It’s adapt or die for retailers

Fast life changes marketers’ game

THE WORLD is changing so rapidly that marketers face a bewildering array of ways in which to reach consumers with their messages.

At the same time, retailers are faced with the enormous challenge of trying to find out where best to place their outlets and shops to corral the largest potential numbers of shoppers.

As quickly as technology is changing the way we communicate – and the way we consume media – so too is our urban landscape changing.

South Africa’s cities and suburbs are growing at such a rate that the old guesstimates about where the shoppers might be – and how to attract them – are no longer valid, says shopper behaviour expert Michaela Murning.

“Online shopping is definitely growing in South Africa,” she says, “but it is still relatively insignificant, which means that bricks and mortar stores are still the primary channels for selling consumer goods.”

Murning is head of retail, shopper and marketing at TNS in South Africa. She joined the group three years ago and is part of their global Top Markets Shopper Insights team. In the shopping arena, old business models and ways of doing things are also changing rapidly, she adds.

For example, overseas supermarket chain Tesco has moved into other areas of business, including renting movies and selling music and games online, as well as selling cellphones and tablets.

In this country, big retailers like Checkers and Pick n Pay are including services for their customers in their stores – like financial services and bill payments.

An interesting idea being rolled out is Makro’s Click and Collect programme, which will be run in conjunction with Sasol service station forecourts, says Murning.

Makro clients will be able to order and pay online and then collect their goods from special lockers at Sasol service stations.

“This is an example of a retailer aiming to make life easier for a customer and, in the process, probably getting a bigger basket sale and keeping the customer coming back,” says Murning.

The people likely to take advantage of such a service would be willing to pay extra for the convenience and the ability to save some time in their hectic schedules.

Murning says online retailers in the US are introducing a number of “automatic” shopping services to eliminate the hassle of regular purchases.

“Imagine being able to order all of those regular drudge or unglamorous items – the dog food, the pool chemicals, even baby’s nappies – and have them delivered to your door monthly, without even having to click…”

Retailers need to be aware of how the shopping fraternity is changing. Even in South Africa, says Murning, “we are noticing more and more men doing grocery shopping, which was once almost the exclusive preserve of women.”

Another reality, with people living longer across the board, is that many shoppers are older people.

And, says Murning, the “one size fits all” type of shopper marketing might not work with these different groups.

Another noticeable difference among shoppers in our unequal South African society is the haves and the have-nots.

“The haves are not driven so much by cost or value, and they are prepared to pay for convenience. The have-nots, on the other hand, are looking for efficiency and value.”

Another point of distinction is the extent to which shoppers are digitally savvy.

Many purchases are thoroughly researched online and bought in store – but, equally, these days people are researching online, trying on in store and then going back to the web to buy because it is perceived to be cheaper.

There are also vast differences in behaviour between urban and rural shoppers and cultural differences in a country like South Africa cannot be ignored, says Murning.

All this means that, in the future, we will still be shopping, but it will not be shopping as we know it, she adds.

Retailers in the future “are going to have to take advantage of every place where people are gathering – whether it be for work, entertainment, travel, worship or even health… and are probably likely to make more of their money from non-traditional retailing.”

Murning says development trends in shopping centres in South African suburban areas are already showing that the shops are going where the people are, at the nodes where they gather.

And, today, the anchor tenants of many of these new developments are not only the major supermarket chains – as they may have been a few years ago – but also the fast-food outlets.

“People are on the go and their fast life means fast food – and while they’re getting that fast food, there are other retail opportunities,” says Murning.