Due to the economic meltdown, retailers are currently facing serious challenges in the current shopping environment, www.israelidiamond.co.il. says. The US Department of Commence states that year-to-date retail sales for the first three months of 2009 are 8.2% lower than in 2008. Certain types of retail stores have been hit worse than other sectors of the industry, with jewelry stores, furniture and home furnishings stores, women's clothing stores, and traditional department stores facing double-digit year-over-year declines.
Consumer-insights expert, Pam Danziger, states: "Now more than ever, retailers need to be at the top of their game. With shoppers super cautious about their spending, retailers need to give them a reason to come shopping - but shopping alone can't be the reason. They need to draw them into the store by offering an experience that makes shopping there fun, engaging and entertaining."
Danziger recommends creating “shops that pop” - stores that have a set of unique identifying characteristics that make people love to shop in them.
She states: "Shoppers don't love a store because they love the merchandise they carry. They love a store because it touches them personally and emotionally."
Danziger believes that there has been a shift from a products-based business to a people–based business and retailers need to accommodate themselves to this transition.
According to Danziger, "shops that pop" have 7 distinctive features that attract consumers: involvement – encourages the customers to touch, feel, taste and try on; curiosity – invites consumers to explore and experience; contagious – exudes energy and excitement; convergence – captures all the tangible and intangible elements; authenticity – conceptually driven; price/value – superior value at a reasonable cost; accessibility- freedom from pretensions and exclusivity.
Danziger adds: "Need often drives consumers to the stores to shop, sets them on a mission, and moves them to action but there really isn't a thing that marketers or retailers can do about building need."
However, desire is something they can build and is an emotional response, which is significant, because emotion is the dominant factor.
So what exactly does it take to succeed in retail in the future?
Danziger replies: "Love your customers by making shopping in your store truly a special experience. The focus for retailing success in the future is not so much what you sell but how you sell it."
