Retail Perceptions

Through social media, retailers can personalize marketing messages, nurture customer relationships, engage new potential customers and create a community for their most loyal shoppers.

In this issue of Retail Perceptions, Interactions Marketing asked shoppers about their shopping habits related to the mobile wallet payment option. One in three shoppers already use mobile wallets, and 62 percent of those who don’t, expect to use it within the next year. The ability to pay with the simple swipe of a phone is evolving from a mere novelty to a consumer expectation; and mobile wallets are quickly becoming more popular than retailers may be ready for.

In the latest Retail Perceptions trend report from Interactions Marketing, shoppers were asked their opinions on non-food demonstrations (think someone showing you how to use makeup or a set of power tools)—and the responses were overwhelmingly in favor of non-food demonstrations.

From the cleanliness of the store to the attitudes of associates, there are plenty of aspects of the in-store experience that can lead to an increase or loss of sales and ultimately influence whether or not a shopper returns. With alternative retail options around every corner, shoppers have the option to walk out the door and across the street—or go online—when the in-store experience doesn’t meet their expectations.

Every time you turn around these days, it seems another retailer has been hit by a security breach. Certainly, retailers can—and do—take steps to protect their consumers’ private data. But what happens when their safeguards fail? The July Retail Perceptions report, “Retail’s Reality: Shopping Behavior after Security Breaches” gives retailers insight into changes in shopper behavior resulting from retailer security breaches.

A Changing Consumer Landscape
Webrooming, Showrooming, or a little of both?

We fielded a study to uncover shopping behaviors of US consumers who shop both online and in-store to see if there really is a clear road to the register. Our study found that while showrooming–or researching in-store before buying online is still popular, webrooming–or researching online before buying in-store–is gaining in popularity.

Online Product Reviews and the Influence on Sales
Nearly every week we’re introduced to new statistics about the growing power that men are asserting with household buying decisions. While there’s no denying this trend, it is clear that women will continue to hold – and hold tightly – onto the purse strings that manage the family spending. In fact, women are on track to control two-thirds of the consumer wealth in the U.S. over the next decade.