The point of purchase is wherever the consumer is, so what is the future for shopper marketing?

Abstract

How can retailers and brands offer the best possible customer experience in a shopping landscape increasingly fragmented by technology? Shopper marketing introduced the idea of influencing people by targeting communications to them as and when they shopped. But when traditional retail formats are no longer relevant to many consumers’ lives, how does one create a meaningful retail experience? This paper examines the challenges posed by the emergence of the ‘agile consumer’, and the impact on branding and selling when the point of purchase moves to wherever the shopper is. This pragmatic and informative paper describes the three main challenges in retail — datafication, relevance and experience — and the birth of a new discipline, namely retail experience. This paper provides practical ways for retailers in any sector to meet these challenges as opportunities, offering best-in-class examples of retailers engaging consumers who expect their shopping experience to be everywhere, instant and personal. It shares new research into how digital and mobile channels are transforming the way people shop. As well as detailing the new intertwined path to purchase, the paper offers practical ways for brands to communicate with their intended audience across disparate channels to create a supreme retail experience.