Nielsen's Top Five US Consumer Goods Spending Trends for 2010

Read the original full text at Nielsen's blog.

1. Restraint remains the new normal
   The need to save money, unemployment and other economic issues continue to be top of mind. Almost one-third of consumers say that they will use credit less even when conditions improve with 19% saying that they intend to save more money.



2. Value is a top priority
   A focus on low prices at the expense of all other variables threatens margins and brand equity. Value messaging must also include some point of differentiation beyond pricing. Manufacturers and retailers that take an active role in innovation and ad spending are likely to be the big winners.



3. Store brand growth continues
   Consumers returned to cooking and eating at home, boosting grocery channel shopping trips in the process. Store brands became an acceptable alternative — or even preferred brand — for many.



4. Grocery consolidation intensifies
   Local and regional players will become acquisition targets and some larger national and regional supermarkets will divest unprofitable formats and banners to strengthen investments behind their winning formats and banners.



5. Assortment wars escalate
   Brands caught in the trap of greater store brand focus and assortment optimisation will look to forge alliances with key retailers, or step-up efforts as store brand suppliers. Retailers attempting to simplify the consumer shopping experience with reduced ‘clutter’ may lose sales as they shift away from in-store merchandising that drove impulse buying and built shopper baskets.

Global Retail Trends

Shopaholic attended the recent annual AMI Conference and sat in on a fascinating presentation from John Batistich, General Manager Marketing, Westfield Group.

Based on a recent Westfield Study Tour, Batistich outlines ten changes in global retail trends.In this post we look at two of these:

1. Technology
2. Shift to advocacy

Technology

Technology has changed the nature of retail touchpoints. In the last month, Shopaholic has purchased music over iTunes, applications and games through the iPhone app store, and SingStar game tracks through a Playstation 3 console, via the online Playstation Network.

Such innovations have disrupted and redefined how we buy and consume. The computer and mobile phone in particular have joined the in-store environment as very accessible points of purchase. Brands need to ensure consistent alignment of marketing communications across all purchasing environments.

Batistich labels digital screens ‘the new in-store / in-centre medium’. Accordingly, an Arbitron report released earlier this year found that 67 percent of American adults had not only been in the presence of, but recalled seeing a digital out-of-home screen in the past month.

Digital screens offer great scope to engage with consumers through incorporation of touch screens, WiFi and Bluetooth. With the cut-through and flexibility offered by dynamic content, digital screens are sure to continue to deliver results in the retail environment.

Shift to advocacy

Batistich speaks of a technology-enabled shift from marketing models of tell/sell to involvement/participation. Consumers are sharing, advising, guiding and creating within social communities – see Brian Solis' Conversation Flower below.

Although these forms of community involvement take place out-of-store, the insights that can be gained are relevant to the in-store environment. After all, shoppers enter the store with their full range of out-of-store experiences and knowledge.

Consider that 50% of shoppers now research online before entering the in-store environment to make a purchase. With anonymous online opinions carrying the same weighting as trusted recommendations from family and friends, ‘word of mouth’ just became a lot broader.

Westfield has recognised the power of consumer advocacy, creating a Facebook application as part of a wider campaign promoting its gift cards. The application requires the user to opt in so that their status is updated to “All I Want for Christmas is a Westfield Gift Card”, with further copy stating that the user is now in the running to win a $10,000 gift card. This status change is displayed on the individual’s Facebook profile and appears in their friends’ news feeds.

Launched on November 24, over 200,000 Facebook users had opted into the application and updated their status by the 27th. Bearing in mind that this status change appears in friends’ news feeds, the promotion’s reach extends far beyond those 200,000 who have participated.