Shopper Journey

After SMALAND for the kids, IKEA has introduced MÄNLAND for retail-weary men.

Not sure if it’s a PR gag since it was just piloted during Father’s Day weekend in Sydney early September.

But it’s acknowledging the old truism that “men buy, women shop”. Ever realized how much men appreciate it if a clothing store offers a “boyfriend chair”?

So there is clearly a need. If only IKEA came up with a solution how to get the female counterpart’s “permission” to not join the shopping trip

Sorry for not having updated the blog for a very long time. There is actually so much to blog, but so little time to write. Will try to update and post some interesting news within the next couple of days.

Microsoft, in collaboration with media agency Carat, recently released a new research paper called “New Shopper Journeys: the important new role of digital media” (download here).

It’s a good read for starters, nothing groundbreaking. What I like is that they provide lots of quantitative data. What I don’t like is their classification of shopper journeys into “habitual”, “impulse” and “research”. That’s misleading, because it’s based on category and buying behavior, not the shopping behavior. Shoppers change their mindsets depending on context and different touchpoints across their journeys, regardless of the product category. Anyway, good to see that even Microsoft and a media agency have realized that “The old Purchase Path based on an AIDA funnel” is gone.”

For an older (posted here in July 2009), but still better introduction into the digitally enabled shopper and her “new shopper journey” I’d recommend to read this.

Might not work well with multiple people in front of the window at the same time, but it is a great idea anyway!
(click on pic or link below)

Interactive Display Window Concept from Gustaf Engström on Vimeo.

Who needs product demos when there’s a great product (and therefore passionate people) anyway?

While YouTube has been used by brands to advertise so far, now more and more brands are using it to establish their retail presence. Like Orabrush (read the story here). Or the British apparel brand French Connection (FCUK). They went a step further and recently launched its “YouTube Boutique,” featuring a series of fashion tips and advices.

With a stylist as host and presenter, users can view the short videos and buy one of the items afterwards just by clicking on the „buy“ pop-up buttons in the video itself. They will then be directed to the FCUK site.

Although it is a great concept, the user experience is slightly interrupted by leading the user to the different environment of the FCUK website. But I guess it is just a question of time when we’ll see shops on the YouTube platform and the whole transaction process will then be happen there, too.

I’ve already mentioned several times that I am an admirer of creative store windows.

Especially Hermès stores have created a lot of exciting “street theater” over the last couple of years in different places all of the world.

This is yet another example, found on Retail Design Diva.

I like their key learning especially:

“The lesson here is that a little humor goes a long way. People like to be delighted, so put them in a good mood, and they just may open up their wallets.“

Want to see more? Then you should probably order this book …

Well, I am sure this headline will increase the blog’s traffic a bit …

According to a recent research study by the University of Westminster, commissioned by the Institute for Promotional Marketing, shopping in a sale is pretty much the same experience as being sexually aroused.

The researchers compared the brain activity, recorded eye movements and emotional responses in the body of 50 volunteers when presented with a series of clippings from sales promotions and when watching a pornographic movie.

The study discovered that special grocery offers make people so happy that the brain is turned on to the same level of excitement that it gets from sex, due to the rush of endorphins.

A NY Post article about this study saved the best for last: “It’s just like sex,” said the personal assistant. “Sales feel great for a moment, then you wake up the next morning, see the bill, say, ‘What the hell did I just do?’ and your emotions go crazy, and that’s when reality sets in.”

Not a day goes by without some exciting news about Target.

This time, Target has initiated “My Target Weekly,” another innovation that simplifies peoples life and improves their shopping experience.

The customizable version of its online weekly ad, which draws more than 1.2 million visitors each week, enables shoppers to create deal alerts that notifies them when their favorite items are on sale, to view coupons, see top 10 deals, and share them via Facebook and Twitter. Furthermore, shoppers can create their own mobile shopping lists.