Tag Archives: shopping

America’s Changing Shopping Habits

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It’s not unusual these days to hear of major retail chains filing for bankruptcy or selling off assets and closing shop. But the pace those announcements are hitting the media is staggering.

An ongoing trend, and one that directly relates to the decline of brick-and-mortar retail, is the decline of shopping malls.

Though the malls might still be crowded places during holidays and busy shopping seasons, the Wall Street Journal has an fascinating graphic that shows the various companies that have vanished from malls (or existence) over the years and how the continued loss of stores inside of malls has contributed to what are more like skeletons than malls today.

It’s not all bad news. Some mall properties have been repurposed for other uses. BizVoice® magazine in 2013 looked at new uses for empty malls.

But don’t place all the blame on online shopping. This Forbes article from September asserts that, contrary to what you might think, there will be more store openings than closings this year and more due to changing consumer habits (not just online shopping).

More people seek discount and convenience, as well as experiences (food, travel, etc.) over physical items, than before. From the Forbes article:

Consumers haven’t gone into hiding and they’re not spending less. They’re spending more and there are more new stores — but tastes have changed. One of the most important things about these changes is that they are happening faster than ever before. There’s lots of reasons for that and plenty to debate about it but there’s no way to avoid the constant adaptation that’s now required. Organizations now need to be able to process new ideas at a rate that’s faster and more efficient than ever before. If you’re a legacy retailer of any kind, it’s hard to change quickly enough and that creates an opening for more nimble competitors. It’s not enough just to have something new, it has to keep evolving. That’s a challenge both for younger companies as well as the established players and it will be for the foreseeable future.

Try This On for Size

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iStock_000062439902_Large - Copy“Mirror, mirror on the wall. This lighting doesn’t work for me at all.”

My amusing poem is a fitting way to describe how shoppers are using “smart mirrors” to enhance their experiences.

Where have you been all of my life?

Let’s take a look at how the technology, which can be found in dressing rooms at places such as Ralph Lauren’s flagship store, works:

Equipped with radio-frequency identification technology that tracks items via their tags, the room identifies every item that enters and reflects it back on the mirror that doubles as a touchscreen. Shoppers can interact with the mirror, which functions like a giant tablet, to control the lighting, request alternate items or style advice from a sales associate.

“There’s this narrative that ecommerce collects better data – but online, it’s black and white. The physical world contains all these shades of grey that are truly interesting,” says Healey Cypher, who has built his career around twin concepts, namely that brick-and-mortar shopping isn’t going anywhere and the experience is in desperate need of a technological upgrade.

He’s working on it. Cypher is the CEO and co-founder of Oak Labs Interactive, the company behind the interactive mirrors, which just announced it has raised $4.1 million in a seed round led by Wing Venture Capital to bring refine the technology and bring it to more retailers. …

For retailers, the key draw is the wealth of collected data. By tracking each item that enters a dressing room, Ralph Lauren can determine how shoppers are interacting with its clothes. Is a jacket frequently being tried on, but isn’t selling? This likely indicates the look is popular, but the fit isn’t. Equally valuable: how customers interact with the touchscreen. Are they buying recommended items? How are they interacting with sales associates? Oak Labs analyzes the data and distills it into digestible and actionable insights.

This idea isn’t a new one – Nordstrom has experimented with interactive mirrors in its fitting rooms, and designer Rebecca Minkoff’s flagship store in New York City has employed nearly identical technology for about a year, to huge results. Since its installation, the store reportedly tripled its clothing sales.

Read the full Entrepreneur story.

Commerce Apps Revolutionizing Shopping

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A couple of nights ago, as I was idly passing time on my phone, I opened up the App Store and proceeded to download four or five new apps. Three of these were shopping-related. When asked if I wanted to receive notifications, I granted the applications permission. I quickly realized the danger of my decision. Less than 24 hours later, I was beginning to receive alerts, tempting me to view discounted items that would still inevitably accumulate to a steep amount if I made purchases every time I was notified of a sale.

This type of interactive commerce may very well be the future of shopping. An article on ReadWriteShop recently outlined three e-commerce tools that are setting the trend.

  • eBay’s digital shopping windows: large digital screens allowing users to view and purchase products on display
  • Zero Effort Commerce: an app that learns users’ shopping habits and can be programmed for different conveniences, such as making purchases before running out of a certain product or offering customized item suggestion
  • eBay Valet app pilot: an app designed for selling products that transfers much of the work to eBay, such as estimating a price, taking professional photos of the item and sending a shipping box and label

Apps such as these will make shopping and selling more accessible than ever. It will be interesting to see how advances in e-commerce shape purchasing trends—particularly apps that monitor spending habits and offer tailored recommendations. For a shopping-lover such as myself, a new level of self-control will certainly have to be developed, but I believe the benefits will outweigh the setbacks.

Interesting Trends Anticipated for This Year’s Back to School Shopping

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As the oldest in a family of five children, the end of July always heralded the beginning of the dreaded, chaotic Back to School (BTS) shopping. My mom would gather the lists our teachers provided us with at the end of the previous school year, pile us into the car and search the aisles of local stores boasting discounts.

At the end of the shopping spree, we would come home with bags containing an assortment of pens, notebooks, folders and binders that we would have to go through and separate for each sibling.

It’s that time of the year again, only (thankfully) I no longer have to accompany my mom on those trips, which could last hours. This year, more BTS shoppers have followed in my mom’s tradition of getting a jump start on the action. A survey commissioned by ICSC-Goldman Sachs found that 37% of consumers have already started shopping, compared to 29% who began at this time last year.

Ninety percent have indicated that they will purchase from brick-and-mortar retailers. According to the survey, “many retailers found in regional malls and open-air centers, such as office supply stores, traditional department stores, electronic stores and apparel specialty stores should see increased activity during the BTS season.”

Online shopping is expected to drop from 8.6% last year to 8.1% this year. Seventy-three percent of consumers said they will do research online and then buy their supplies from a physical store.

Average household spending on BTS items is expected to increase this year. Excluding electronics, expenditures are anticipated to be $325 per household, an increase from last year’s average of $285 per household.

This year’s Back to School shopping is still in its early phases. It will be interesting to see if the actual figures match up to the predicted ones.

Black Friday Bleed-through

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Growing up, my family’s Thanksgiving traditions were fairly simple: Bake pies the night before, get up early and cook all day on Thanksgiving (I have always been in charge of the deviled eggs) and await the arrival of our extended family.

Then … hug, laugh, eat, drink, play games, take naps, eat again and relax together.

Another tradition my mother and I had was to make fun of anyone crazy enough to go out on the day after Thanksgiving and stand in throngs of people to get deals on toys or clothes or whatever. “Those people are insane,” we’d chime in together.

About four years ago, I crossed over to the dark side. I became one of those insane people, getting up at 3 a.m. and taking five-hour energy shots. I blame my husband. And this one really amazing deal on a television at Walmart, which tempted me into starting a new tradition. (We still have the TV and it was a really good deal.)

But, even a good deal doesn’t excuse the recent trend of retailers moving up their shopping hours. Kmart, for instance, opened at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day and stayed open for 41 additional hours.

Kmart isn’t the only culprit. Best Buy, Target and Kohl’s, among others, all opened earlier this year. At least, with the exception of Kmart, the retailers opened at 6 p.m. or later.

An issue that is also in play is the never-ending battle between brick-and-mortar retailers and online options. More companies are beginning their online deals earlier while brick-and-mortar operations are looking for ways to stay relevant.

While I am not one to tell businesses that they shouldn’t open whenever and however they want to, I can at least do my part and not support it. So there might be a great deal on pots and pans at Kmart this year, but I won’t be there to find out until after Thanksgiving is said and done.

If you decided to go out on Thanksgiving, I hope you remembered that your employer gave you time to be away from the workplace, but not everyone gets that. Hopefully you were courteous to those employees who helped you get through your holiday shopping, and took a moment to thank them for their hard work.

Giving thanks … that’s what the holiday is for anyway, right?

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas… and a Headache?

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Uh-oh. It’s holiday season in the Skrzycki household! Bring on classic movies ("Rudolph," I love you), presents (I embrace my reputation as a Scotch tape fanatic) and goodies (where do I begin?).

Employees who earn a spot on Santa’s “naughty list,” however, can spoil all the fun – especially for human resources professionals. Check out this article, 12 Days of Christmas: HR Headaches, and you’ll see why.

Here are a few excerpts:

Twelve Online Shoppers
Cyber Monday is the biggest day of the year for online shopping. Although some employees shop on their lunch break or at home, many take time out of the work day to cross items off their Christmas list. Solution: Remind employees that some down time is inevitable, but work time is still for work.

Eleven Fantasy Footballers
Wasting time at work is not an art enjoyed exclusively by shoppers. The holiday season is also football season, and that means fantasy players will be out in full force. Solution: See above.

Ten Office Party Drunks
Some folks continue to believe that getting intoxicated in front of your boss is a good idea (hint – it is not). Solution: Limit the number of drinks at office parties and arrange for safe transportation if needed.

Sound familiar? Sound off on your experiences and don’t forget to respond to our blog poll about holiday online shopping.

How to Keep Holiday Stress Away

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Screeech! That’s me putting on the breaks as we enter – fast and furiously – the holiday season. Sure, there are presents to buy, goodies to bake and get-togethers to attend. But if I don’t slow down, the “magic” in the air will be overshadowed by lengthy to-do lists and an unflattering transformation into Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge himself.

A recent article from The Huffington Post provides tips on surviving “holiday hype.” One suggestion cautions against comparing past holidays with the current one. It’s good advice.

Growing up, my family always spent Christmas Eve at my grandmother’s house. If I close my eyes, I can almost smell the rigatoni, roast and rolls she made for dinner. Waiting until 8 p.m. to open presents seemed like an eternity! I miss those days and will always cherish them. The good news is that the traditions I’ve started with my own family bring great joy and are just as treasured.

What’s your secret to beating the holiday blues?
 

Tis the Season for Shopping — or Saving

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Along with the time-honored traditional holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day – another “holiday” is analyzed by industry experts and anticipated by shoppers around the country: Black Friday.

While the infamous day after Thanksgiving might get the most recognition for impacting retailer’s bottom lines and taking them from the red to the black (hence the name “Black” Friday), the entire holiday shopping season serves as a temperature reading of consumer spending and saving.

This year, direct marketing company Valpak acknowledges through its semi-annual consumer savings report that shoppers are displaying “cautiously optimistic” shopping habits. According to the report, about 75% of shoppers plan to spend the same or even more on holiday purchases, while 22% of shoppers will spend less than they did in 2009.

The company surveyed 1,000 households in the United States and Canada to get the data.

One trend that was common among shoppers was that more than half use coupons on their holiday-related purchases (including gifts, entertainment and travel); about 52% of holiday shoppers told Valpak that they shop with coupons to get the most out of their budgets during the holidays.

Of those that use coupons, 70% clip and save those coupons for toys, games and electronics, while nearly 60% use coupons to cut holiday costs on food, catering and groceries.

Other notable statistics in the report include travel and other big purchase intentions for the holiday season. Comparing this holiday season’s results to an earlier survey in May, the shopping trends are similar in travel (down 4% from the earlier survey), interior home improvement (up 5%), TV/home electronics (up 6%), auto (22% compared to 24% earlier) and exterior home improvement (22% in both surveys).