

Yanran Yan is an Integrated Marketing Communication graduate student at Medill, Northwestern University. She will be graduated in December 2015 and is particular interested in digital marketing for fashion industry. 

Contact her via LinkedIn, or Twitter @YanranY