Had a chance to sit down with Bob Phibbs and Marge Laney during the NRF Big Show to talk about what I saw happening at retail. During this session, one of the things I talk about is:
- Commodity shopping. This is shopping almost strictly on price. This could be items like socks, underwear, milk, etc. Those items that we buy frequently and sometimes we’re not even aware of the brands we’re buying. We’re really starting to see this move into categories like consumer electronics, where people may be focusing more on price then the specific brand or technology.
- Experience shopping. These are the items that we pay more for based on the experience we get. This is why we pay more for Apple products or why we use one dry cleaner over another. It’s why there are many restaurants of all different price points. Sometimes a dollar burger does the trick, sometimes we want the $20 version.
During one of the presentations that the FIT students made last week, they showed the results of research they did asking both consumers and retail marketing what were the driving purchase decisions. At the top of the list for consumers was value. Price was further down the list.
So while there are times that we shop just based on price, most times we shop based on value. Maybe instead of looking to just make your price lower, you should look at creating better value for your customers.
I did two videos with Bob & Marge and will get that one up as soon as it’s ready.
Image by: Klearchos Kapoutsis
Original Post: http://blog.polinchock.com/2011/01/reports-from-the-national-retail-federation-show-2011.html
