View By SegmentFood/Grocery
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Technology may change, but people stay the same
Jon Steel delivered a talk at The Store Conference in Sydney on March 9, 2012, titled "Basic Instinct: The Human Truth About Retailing in a Digital World." In it, he takes a trip in the retail and customer feedback time machine to illustrate that commonalities and human tendencies do not change, even though technology gives us different and perhaps bigger walls to post our opinions on. He uses humor and his dry British wit to deliver some calm, cool advice . . .
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Kiip.me, Brian Wong, and emotions
From BMC Black Belt Dan Seliger: “Check out kiip.me - this is really a
next-level look at mobile advertising. Basically it delivers in-game
rewards (i.e. a coupon) as the user climbs levels. Instead of Pepsi
placing a banner (ineffective, interruption), they reward the gamer for
completing a level with a discount. Add location to the mix, and you
could have something very interesting. Could this be the next wave of
mobile advertising?”
Blog Post
Food, health & wellness
A healthy-eating wave is building in the US as more and more people
learn how diet and lifestyle influence their health. In fact, growing
awareness of the connection between diet and chronic disease is the main
reason why people are shopping for healthier foods, according to the
Tufts University Health and Nutrition letter. BMC’s Health and Wellness
segment team members – Ray Stone, Brian Joyce, Dave Nazaruk, Roy White, and Ken Witte – have been thinking about how
supermarkets can catch this wave.
Blog Post
What will Big Data mean to retail?
Bear with me while I talk about baseball, basketball, and medicine before getting to retail. And spoiler alert: In the end, I’m going to ask you to participate in a survey about where we are with big data and retailing. Well before Brad Pitt played him in Moneyball, I heard Billy Bean talk. I was impressed with how his creative use of data changed the game for the Oakland A’s then, and I realize now that he was one of the early evangelists for big data. Not because he used more data than other big league managers, but because he used it differently.
Conversation
Big Data: Survey & Discussion
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Mobile search is different
Are you thinking about the difference between mobile search
and desktop search yet? It's probably a good idea. Mobile searches increased by 400% from 2010 to
2011, and smartphone penetration is nearing 50% among US adults. In this MediaPost blog, John Liu frames the difference by distinguishing between the needs of mobile and desktop searchers.
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ZipList unzips the potential of a bigger audience
We first hightlighted the shopping tool Ziplist in Nov. 2011. CondeNast rectnly bought the company last week amd it’s not hard to see why. For shoppers and cooks, Ziplist is a little like Pinterest (clip and save recipes, but from lots of sources, not just the recipe box that's tied to your account at a specific site like epicurious or allrecipes). For media giant CondeNast, they can now deliver their readers the ability to plan and act against many of the recipes they publish. It’s especially appealing to shoppers who want to do “everything” through their mobile device.
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Mobile apps just got a lot more valuable
Steve Smith’s recent blog entitled We Have Met The People Meter, And It
Is Us: Mobile Apps Change The Data Game caught our eye for two reasons. First, he does a great job of explaining
the growing potential of the data coming out of mobile apps that function as
planning and shopping tools.
Second, he calls out the Allrecipes.com’s app called Dinner Spinner as
an example of a “people meter” in action.
The Dinner Spinner is a really nifty, free app that
includes a UPC reader. It helps shoppers answer the questions “What’s for
dinner?” with a few quick inputs.
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Can Groupon invent a new retail platform?
BMC Black Belt Andrew Stein has developed a challenging and farsighted perspective on Groupon that we think is worth reading. In this scenario, Groupon uses its customer and retailer data to build a platform that is capable of monitoring and reporting on retail activity in real time. Such a big data-driven window would give retailers an unprecedented tool with which to see what's happening in the marketplace NOW, in contrast to the rearview window nature of nature of traditional analysis.
Blog Post
Why does the social web matter to business?
Those in the food industry might be shocked to learn how central their products are to social media discussions. Facebook, Twitter, and others really matter to these businesses, but for many, the reasons why are obscured by some key myths. Exposing those myths is a good place to start understanding social media.
Lookout
High-touch and high-tech opportunities for supermarkets
In-store dietitians and food consultation services are popular with grocery shoppers, especially those who have medical conditions or are trying to lose weight. And shoppers, especially young ones, are looking for help learning how to prepare food; most often they ask friends and family first, then hit the web looking for advice. This two-part Supermarket News article highlights an interesting combination of high-touch and high-tech opportunities for food retailers.
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Young people use smartphones to access health info
Young people are more likely to use smartphones to access health and wellness information according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, while older people tend to use PCs to find online information about their health concerns. This isn't the first time we've noticed young people's preference for smartphones over PCs. Some of the numbers reported in this NY Times article are pretty impressive, and advertisers are beginning to take note.
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Walmart draws shoppers into new product contest
Tapping the power of crowdsourcing to enhance product assortment, Walmart’s The Get on the Shelf (GOTS) promotion has already generated over 250 million votes for more than 4,000 products vying for the chance to get on Walmart shelves. Shopper/inventors make their pitch on YouTube, and votes are cast at getontheshelf.com. The idea was hatched at WalmartLabs. The long, long, long scroll of pitch videos is about to get more manageable: On April 10, the top 10 vote getters will be announced, and we think the short list will be a great opportunity for more shoppers to jump into the co-creating process.
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Shopper marketing: Frameworks for the future
Shopper marketing's influence is growing as retailers increasingly embrace multi-channel models. We recently checked out the 2nd edition of Shopper Marketing: How to Increase Purchase Decisions at the Point of Sale. With essays from 37 professional practitioners that explore definition, strategy, and action, the book does a good job of providing different conceptual frameworks for extending shopper marketing practices across many retail segments, offline and online.
Blog Post
A look back at the Big Show
Looking back at the NRF Big Show through the lens of the first quarter, three topics we noticed have become even more important: Shopper-centricity is rapidly becoming the cornerstone for succcess in 21st century retailing. Effective e-commerce means a lot more than just serving transactional needs. And new metrics are needed to justify investement and alight efforts related to social networking. I think it's a good idea to call them out for reaction and further comment.
