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ENGLISH TRANSLATION<br />
come into play only when the sought-after products are finally<br />
found. The goal of retail outlets should be to render shopping as fast<br />
and easy as possible.<br />
PROMOTIONAL INITIATIVES<br />
Another expert in the field, Fabio Siciliano of Adiconsum, spoke<br />
about promotional activities and the shopper: behavior, building<br />
loyalty and awareness.<br />
Adiconsum is a consumer association founded back in 1987 at the<br />
behest of the CISL and present up and down the length and breadth<br />
of Italy, with local, provincial and regional offices where its directors<br />
and their staffs provide assistance and individual or group guidance<br />
for consumers and families. For Adiconsum analyzing consumption<br />
habits patterns and what influences them is essential if one is to<br />
understand shopping behaviors, which are influenced by both situational<br />
and emotive factors. Among the situational factors we find<br />
the social environment (family, friends and status), lifestyle (sober,<br />
showy or reclusive), the physical setting (nearness, streets and type<br />
of store). Among the emotive factors there are motivations (needing<br />
or not needing a particular good/service), individual personality<br />
(liking or not liking a particular good/service) and values (considering<br />
it right or wrong to purchase a particular type of good/service,<br />
compunction about purchasing more than one consumes - waste).<br />
Promotions and the consumers<br />
“When faced with a situation or choice, different people behave indifferent<br />
ways depending on how the options and choices are presented<br />
to them” (Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, Prospect<br />
Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk, Econometrica, 47(2),<br />
1979, 263-291).<br />
The retail consumers of a good and/or service tend to purchase<br />
moreduring the sales/promotions because they feel they are getting<br />
a deal, spending their money wisely and due to the fact that previously<br />
the good or service was sold for a higher price augments the<br />
satisfaction generated by its consumption, serving to raise the price<br />
threshold one is willing to pay today.<br />
“By this point in time we have left behind the old model of the Forties,<br />
based of perceived utility”, explained Fabio Siciliano at the Milanese<br />
symposium. “It has been replaced by the introduction of the<br />
concept of value”.<br />
Building customer loyalty<br />
Building loyalty is a process that has the goal of making customers<br />
steadfastly faithful to a brand or a store.<br />
“Building shopper loyalty is essential in order to survive in the global<br />
marketplace”, explained Siciliano. “The main tool for achieving<br />
customer loyalty is intensifying the shopper’s level of satisfaction, a<br />
parameter that represents the real value of a brand. The companies<br />
and the consumers act together both in terms of awareness and in<br />
regardto shopping behaviors in order to generate loyalty”.<br />
Consumer awareness<br />
“In order to achieve the highest level of satisfaction it is necessary<br />
to make consumers aware of a product’s added value”, explained<br />
Siciliano. “One must make every effort to accommodate and satisfy<br />
shopper needs and requirements. Awareness influences shopping<br />
behavior and promotional activities which, in turn, influence the<br />
consumers. Educating the retail consumer of a good and/or service<br />
in the direction of aware, informed consumption is the task of all the<br />
actors present in the market. The world of sales and the world of<br />
consumption can find a meeting point in the process of awareness.<br />
In order to generate awareness it is essential to showcase the value<br />
of a product in the sense of consumer understanding and awareness,<br />
of the context in which he lives and the future demands of the<br />
context in which one operates”.<br />
The power of the group<br />
A change in terms of consumption models can come about only if<br />
the manufacturing community, the retail community and the consumer<br />
move in the same direction. Voting with one’s pocketbook is<br />
a tool that enables manufacturers and retail shoppers to participate<br />
actively in this dynamic process of change.<br />
LOVE YOUR CUSTOMERS AS YOURSELF<br />
Love your customers and you will increase your sales. Thierry Bayle<br />
of Global Fashion Management, a company that hold workshops<br />
and does consulting work in the world of fashion retail (including at<br />
the fashion fairs, such as Who’s Next, within the context of the Retail<br />
Expert Club), has analyzed the key steps involved in sales.<br />
“The sales process occurs in three distinct phases: the greeting,<br />
piquing interest/involvement and then the actual purchase transaction,<br />
the final objective of the process”.<br />
The second step involves engaging the shopper when he or she<br />
comes into the store.<br />
“The retailer wants to engage the customer and find out what he or<br />
she is looking for”, explained Thierry Bayle. “It must be recalled that<br />
it is essential to ask the right questions”.<br />
According to Thierry Bayle the worst possible question, the most<br />
mistaken (yet, the most frequently heard when entering a store) is:<br />
How may I help you?<br />
“In order to achieve the highest level of customer involvement, the<br />
questions should essentially have to do with the products”, explained<br />
Thierry. “Ask, for example, whom the person is shopping for<br />
what the potential consumer expects from the purchase. Extremely<br />
important: all the sales team should be able to pose the right questions<br />
and attentively listen to the shopper’s responses”.<br />
This step involves the potential for suggesting complementary acquisitions,<br />
for example, accessories or other coordinated products.<br />
These suggestions, if thoughtfully formulated and in a targeted, purposeful<br />
manner, may induce the shopper to become a loyal customer.<br />
“In general, people walk into a store looking for a solution to a problem”.<br />
Thierry Bayle was eager to point out. “In certain cases, it’s<br />
easier for a shopper to purchase a total look all at the same time<br />
from the same store”.<br />
The third and final phase is the culmination of the shopping process<br />
and is intimately associated with that crucial space between<br />
the cash register and the door out of the shop.<br />
“A customer may leave the store with the simple purchase of a single<br />
product or with the knowledge and satisfaction of having enjoyed<br />
an authentically fulfilling shopping experience”, explained Thierry.<br />
“In this second case he will become a customer who will recommend<br />
the store to other friends, but, above all, will come back himself<br />
to do more shopping. The store staff should always remember<br />
to also thank the customers who make a purchase. In particular, if<br />
they are important customers who frequently made purchases and<br />
spend a lot, the thank you could be in the form of a business card<br />
or even a little gift. Certain crucial little details can make all the different<br />
between a mediocre store and a premium one”.<br />
PEOPLE on page 192<br />
MARGHERITA MAZZEI and PARAH<br />
WOMEN ARE GLAM<br />
We spoke with Margherita Mazzei, the new head of the design<br />
division at Parah. We discussed style and emerging trends, as<br />
well as the reappraisal of the tradition which made the Gallarate<br />
firm famous. All the latest developments for spring-summer 2017<br />
Since last November Margherita Mazzei has been in charge of<br />
the creative team at Parah. This union between the designer and<br />
Parah promises to be productive. For its part, Parah has been in
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