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By Posted on Posted in 2020, Consumer, Consumer Behavior, Economy, Retail, Retail Distribution, Shoppers, Shopping, Supermarkets No Comments

Retailers + Brands and Consumers + Shoppers = it’s love, maybe a 1-sided love affair, but it is there since forever.

Retailers and Brands cannot live in a world where consumers and shoppers do not exist, thus they need to take good care of them and fall in love with them every day and grow this love just to keep them coming their way because they are their only raison-d’être to open their stores every morning.

The retailers BIG Data should consider in the overall perspective:
_ Forecast & Replenishment Demand
_ Historical Purchases
_ Seasonality of Products and Events
_ Local & National Events
_ National and International Holidays
_ Strikes (if any)
_ Promotions & Their Effect
_ Weather Effect

Then in the more personalized part of the love affair with its clientèle:
_ The Store Location
_ The Neighborhood
_ Its Customers & Shoppers Profiles
_ The Surrounding Competition
_ Some Other Specifics

Reading Recommendation
SMALL DATA by Martin Lindstrom

Hired by the world’s leading brands to find out what makes their customers tick, Martin Lindstrom spends three hundred nights a year overseas, closely observing people in their homes. His goal: to uncover their hidden desires and turn them into breakthrough products for the world’s leading brands. In a world besotted by the power of Big Data, he works like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, accumulating small clues to help solve a stunningly diverse array of challenges. Lindstrom connects the dots in this globe-trotting narrative that will fascinate not only marketers and brand managers, but anyone interested in the infinite variations of human behavior.

Small Data combines armchair travel with forensic psychology into an interlocking series of international clue-gathering detective stories. It presents a rare behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to create global brands, and along the way, reveals surprising and counterintuitive truths about what connects us all as humans.

By Posted on Posted in Retail, Retail Distribution, Shopping, Supermarkets No Comments

I do visit lots of shopping malls during my trips, or my business trip, basically I am not there for shopping for the latest fashion trends, but instead to visit the supermarket or hypermarket inside those malls for professional reasons.

I was lately in Jeddah-Saudi Arabia, staying at a hotel with a walking distance from a big shopping mall just across the street, so it took me few steps to enter it and after going around it, I decided to ask the information desk where the supermarket was located and to my surprise the answer was: “Sorry sir, there is no supermarket in this mall”.

Haifaa Mall is a trendy shopping mall, mainly focusing on major fashion brands.

haifaa

By Posted on Posted in Bad Experience, Hypermarkets, Lebanon, Services, Shopping No Comments

Saturday afternoon I dropped by TSC Mega at CityMall but my experience that day was quite bad.

When you enter the store, you look around for those blue or red plastic shopping basket which you don’t find then you decide to pick one of those trolleys which are not clean and struggle to push them as their wheels are not working properly.

Then I hit the non-food section to pick up what I came for, and there was the biggest surprise, very bad lighting, huge and long shelves almost empty showing those stocks of unsold products that gives you a feeling that the store is going bankrupt very very soon.

Of course you barely can spot someone from the staff to ask any question in any section (and most probably if you ask a question you won’t get the correct answer).

After getting the few small things in that huge trolley I had, direction check-out.
39 check-outs in the store and I guess not more than 7 were open on a weekend with a huge line at each check-out, even the check-out stating “10 items or less” was full with clients pushing trolleys full of stuff and more than 10 items and nobody from the staff cared about it (I had less than 10 items)

Then the cashier starting scanning my items, after the 1st item, he stopped and started arguing with the supervisor of the porters and totally forgot that I was standing there, then restarted the scanning process, I paid and left.

No wonder you hear on the market that TSC is going thru bad times and it looks so obvious after my visit.

By Posted on Posted in Creativity, Design, Hypermarkets, Retail, Shopping, Supermarkets No Comments

Carrefour has totally reinvented shopping for its customers, and the Carrefour planet concept offers them a new shopping experience centered around making purchases in comfort, friendliness and fun. The new stores boast a festive atmosphere of discovery, specialist offers organized into key areas, lower prices, brand new services and new technologies.

In a friendly and animated atmosphere, Carrefour planet has a range of products that has been completely rethought out and is better suited to the expectations of its customers, organized into key areas:

THE MARKET AREA, with a varied range of extremely fresh products, tastings held on a regular basis, cooking lessons, an expanded delicatessen area, freshly cut fruit and vegetables or sushi being prepared.

THE ORGANIC AREA, with a wide variety of Organic products, Carrefour brands as well as other specialist brands, tastings held on a regular basis and discounted prices so that everybody can enjoy organic products…

THE FROZEN FOOD AREA, with an extremely wide range of frozen products, reworked customer flows with an offering that is organized into different areas that follow the order of a traditional meal, closed freezers for greater comfort and cooking demonstrations.

THE BEAUTY AREA, in an environment that has been given a complete makeover for the well-being of its customers. They can purchase their beauty products at a leisurely pace and get expert advice, as well as enjoying services such as rapid make-up applications and express hairstyling. Among the other innovations is a virtual mirror which customers can use to test make-up products ‘live’ at interactive terminals.

THE FASHION AREA, which has been re-organized to include the whole world of fashion, showcase new collections and provide a new range of services, including free advice and alterations.

THE BABY AREA, which brings together everything new parents need under one roof, from food products to nappies, as well as pushchairs, clothing and furniture. Mothers are pampered and can enjoy access to a free birth list service and have their more bulky shopping carried for free, as well as benefit from the advice of a pediatric specialist.

THE HOUSE AREA, is split into 4 sections (“Kitchen and Table”, “Home Deco”, “Practical Home” and ”Home Accessories“), with a whole new selection and many color-coded ranges.

THE LEISURE – MULTIMEDIA AREA , brings together the Culture and multimedia areas, organized according to brand. All the latest technologies are showcased, including 3-D TV, touchscreen tablet computers and e-books. A whole new digital store has been created offering customers the opportunity to sign up for digital subscriptions and services, as well as a completely dedicated Apple area.

For certain categories, exclusive partnerships with major brands mean that customers can discover a new offer: for example, Virgin will have a wide selection of cultural products in the Vénissieux store, Réserves Naturelles will have its own dedicated area in the beauty world for make-up, accessories and costume jewelery.

Because the comfort of customers as they do their shopping is a priority for the new banner, specialist advisers will be available in each area to welcome and support customers as they make their choices.

Carrefour Planet stores have been implemented so far in France, Spain, Italy & Greece