2012 100 - Networld Media Group

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16 IN-STORE WEB ACCESS In an effort to draw customers into stores as the primary means of merchandise distribution, some retailers are offering in-store Web access through self-service kiosks and workstations to engage customers, provide convenience and increase satisfaction. This past year, JCPenney refined its Findmore technology with 42-inch interactive plasma-screen kiosks linking shoppers and sales associates to its 250,000 online products. The media-rich kiosks provide editorial content and highlight key seasonal trends while incorporating social-media-like features, such as permitting shoppers to add items to an online “dressing room” and email their choices to themselves or friends. Customers also can use Findmore to finalize the sale, either by purchasing items online and having them shipped to their home or to the store for later pickup, or by printing out a receipt and purchasing an online item at an instore register. 18 MILLENNIALS 17 DIGITAL PRODUCTS Representatives from major music labels EMI, Universal, and Sony have, at the time of this writing, all declined to comment on claims from various music industry insiders that they all have timetables in place for phasing out their production of physical CDs by the end of 2012. While no one is stepping up with such bold predictions on when the last movie theater will shutter its doors, a steadily growing number of viewers are content to stream movies online, with Netflix alone reportedly accounting for 30 percent of all evening Internet traffic. Newer devices can handily stream movies on ever-larger and less expensive TV screens. The demand for deluxe edition CDs (and vinyl sets) loaded with extras is expected to remain for the foreseeable future, as are venues for projecting the occasional must-see, special-effects-laden blockbuster. The fate of any products capable of being delivered digitally seems clear. The handwriting has been on the wall ever since the first MP3 was posted to Napster back in mid-1999. Finding themselves with more time than money and armed with total pricing transparency and unlimited selection, Millennial shoppers (those born between 1980 and 2000) are taking Depression-era frugality to a whole new level. In the process, Millennials are pushing retailers to learn new tricks. According to a study from Deloitte, Web-savvy Millennials treat each shopping trip as a mission. They research online and know exactly what they’re going to buy when they arrive at the store. TechCrunch sees in this trend the “Death of the Impulse Shopper,” while Bloomberg hails the “Rise of the Surgical Shopper.” Whether retailers see the glass as half-empty or half-full, the trend increases the importance of every customer who comes in their stores. Retailers can no longer rely on impulse buying to pay back the cost of loss-leader promotions, and rewards for store loyalty. Efforts, instead, must be dedicated to converting every shopper into a buyer. 14
19 TRADER JOE’S Privately owned Trader Joe’s has been on an expansion binge over the past three years, continuing to build on its near-cult status by providing healthy, organic and locally produced food to shoppers on a budget. The company has expanded at a steady pace, opening some 40 new stores a year and moving well beyond its Southern California stronghold to the delight of awaiting customers in markets such as New York, Chicago, and Des Moines. The expansion comes as many retailers are eyeing Trader Joe’s success and experimenting with smaller-format stores that can slide easily into urban areas with lower rents. In 2010, the company pulled in an estimated $8 billion in sales, roughly on par with chief rival Whole Foods Market. 20 LOYALTY PROGRAMS MOBILE/CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS According to the Loyalty Marketer’s Association, customer loyalty, rather than acquisition, is the key to sustainable growth. Business consulting firm Protiviti ranks customer loyalty as the top non-financial business challenge companies will face in 2012. Yet businesses report that retaining and engaging customers remain their greatest challenges. While daily-deal sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial continue to generate the greatest buzz, marketers suspect that pricebased strategies are taking focus away from the real prize, customer loyalty. The emerging model for success uses data gathered from loyalty programs to engage with customers across all touchpoints at all stages of the customer life cycle. 21 Although U.S. customers have been relatively slow to adopt NFC-equipped smartphones or utilize the contactless payment cards they already carry in their wallets, blogger and principal analyst at Forrester Research Brian Walker predicts we will soon see customers waving NFC-enabled smartphones across interactive display ads to automatically add pictured items to their online carts, making immediate transactions on their phones, or walking into a store with the resulting offer. More than 7,000 Subway restaurants across the U.S. are installing new Tap & Go Payment Readers to accept contactless payments through the MasterCard PayPass platform. Subway diners will be able to pay for their meals simply by tapping a PayPass-enabled card or device at the register. As more and more consumers interact with these devices, Walker expects that their expectations and buying habits will quickly change. 15
Page 1 and 2: TOP 2012 100
Page 3 and 4: WELCOME to the 2012 edition of the
Page 5 and 6: pia Snowe called the incentive “a
Page 7 and 8: Retail sales are expected to grow a
Page 9 and 10: trend toward shoppers using brickan
Page 11 and 12: Prosper Mobile Insights has found t
Page 13: 13 RETAIL CRM The future of retail
Page 17 and 18: 25 TIFFANY 26 STARBUCKS According t
Page 19 and 20: 28 DISNEY 29 DIGITAL SIGNAGE Follow
Page 21 and 22: 33 GROUPON/LIVINGSOCIAL/ETC. The ex
Page 23 and 24: 39 POP-UP SHOPS Although pop-ups ha
Page 25 and 26: 42 TARGET After spending two years
Page 27 and 28: 48 PUBLIX DICK’S SPORTING GOODS P
Page 29 and 30: 54 BEST BUY EBAY Best Buy is taking
Page 31 and 32: 57 RETAIL CROWDSOURCING Crowdsourci
Page 33 and 34: 63 IN-STORE AUDIO While advertising
Page 35 and 36: 70 T MOBILE 71 TWITTER T-Mobile’s
Page 37 and 38: 74 ETHNIC RETAIL The café inside W
Page 39 and 40: 80 FAMILY DOLLAR While other retail
Page 41 and 42: 86 87 RETAIL AT AIRPORTS With malls
Page 43 and 44: 90 ELECTRONIC SHELF LABELS Given th
Page 45 and 46: 96 AUTOZONE Auto parts chain AutoZo
Page 48: DRIVE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT AND BUILD

2012 100 - Networld Media Group

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