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Jun 03 2024
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Retail therapy: The health & beauty brands delivering the best in-store experiences

Lush keeps it simple on the High Street

Physical retailers have faced immense challenges in recent years as shoppers have taken their purchases online, Covid closed shop doors for months and the global cost of living crisis has forced a decline in footfall and, as a result, sales.

This means that traditional brick-and-mortar retailers now have to fight harder and think more creatively than ever before to deliver seamless customer experiences in their stores. So, which brands are doing it the best in the eyes of marketers?

We continue the Retail Therapy series by looking at health and beauty retailers.

Daniel Todaro, group CEO, Gekko: “Without a doubt Lush, started in 1994 and still rocking it on the High Street. It’s not about tech or gimmicks; it’s about knowing and staying true to who it is, what its customers want and how to deliver it. And the fact that it doesn’t sell online means it has constantly evolved and prioritized its physical environment. The smell of a Lush store teases the senses and invites you in. Once in, it’s a playground of discovery for all ages, full of affordable products accessible to everyone’s pocket. Greeted by friendly staff who encourage you to play immediately, testing products in sinks and enabling you to try before you buy, or not, but still immersing you into the brand and its ethical range of products. Clever at retail and culturally on-point, the Saltburn bath bomb was genius reactive marketing. Bravo Lush.”

Clare Cryer, EMEA vice-president of growth, Outform: “Shoppers flock to Charlotte Tilbury, the luxury beauty brand, for newness, bestsellers and incredible advice. Its phenomenal success has led to growth across the makeup segment at its parent company, Puig. CT concessions have made the beauty counter a place to ‘play’ and feel part of a community getting better and repeatable experiences. They are a destination. The human element is paramount. Products are showcased with clear navigation and messaging. In-store ‘zones of learning’ inform, inspire and drive sales brilliantly, explaining complex product features and formulations in terms of how to use and product benefits, all brought to life by authentic content and reviews.”

Sara Parrish, experience strategy director, Imagination: “It’s clear retail experiences are changing. The Korean eyeglass brand Gentle Monster offers an escapist atmosphere akin to a surreal avant-garde gallery, while House of Vans in London has successfully created an entertainment space that features a skate park along with rotating art, music, and cinematic installations. Experiential retail stores serve as a powerful tool for building understanding around a brand’s products. Dyson understood its technology was innovative in its category, so it took a leap and created the Dyson Demo Store. These pop-ups offer customers space to learn, demo and use their technology. This blend of educational and aesthetic elements creates an immersive space for consumers to interact in a meaningful way and increases the likelihood of customer retention, building loyalty through experience.”

Lee LeFeuvre, chief commercial officer, SMG: “Boots has revamped 170 beauty halls and launched its first beauty-only store in Battersea, creating a ‘beauty destination’ with over 250 brands. Offering services from LED light treatments to Dyson hair styling stations, the digital-first store features over 10 screens for an engaging experience, including a trending pillar for influencer and TikTok content. Boots regularly hosts free experiential events, like the Braun IPL launch with Frankie Bridge and a gamified campaign with Fenty, giving customers a chance to spin to win. This immersive approach leaves customers informed, entertained and more knowledgeable about their beauty regimes, offering a unique experience that online shopping can’t match.”

James Barnes, co-founder, Backlash: “Beauty is a hyper-competitive retail sector. It probably has the greatest number of new products and new brand launches of any category to contend with. The multi-brand beauty retailer Space NK appreciates that social hype and experiences excite beauty audiences. As a result, it has built a regular program of in-store and out-of-store beauty experiences with immersive, experiential pop-ups. These experiences generate anticipation for consumers, encouraging them to engage with the brand to find out when the latest launches and pop experiences are happening. In addition, the in-store experience is exciting and ever-changing, with areas dedicated to pop-ups and exclusive promotional offers from the brand. In the past 12 months, we have created an immersive, 4D-sensorial Japanese Zen Garden experience in Covent Garden for Space NK X Tatcha and highly themed, in-store pop-ups for Ilia Beauty and Caudalie, with many more brands activating on an almost weekly basis.”

Vic Drabicky, CEO and founder, January Digital: “We have found the best retail store experiences combine elements of curation, community and ease. One of the best examples is Kendra Scott. It has an incredibly well-curated assortment, each store is tied into the local community, and the shopping experience is virtually frictionless. While there are many retailers who nail one or potentially two of these elements, executing all three greatly accelerates the retail experience and sales.”

To read the published article featuring a comment by Dan Todaro, Gekko Group CEO, please visit The Drum

Photo from The Drum

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Apr 29 2024
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Let’s take this outdoors

As the great British weather improves our attention moves to making the most of every moment we can enjoy outdoors, in our gardens, balconies or public spaces with friends, family and pets. We do so at home with a view to bring the indoors outdoors and live alfresco to eat, drink, play, listen and watch. As a result, this change in habits opens up new trends for the consumer electronics industry and opportunities across many categories for all retailers.

With the advent of the bifold door, the garden as an additional room to your house is now common and therefore with more families spilling out into the garden, it’s not that unusual to see an outdoor kitchen combined with dining and living spaces which convert into entertaining and cinemas spaces at dusk.

So let’s start with cooking outdoors and the new appliances appearing on the wish lists of would-be chefs looking beyond traditional BBQs and wanting to offer their guests more than the usual fare of burgers, bangers and cremated chicken drumsticks. Peaking into the world of Grilling opens up a plethora of options for homeowners with buying decisions being made for a variety of reasons including their culinary ambitions, the desire to impress guests, the outdoor space available and of course budget.

The Grilling category includes portable grills, smokers and outdoor ovens and in the UK is estimated to be worth around £177 million currently and is expected to reach almost £200 million within 5 years, growing at a CAGR of 3.70% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

One brand leading the way here is Shark Ninja, which offers a range of innovative outdoor cooking appliances to meet the needs of many consumers and in doing so, enhancing their culinary experiences. The Ninja outdoor range, which has been marketed heavily over recent months, includes the Woodfire Electric Outdoor Oven, Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill & Smoker & the Woodfire Pro Connect XL Electric BBQ Grill & Smoker, which as the name suggests, features smart connectivity allowing the user to control their BBQ & monitor cooking progress on their phone.

Another area for growth is the outdoor Pizza oven market which is anticipated to grow at a considerable rate over the next 5 years. A number of brands are making their mark including Gozny, Ooni and Witt, all of whom offer a modern, convenient, user-friendly take on the pizza oven.  Together with outdoor electric grills, pizza ovens are something home appliance retailers should certainly consider ranging, opening up sales opportunities in other areas of the home.

One step on from the outdoor appliances are actual outdoor kitchens, something that frequently makes me envious. Imagine having an outdoor kitchen equipped with built-in appliances like refrigerators and sinks. Standard in smart Mediterranean villas for decades but now popping up in Acacia Avenue across Britain, this is a trend that for many who sell kitchens, may see their business evolve over time. Believe it or not, the outdoor kitchen category grew globally from $6.3 billion last year to $6.7 billion in 2024 and is estimated to grow to almost $9 billion by 2033.  

So once you’ve whipped up a culinary feast in your outdoor kitchen, what’s next? Well perhaps kick back and set the mood with a smart outdoor lighting system allowing homes to control and customise their setups with ease. These app controlled solutions, from the likes of Philips Hue, can be programmed to change colours, adjust brightness levels and can be combined with your music via an outdoor audio system to enhance the outdoor living experience. We all know that music adds ambience to outdoor spaces and all-weather solutions are becoming increasingly popular, with weatherproof speakers and sound systems specifically designed for outdoor use that are wireless and Bluetooth-enabled, allowing users to stream music from their smartphones or other devices.

To complete the indoors outdoors experience, CE retailers should be adding some outdoor TV options to their ranges, offering their customers the opportunity of immersive outdoor cinema experiences, day or night. The category is starting to build momentum and unsurprisingly Samsung is at the forefront with The Terrace which comes in both 65” and 75” screen sizes and is specifically designed for open-air use. Another brand to watch is Sylvox which has a much larger range of outdoor TVs. Aside from being weatherproof, they are also more durable and resistant to extreme temperatures and feature exceptionally bright, anti-reflection screens so you can enjoy your favourite content even on the sunniest of days.  Bearing in mind the high price points, the large screen sizes and the intended setting for these TVs, I would suggest that offering an installation service would be a real benefit to your customers.

So, British weather permitting, it is entirely possible to create a new heart of the home, outdoors. By transforming your garden into a living, dining and entertainment space, homeowners can truly embrace an al fresco lifestyle. As we head towards summer, retailers can capitalise upon the opportunity by complementing their usual in-store offering with something different, where your customers can let their imaginations run wild!

To read the published article written by Dan Todaro, Managing Director please visit ERT

Photo From Brown Jordan Outdoor Kitchens

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Feb 14 2024
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Love is not all around for retailers: 24 million will skip Valentine’s gifting

  • 54% of UK adults aren’t going to buy gifts this Valentine’s Day
  • Under 35s are more than twice as likely to buy cards, gifts and experiences
  • Limited spend and a growing focus on experience-based gifts should be cause for concern for retailers

New research from customer experience marketing agency Gekko suggests that Valentine’s Day is no longer the retail bonanza of old, with over half of UK adults (54%) not bothering to buy any gifts for their significant others, friends or family members.    

Of the 46 per cent UK adults that will buy gifts, only 13% plan to spend more than £50 on a gift, with consumers most likely to spend up to £20 on a gift (34%), so not great news for those big-ticket retailers. In fact, people are likely to spend less on significant others than they would on family and friends, which is perhaps due to the changing relationship dynamics in society.

Young love still drives Valentine’s Day with nearly three in five (58%) of those aged between 18 and 35 agreeing that it is important to mark the day with those you love, including friends and family. This age group are more than twice as likely to buy cards, gifts and experiences for loved ones as over 55s (65% v 31%).  

Another trend that was evident in the research is that experiences are becoming far more popular as a Valentine’s Day gift preference, with 37 per cent of adults saying they prefer to give experiences over physical gifts. This includes taking a significant other to dinner (27%) or gifting an experience like gig tickets and wine tasting (6%). 

This shift towards experiences suggests that retailers may need to reframe their strategy to rely less on the gifting moments throughout the year. More than two-thirds (67%) dislike the consumerism associated with gifting days and moments, with nearly three-quarters agreeing that retailers put too much focus on Valentine’s Day.

With most consumers inclined to purchase fewer, less expensive physical gifts, retailers are left trying to entice a smaller share of the market. A quarter (25%) of consumers agreed that discounts would encourage them to buy physical gifts, but ideas that would help make a gift ‘extra-special’ also appealed to consumers, particularly 18-34-year-olds. 15 per cent of UK adults agreed that product personalisation would encourage them to spend, and 12 per cent liked the idea of limited-edition products, increasing to 22 per cent and 20 per cent respectively amongst under 35s.

Daniel Todaro, MD at Gekko, said: “With consumers’ focusing more on experiences and creating memories with their loved ones, amongst growing disaffection with commercialised gifting moments, retailers will have to reinvent their strategies so that they can get a larger piece of the shrinking heart-shaped pie. And while offering discounts is one way to go, it would be best for competing retailers to avoid a race to the bottom. Instead, setting your offer apart can help to drive differentiation, with personalisation, limited editions and even customer service itself all helping to make Valentine’s Day work harder.”

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Feb 07 2024
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Keeping Pace with the Evolving Consumer

Shopping online became the de facto route to market for consumers in 2020 driven by necessity due to store closures. The ONS reported the proportion of online retail sales peaked at 38% in January 2021 vs 20% the year previous. While the average sales split has returned to 26% since this peak, the manner that both experienced and less experienced online consumers engage with brands and retailers, across multiple channels, has rapidly evolved. With considered purchases, in particular technology but not limited to this, it has sparked a greater importance for a brand’s omni-channel customer journey. This in turn has encouraged a race for retailers to enhance their operational agility in e-commerce to remain competitive and appealing. To play in the e-commerce space is not to simply offer a transactional site online but a well-considered data stack that ultimately understands the customers’ needs at each touchpoint and marries them up to the retailer’s unique proposition.

Further market uncertainty in 2023 continued to drive evolving consumer behaviour. This will continue in 2024 as retailers brands adapt their strategies to convert on the now normal, lengthening online consideration phase due to squeezed budgets. Retail website traffic is increasing year on year, and mobile as a share of that is also increasing. The purchase cycle is likely to lengthen, becoming normal, as consumers sit in the consideration stage for longer across multiple touch points. This is likely to increase as we shop on mobile devices cluttered  with a multitude of content at their fingertips, from social media, bloggers and reviews.

Offsite and onsite content needs to meet the demands of the consumer, wherever they are on their route to purchase. Here we have highlighted three key elements brands can focus on to drive audience engagement and discoverability on partner retail e-commerce, increasing operational agility to succeed amid uncertain market factors.

The potential of data in e-commerce

As known, Google will in a bid to make the web more private, phase out all third-party cookies by the end of 2024, currently deprecated for 1% of Chrome users as of January 2023, which represents approximately 30 million users. This move restricts the ability to track a user’s activity across multiple websites and in turn, the major resource for marketing and sales teams to personalise and deliver targeted ads. The implication for retailers and advertisers alike that rely on paid media via 3rd party cookies to target consumers and measure brand and sales impact, is about to reshape how marketing and advertising works online.

Retailers are looking to harness and better optimise their consented 1st party data to offer better solutions. The potential is positive due to the relevance of data and the control retailers will have to improve the quality of ads and personalised experiences. To realise the full potential, retailers using data as a platform to form stronger partnerships with brands and suppliers will likely uncover a better understanding of their customers and shape the narrative.

Whether it be brand-building initiatives or first-party cookies direct from transactional sites, retailers will be mindful to sensitively use the data they have on their customer’s behaviour. The current reality is low metric transparency from retail websites to the brands as retailers increasingly look to monetise their online store to brands. This highlights the importance of growing data and insight models in synergy with a brands growing media portfolio, to ensure brands see their platform as a viable solution to learn from the consumer, in a trustworthy way, to better serve their customers.

Data unlocking Retail media potential

Retail media is a rapidly growing medium of advertising on retailer e-commerce sites. Global advertising revenue is forecast to exceed television revenue by 2028 and account for 15.4% of total ad revenue. Brands are following the consumer shift to digital commerce with the added appeal of reaching consumers with personalised advertising within the category. Retailers enable varied promotional formats and tools on their owned channels and sell inventory to brands and in turn boost profitability. The benefit to brands is to show up across multiple touchpoints in both physical and digital shopping environments. The ever important omni channel journey demands content that strikes the right chord, wherever the brand is consumed. Continuity of the consumer’s purchase journey with consistent brand messaging, is proven to likely lead to increased trust and confidence to bring the consumer closer to a purchase.

Retail media networks sit in the transactional channel and so appeal to bring brand messaging closer to the point of sale. An ideal touchpoint for brands to engage with their prospective customers and brand awareness amongst the target audience since visits to a retailer’s website or store is not solely to purchase but also to research the products available to them. Tech stack will drive improved accessibility and likely standardise as the shift to retail media grows. Unlike traditional TV, which retail media is set to surpass, the measures and ROI reporting available from purchase behaviour and browsing trends will in turn elevate the brands demands for transparency in metrics and insight.

The race to play in the retail media network space and maximise inventory can potentially de-prioritise the partnership of data and insight to brands. This should be guarded with caution, as retail media supply increases so will the standardised retail media and brands expectation to manage campaigns across multiple networks. Retailers with considered campaign control and insight reporting will unlock the potential of the data to truly drive innovation in the space and grow brand partnerships.

Digital shelf analytics to track e-commerce on site performance

Understanding the full potential of data and highlighting channels in e-commerce to understand consumer needs and trends only stand up with considerable thought into the digital shelf. Brands need to be discoverable quickly on listing pages and relevant search terms, showing up with accurate and consistent content across multiple retailers, customer reviews and how their pricing and promotion strategy stacks up against competitors.

While physical retail has evolved into finely tuned budgets to drive in-store presence, in-store advocacy and inventory management, e-commerce is a lesser-known channel. The digital shelf is the equivalent of someone exploring products in a physical store, the digital experience on a retail site in which consumers discover, learn, compare and purchase products. By first identifying the elements of the consumer experience available with physical retail that e-commerce is unable to match, for example, trained sales colleagues to assist the customer’s purchase decision, we can then identify digital shelf assets to compliment the omni-channel journey. Ratings and reviews from like-minded consumers as well as engaging, informative ‘top features’ videos on product pages will all help close down the sale successfully and are elements that consumers expect to see on e-commerce platforms.

On-site performance metrics are key to measuring impact and shaping activity in the future of marketing campaigns and content to name a few. Along with benchmarking vs competitors on pricing and presence on product listing pages. The valuable source of data on retail sites is a vital cog to brands. Brands should consider investing in a web scraping solution to automate this process and enable their sales and marketing teams to better understand their e-commerce performance both in isolation and against the competition. Like media channels, clear insight reporting of the digital shelf drives understanding of a customer’s interactions and partner retail opportunities. 

So as 2024 begins to take shape, brands should be prepared to work closely with 3rd-party retail partners to adapt to the changes coming to cookies and shopper data, as well as exploring retail media opportunities. Keeping track of on-site metrics is also vital, keeping e-commerce managers informed and enabling them to influence their brands’ presence and performance on partner sites.

To read the published article written by Dan Todaro, Managing Director please visit PCR Magazine

Photo from PCR Magazine

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Feb 05 2024
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Fast Foward – AI Will Dominate in 2024

There is one main trend that has taken the world by storm in 2023 and it will only increase and improve its presence and capabilities into 2024. This is for some, the elephant in the room….AI. Contrary to popular belief, AI has actually been around for many years but not as prevalent as it is now, its resurgence has completely changed the game. From writing entire books and songs to being implemented into consumer electronics and domestic appliances to make the products more intelligent. If you take a look at some of the big players in the market you’ll notice more and more are adopting AI, whether this is for energy-efficient washing cycles or improving picture quality on TV, the use cases are becoming less niche and more general. 

2024 will see a huge shift in focus to implementing AI into many products, some that many may find surprising and will no doubt continue to enter every category. It will be used as a selling point, in the context of productivity. As evident with Microsoft who is actively using AI (Copilot) to carry out a plethora of tasks in a matter of minutes that would otherwise be considered either time-consuming or tedious processes. Alongside this, automation will see a rise in 2024, with AI becoming more intelligent and its capabilities increasing, allowing users to automate many more processes and streamline work, in turn making them more productive in a short period of time.

Integrate this capability with artificial intelligence, which helps track patterns in your laundry, cooking, and cleaning routines. This integration allows the AI to seamlessly update the software of your connected appliances, akin to updating apps on your phone or tablet. The AI features enhance efficiency, optimising processes like a more energy-efficient wash cycle that maintains excellent cleaning results through seamless connectivity.

2024 will also see the rise in sustainable technology which we saw becoming a focus in Q4 2023. The front runners of Google and Apple making their products either out of sustainable materials or providing continuous support to their products for years to come in an effort to reduce e-waste. Gone are the days when your phone would have a 3-year life cycle before needing to be replaced.

This scrutiny on sustainability extends to every device and appliance on our person and in your home and AMDEA, I think, explains it best:

“Over the last twenty years AMDEA members have focused on design and new technologies which have dramatically and continuously reduced energy and water consumption of appliances in our homes. With 170 million essential large appliances in the 28 million homes across the UK, the technology in each machine that contributes to mitigating climate change can collectively make a major contribution to carbon neutrality”

Visit https://www.amdea.org.uk/campaigns/sustainability/ for more information

Another trend that will be sought after by many businesses rather than consumers will be cyber security. With more and more companies falling victim to cyber security breaches with countless consumer data being leaked subsequently, 2024 will be the year companies double down and invest. Research has shown that one in two businesses fall victim to a successful cyberattack in the past three years with the cost of these attacks to the industry expected to grow to over $10 trillion by the end of 2024.

In the context of the independent retailer whilst you may think that these trends do not necessarily apply to your business immediately, don’t delay to understand their importance. Generationally the relevance of sustainability is huge as will the shift to AI in the context of improved functionality, ease and sustainability.

AI is our friend, not a foe. It not only helps us magically enhance the photos we take on our smartphones, it helps us save money on our wash cycle and improve our cooking skills and so much more. Get to grips with it and understand it as you won’t be able to avoid the conversation in the context of your range, sales process and customer experience. It’s going to dominate in 2024 and that was evident from IFA and will be again at CES this coming January.

To read the published article written by Dan Todaro, Managing Director please visit ERT Online

Photo by ThisIsEngineering

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Nov 07 2023
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IFA 2023 – A Core Ingredient in the Evolution of CE

Once again IFA 2023 was the place to be seen for all technology brands and not just those from the CE category. With the show sold out across 26 halls covering 130,000 sqm of exhibition space, filled by 2059 brands from 48 countries, there is no other show that competes. IFA 2023 affirmed its position as the de facto CE showcase, forecasted to host 180,000 visitors from 144 countries over 5 days.

The fact that we have witnessed all markets contract in every category, shrinking by an average of 7% and in particular CE which is down 12.4% globally. The EU market outlook is looking increasingly positive at a more palatable contraction of 4.5% year on year. No doubt this is making the rest of the world a bigger problem for those whose presence is not as prevalent in the EU market, compared to other brands. The economic reality is that the globe is in a  Polycrises, a simultaneous occurrence of several negative global events such as war, extreme weather events, food and energy Inflation which is compounded by increased Interest rates and social unease, unsurprisingly stops people from spending. Therefore the need for a brand to increase its voice rather than remain silent is critical and to do this with a new perspective. Doing so through a new lens that better understands the pain points consumers are experiencing and appeals to the user’s pleasure points. Perhaps achieved through ethical practices, practical time and cost-saving innovations that help ease the pain on a macro level, rather than add to the global situation. That’s why IFA as a cultural hub, is so much more than an exhibition, its place is essential to the industry as the centre stage for the globe’s CE brands not just to brag but to demonstrate how to solve the problems we share as we coexist on this planet. Making IFA a core ingredient in the evolution of the consumer electronics industry.

All brands, big and small, were in attendance with 350 of those 3059 brands being CE startups from across the globe. These included all manner of concepts and categories and there were several robotic floor care startups displaying and showcasing, however, one that caught my imagination was Dreame’s Revolutionary Flagship Robotic Vacuum L20 Ultra with Industry First AI-Driven Mop Extend™. Which is definitely worth a look. However one of my most memorable chats was with the haircare brand SharkNinja and its ultra compact SpeedStyle hairdryer. The irony is, as a follically challenged man, I’ve not owned a hairdryer for 30 years yet I was enthralled by its functionality, design and huge potential consumer appeal, it’s going to be a Christmas wish list essential item.

The themes were consistent across every manufacturer and focussed on Sustainability – Renewables – Connected by AI and  Premium. Let’s start with the latter as while aspiring to be a premium brand is admirable there, in relative terms, there can only ever be a few brands who genuinely sit in the category otherwise it defeats the terminology of ‘premium’. It’s down to the consumer’s perception of what constitutes premium based on how much they are prepared to pay for your products and brand. What you and I may think of as being premium may well not be the view of others and is likely to vary greatly, depending on whether you’re Gen Z or Gen X.

These generations and to be fair, everyone now, wants quality as standard and brought to them at a reasonable price, as well as being produced ethically in all aspects including the manner in which those products are brought to market. Whilst GfK expects the global CE market to still be in the red by the end of this year, the trend is for consumers to replace appliances, as home tech becomes increasingly more innovative, making even those devices and appliances of five years ago look exceptionally dated in look and functionality. Today many want technology which most now consider commonplace in the home, not luxury or the unattainable.

Almost all appliance brands included smart connectivity in their product line-ups presented at IFA 2023, which enables you at a basic level of connectivity, to control your appliance from your phone, hub or television. Personalisation is the next step in the development of your smart home where you can not only change the panels and the lighting of your cooling appliances such as the LG MoodUP Instaview Freezer but also create your own wash program and save it as your personal wash cycle as LG have also done as part of their wider LG THINQ UP 2.0 concept. Taking cooking to new levels of perfection as Haier has done with the ID series featuring a unique style and the exclusive Bionicook technology. With the ID Series, you can not only view what’s cooking in your oven with its built-in camera but also see it on your phone or TV and the built-in screen on the oven’s facia. It’s opening up the options for personalisation in your home tech to meet the needs of the household to a unique level of personal satisfaction.

Combine this with AI, assisting in noting your trends on laundry, cooking and cleaning, which enables it to update the software on your connected appliances as you would update the apps on your phone or tablet. The AI functionality improves the efficiency of, for example, a more effective wash cycle so that it uses less energy while still giving you a great wash thanks to the connectivity and the hOn app which allows users to get the most out of their Candy Machine. Increasing innovation and enhancing sustainability credentials which for many brands also extends throughout the entire product, and not just its materials. With almost all brands now adopting a policy where a percentage of all products are made utilising recycled materials and not just its packaging. At the forefront of this message was both LG and Samsung who were championing this throughout their product categories. Taking the initiative a step further, linking these credentials into the aspirational brand qualities, which many consumers are now looking for in a true premium brand.

So what’s different this year is that people are asking more questions and drilling down on the specifics. While 74% said they will search online before buying, search data also shows sustained growth in terms containing questions — up 25% compared to the past three years during the same period — and searches for “which is best” and “where to buy” continue to garner momentum in the shopping category on Google Trends. Those searching online, we know like to shop in-store when it is a considered purchase. So make sure you feature on that where to buy ist.

Whilst the wealth of bands at IFA 2023 were vast, you could not miss one brand in particular whose branding adorned the neck of almost everyone with its very clever lanyard sponsorship. That brand was Hisense who was this year, IFA’s headline sponsor and gave the opening keynote delivered by its Global President,  Fisher Yu whom also announced the brand’s sponsorship of the Euro 2024 Football tournament due to be held in Germany. When you are a brand that not only makes TV but also appliances and applications, it’s easier to integrate your devices and with VIDAA at the heart of the ecosystem, Hisense products and its fellow brand stable mates can integrate via the VIDAA interface making the TV in your home, the hub of the household that connects your smart home ecosystem. Making the screen the focus of your living space where you control your appliances around the house via your Smart TV. With ViDAA now in 180 countries and connected to 22 million devices, the task for Hisense is perhaps slightly easier than it may be for other brands in the CE sector. Coupled with the shift from content to services the next step is how to monetize this conversion and its integration with responsive and predictive AI, to further enhance the user’s experience and lifestyle. Easier done when you own the platform and make the devices it connects to.

It’s fair to say that the outlook for retailers is exciting with increasingly more innovation in all categories and an enhanced social responsibility tone that now takes on many more subject matters. These include AI and sustainability which are now common parlance in the sales approach by brands to their target consumers, old and new. For those amongst us who ignore the trends that come out of IFA, do so at some risk, as these trends will inevitably become standard messaging across every category and brand within the year, not the distant future. It’s crucial for the success of all within the industry to embrace, understand and develop these trends to create meaningful consumer conversations.

To read the published article written by Dan Todaro, Managing Director please visit ERT

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Nov 02 2023
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Are pop-up shops marketing gold or is it time to fold?

Pop-up shops are literally popping up everywhere and they’ve been hugely popular with consumers, but can you have too much of a good thing?

And does it still work as a good use of marketing spend or is consumer fatigue setting in?

The Guardian today reported that pop-up shops have increased by 18% this year, no doubt fuelled by the plethora of empty shops around the UK and available at accessible rates.

But are they still working for brands? When there’s so many, do they drive intrigue, awareness or bring in incremental revenue, or have we reached a point of consumer fatigue?

Pop-ups require significant investment, so it’s crucial to think about the objectives you need it to deliver. If it’s purely an exercise in increasing sales, you may be sorely disappointed.

If your pop-up is in a high footfall area, it’s more likely to increase brand awareness and if your business doesn’t ordinarily have a high street presence, it can elicit valuable feedback on your product or brand.

And of course, pop-up shops are also a great way to create talkability and shareability on social media, offering consumers and influencers the ability to create eye-catching content that will see your brand splashed across their channels.

But to achieve this and avoid consumer fatigue, your pop-up needs to be more than just a shop. It needs to be creative and novel, relevant and aligned with popular culture, and add value to the everyday customer experience.

Inspired creativity

Think about how to pack a punch for your brand with collaborations that are creative, add that novelty factor and give customers an experience they can’t get elsewhere.

We saw this in the Summer with Anya Hindmarch’s The Ice Cream Project. Instead of hosting a pop-up shop to sell handbags, Anya Hindmarch came up with the idea of creating exclusive ice creams using her favourite cult food brands including Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Lea & Perrins and Coca-Cola.

Linking back to her village and café, it was clever, novel and had people queuing round the street. It had that all-important talkability and shareability, which raised awareness of the Anya Hindmarsh brand in general and the creativity at its heart.

Link to popular culture

In June we worked with sports lifestyle brand ’47 on a pop-up in Soho, just in time for two Major League Baseball (MLB) games coming to town.

With the increased awareness of the MLB, ’47 was perfectly primed to welcome fans of the US sport, giving them another way to soak up celebrations beyond the ballpark.

With no UK store, it was timely, relevant, and it fulfilled the unmet appetites of US fans living in the UK as well as Londoners intrigued by the spectacle coming to their city.

Plus, with the start of the NFL season in September the ‘47 pop-up is getting a fresh surge in custom.

Be timely

Ensuring that there is appetite for the type of pop-up shop you have in mind is essential. Do you have customers who will come out specifically for your pop-up?

Does the trend or pop-culture moment you are linking with have enough fans? If your audience will not be excited by your pop-up, it’s time to think again.

Recently, we saw SHEIN, the global fashion brand, opening a pop-up shop in Birmingham with queues weaving around the Bull Ring.

The brand has exploded in popularity, and it was the first time that consumers had been able to physically engage with the brand in the UK, offering them something new, and the added awareness and talkability created demand from new customers – the hype was immense.

It is particularly sad to see an empty pop-up shop – and if you don’t have the audience or creative for the experience to go viral, then you need to invest in creating the demand yourself with additional marketing.

This adds to the cost, so it is important to understand what you are trying to achieve and what success would look like in terms of ROI before you commit.

To read the published article written by Dan Todaro, Managing Director please visit MediaShotz

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Sep 05 2023
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Display Systems

Over the years, retail display systems have undergone significant transformations, driven by advancements in technology, evolving consumer preferences, and the need for retailers to create immersive shopping experiences. In the past, retail display systems primarily consisted of basic shelves and counters where products were neatly stacked or arranged, but lacked the ability to capture consumers’ attention. In today’s world, retail displays aren’t just about enticing shoppers to come in-store. Instead, they’re about drawing attention, displaying information, and setting products apart from the competition. With fewer people watching traditional TV, in-store displays also need to do the extra work of informing and selling to potential customers.

Retailers can integrate digital displays, interactive screens, and even augmented reality (AR) elements into their fixtures, which allow for dynamic content presentation, enabling retailers to communicate the unique features and benefits of a new product or brand in a more engaging manner. They can showcase product videos, customer reviews, and engaging content, fostering a deeper connection with consumers.

In the world of considered purchases, using tech well can add to the experiential and immersive experience that shoppers increasingly expect from their high street visits, helping to engage and excite consumers. Retailers such as John Lewis are striving to meet this need, with new concepts presented at their Horsham store earlier this year, including a “wonder trial” interactive treasure hunt and a Clarins express skin service, to provide a ‘multi-sensory one-stop destination for fashion, beauty, tech and home design’. Visually appealing and shareable displays are also highly effective for generating ‘hype’, allowing retailers to capitalise on social media and influencer marketing to amplify the excitement around a new product or brand. Shoppers are more likely to capture and share their experiences on social platforms, effectively spreading the word and generating organic buzz.

To read the full article by Rupert Cook, Business Development Director please visit A1 Retail

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Aug 21 2023
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Curating the Customer Journey Through Training

When independent stores raise the issue of needing more support from brands to compete against multiple and online retail to remain competitive, there’s no support more valuable than training. Without the sales skills to confidently identify the customer’s needs to sell the benefits of a product that is right for them, you can’t really blame the brand if you aren’t selling more products than forecasted.

Most brands will offer training to your staff and this is free, so if you aren’t taking advantage of it, why not and if you are, do so some more as it’s there to help you and the brand in equal measure.

Allowing your salespeople access to brand ambassadors or training representatives is a positive start to your team’s training journey. Put personalities aside, they aren’t there to be your friend, let them do their job and train your team to develop their core competencies to improve the process of selling consumer electronics. Too often I hear criticism of training teams even before they’ve been allowed to do what they are skilled at doing; training your sales team.

On the whole, every brand will have created modules to be delivered in person or online that are specifically designed to engage with your staff and help them better understand not only the differences in technology options across a range but also the approach, many of which will be incorporating soft skills, how to sell.

Those of you who appreciate the value of training and see the benefits it drives to the store’s bottom line should take what the brand has to offer, perhaps even developing this further by incorporating it into your own training program.

Think about what’s important to you and your customers, be it high-end, entry-level, ease of use or bells and whistles, curate journeys your staff can communicate effectively during the sales process, that embraces the free training your brands have on offer to you. Work with your supplier to develop training that meets the needs of your business, take it beyond generic and make it bespoke to you and your challenges based on your customer profile.  By working with the brand ambassador they will be happy to adapt to make it relevant to you and your needs, after all, they will be rewarded for helping you develop sales.

I am a true advocate of training as an essential part of great retail experiences because it’s what my organisation does and research like our Mind the Knowledge Gap Research helps us understand better. Did you know that:

  • 1 in 10 shoppers have cancelled a planned, considered purchase due to poor in-store advice, This equates to some £15bn in revenue overall over the past year.
    • Gen Z [those now in their 20’s] are most likely to seek out experts
    •  37% of shoppers in the consumer electronics category revealed they would be prepared to spend more if they received excellent and knowledgeable in-store advice
    • 1 in 4 DIY shoppers (25%) were so disappointed by the advice they were put off making an expensive purchase altogether, with 11% pulling the plug on the purchase and walking out of the store.

Unsurprisingly, staff training is not only good for your profits but also morale and the increased motivation of staff enables them to want to learn and do better in their roles especially if it’s linked to personal and career development. It is proven to improve Productivity, Efficiency and Accountability.

Now more than ever, enhancing the customer experience is critical to create theatre in order to take the consumer through the varied steps of the journey from demo to sale. To do this, retailers need to develop the staff’s skill set to be the very best they can be – and this all starts with training.

A key element of success in store, especially in the considered purchase sector,  is the engagement of shoppers with any retail sales advisor. Therefore for a retailer, the need to have proactive, helpful, skilful, knowledgeable staff, capable of providing a personalised experience is key in the battle to convert shoppers into customers in your store.

Curating the customer journey through training enables you to enhance the overall in-store experience, complementing your displays and in-store environment to bring it to life as an experience. Tailored alongside offers and promotions it can be the difference between a sale or not.

If there is one key driver that should be running through a retailer’s training approach, like a stick of rock, is that the experience you offer in-store with fully trained and engaged staff is something the online experience can’t ever replicate.

To read the full article by Dan Todaro, Managing Director please visit ERT Online

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Jun 06 2023
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An Experience Worth the Effort?

For consumers, a trip to your store has to be worth the effort, time and expenditure, offering an experience that surpasses the convenience of simply buying online from the comfort of home. As a retailer how far do you go and how much do you invest to meet these needs, especially considering the current economic conditions.

It’s worth noting that from a macro perspective, things are not all doom and gloom. People are shopping and spending. The latest ONS data showed positive results for retail with a surprisingly large rise in retail sales for the month of February, the result marking the second consecutive month of industry growth. Volume sales were up by 1.2% against forecasts of 0.2% and once again shows the resilience of the UK consumers against an unrelenting cost of living crisis.

Hopefully this positivity isn’t just a blip, but even so, it’s fortunate that in the ERT world of ‘considered purchases’ – purchases made with significant financial or emotional thought – there is simply no match for the timeless ability of an in-store experience to engage all the senses and stimulate sales. This is particularly the case for consumer electronics and home appliances – categories with products that often require a high spend and technical questions that need to be answered as well as having to fit in with our homes and lifestyles.

True experiential retail as a strategy goes further than this though and could be defined as an approach where physical retail spaces offer additional experiences beyond browsing or buying products. It directly engages customers, inviting them to experience your brand live and in-person. Pop-up events, masterclasses, brand takeovers and hosting community events are all examples of experiential retail that may or may not work for you.

What is undeniable though is that customers now expect more. Research in the US  found that 91% of consumers would be more inclined to purchase a brand’s product or service after participating in a brand activation or experience, and 40% felt they become more loyal to the brand.

Retailers and brands have gone to great lengths to meet these expectations. Blowing the budget earlier in the year was luxury brand Louis Vuitton who transformed stores across the world for the launch of its collection with artist Yayoi Kusama. Stores such as Harrods were redecorated with Kusama’s signature polka-dots and life-like animatronics of Kusama painting in the windows of the stores!

On a slightly less grand scale, ERT has reported several times on how John Lewis has refurbished several stores to create “inspiring spaces to showcase products, experiences and services”. And this year they plan to trial a multi-sensory experience at its Horsham store. This is all great and hopefully it helps strengthen their position on the high street. However, what, in my opinion, can potentially detract from the desired effect is that it is often difficult finding a member of staff to talk to, something made all the more challenging with the no uniform policy.

People really do count when it comes to the overall retail experience. After all, this is a trump card that physical retail has over online channels. Indeed, Gekko’s latest research shows that 42% want to be able to engage with knowledgeable shop staff. It’s therefore surprising to see great looking and no doubt expensive Meta Quest virtual reality demo gaming areas in stores that are cordoned off from shoppers because there is no staff presence. If ever there was a category that needs to be experienced by shoppers before they buy into it, it’s VR.

So how can all this be applied to independent retailers selling consumer electronics and domestic appliances? Unforgettable, mind-blowing experiences that go viral on TikTok are generally going to be the preserve of big city flagship stores like Harrods. What is a realistic expectation is to play to your strengths both as an individual business and a physical retailer. As highlighted above, your staff are vital. Good old fashioned customer service is still fundamental to the retail experience. The research also showed that for 60% of shoppers cite a pleasant retail environment is an important factor to a great retail experience.  For 47% of those surveyed, the top reason for in person shopping versus online is the ability to try before you buy.

Most of you will already be offering this kind of experience for your customers but take the time to regularly reassess how you’re meeting these shopper desires. Moving with the times is essential though. What has worked in the past with your older customers won’t necessarily appeal to younger generations who have different expectations. But whoever the customer, the experience they receive in your store must be worth their while.

To read the full article by Rupert Cook, Marketing Director please visit ERT Online

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