by Mimi Nicklin (@MimiNicklin) Data, sustainability, privacy, “omni channel’ retailing — the list of trends and predictions goes on and on. If you are anything like me, you will be, by now, automatically filing away those emails that claim to know what to look out for, tap into and build onto in 2014.
By the time 31 January sneaks around, we are overloaded with the multiple iterations of the marketing world’s predictions for 2014. So what is worth remembering? And which parts of these reports might be useful to our retail landscape in SA?
Here in Africa
While “immersive retail” is absolutely on its way, it won’t arrive this year. Window displays will, on the whole, stay analogue (and, indeed, ‘behind bars’) for a long time yet.
People will continue to shop much, much more in a store than they will online. There tends to be little-to-no-interaction between the two here. Omni-channel retailing is not our reality. Yet.
Lacoste 80th Anniversary Windows for New York Fashion Week – September 2013 from M Crown Productions, Inc on Vimeo.
Couponing is still new and daunting to most grocery shoppers, (but showing phenomenal results when truly tailored to the South African mindset) and ‘everyday low pricing’ is yet to really grab the shoppers’ store choices and behavioural patterns.
‘Personalisation’ will be accessible to the seriously premium concept-store shopper — think Nike, Bobbi Brown, Converse — (and, of course, Coca-Cola drinkers as they search for their own-named bottle) but on the whole we are still in a retail world that is trying to lure the shoppers in in the first place, let alone personalise design for them once they are there!
And, finally, that heavily written about concept of showrooming? Nope. showrooming, in my opinion, is also not yet a trend any of our retailers need to be too concerned about in 2014.
Nike England campaign from Rosie Lee on Vimeo.
With the recognition that our SA retail picture is slightly more zigzag round the edges, and harder to articulate in a smart buzzword, we need to look harder for the ‘trends’ that will help us sell this year.
Our retailers are innovating fast and choice is expanding daily; the level of customisation to the SA shopper is at times staggering (think cigarettes sold by the single unit, glass bottles that you can return for a deposit or single-wrapped nappies from Huggies) and our approach to customer service and in-store service can be well beyond that of the rest of the world.
A fast-moving and exciting landscape we have, but I believe there is work to be done in the year ahead. We need to discover our own trends affecting purchase and not assume that adapting the global model will work.
So, if I were going to write my three top ‘trends’, it would be, however, in favour of avoiding the ‘T’ word altogether. I shall instead pick out three provocative suggestions that are worthy of thought in 2014:
- The Barber ‘shop’ model has got it right (and is worth copying!) — nationwide, community-based, independent and entirely tailored to its shoppers. The amalgamation of style, masculinity and community is perfectly balanced with the service it is selling. The pricing is fair, loyalty is decades-long and the entertainment ‘in store’ augments the service offering (hip hop music, FIFA games playing, ‘designer’ style for sale). Brands have pride of place in displays, and a whole new occasion for shopping and consuming is created. Study these stores and learn. There is many a social phenomenon hidden within, and an opportunity to sell anything from fame and fortune to a ‘quart’ of Carling Black Label, if considered carefully.
- Community shopping is on the up — the likes of the Neighbourgoods market are certainly not only for the premium shopper. Whether you’re in Meadowlands, Langa or Khayelitsha, the outdoor community-shopping experience is coming to a township near you in a big way in 2014. The spirit of entrepreneurialism and ‘local love’ are two of those global trends that you will see on SA soil as shoppers start looking for more than the traditional grocery goods sold nearby and directly from the proprietor. Fashion, style, décor, foodie culture and innovation will all be reaching shoppers’ hands well before they reach the mall, and those brands that can make inroads across the two will win long-term.
- Convenience is king. — informal retail visits still outweigh formal visits 5-to-1. If it’s nearby and near home, it will sell. While Coca-Cola, Unilever, Lucky Star and South African Breweries are getting it right, there are gaping holes on the shelves of these retailers where brands are missing 85% of the shopping market. More and more clients are realising the need to ‘crack’ the eKasi and Spaza market, and this year there will be a demand for insight and deep understanding of how brands are bought and sold here. Just because it’s not in a Shoprite trolley, doesn’t mean it’s not selling.
So, here’s to a year of full baskets, and the innovative campaigns that drive them — and here’s to a year that proves that, just because it’s not a ‘global learning’, doesn’t mean it’s not worth a fortune, worth following, and worth the risk of trying something new.
Mimi Nicklin (@MimiNicklin) followed her passion and experience in the consumer, retail and shopper space from regional roles in Europe and Asia, to South African shores in 2010. Having led global brands through the line for Procter & Gamble, and two of London and Hong Kong’s top agencies, her background gives her an international perspective to add to her depth of SA understanding. She serves as strategic director and a partner at 34 Group. Mimi contributes the monthly “The Sell” column concerning shopper marketing to MarkLives.
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