ETD: 813 Where is retail going?; Member needs information; Consumer Market Is Going Experiential: It’s not the thing, but the experience!

[E-Tailer's Digest]

  E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the  Retailer
  Issue #0813              August 26, 2004
  George Matyjewicz, Moderator         mailto:georgem at gapent.com
  Published by:  GAP Enterprises, Ltd.  http://www.etailersdigest.com
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  CONTENTS

  [1]  Greetings
  [2]  Where is retail going?
  [3]  Member needs information
  [4]  Consumer Market Is Going Experiential:  It’s not the thing, but the 
experience!

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  [1]  Greetings.
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Hi All:

We have some member input on where retailing is going.  Interesting 
perspectives.  What do you think?

One of our new members needs some help in a lot of areas.  Let's see what 
our retail/business gurus can do to help.

Quinn Halford of Gifts & Dec tells us that trade show organizer Messe 
Frankfurt will launch Paperworld China, an exhibition for stationery and 
office supplies, in Shanghai, November 15–17, 2005.  And, the Greeting Card 
Association's 63rd annual convention takes place October 13–16, 2004, at 
Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson.

BTW, to learn about other giftware shows, or any type show, visit 
http://tsnn.com   They have 50,000+ shows listed all over the world.  It's 
a great way to plan your buying trips.

Tell us about your business which will remain  for posterity at 
our  "Members: Who Are You?" 
site.   http://etailersdigest.com/resources/members/index.htm And we have a 
form there for you to tell us about you.  As I said when I first proposed 
this idea, we have "known" each other for a long time, yet we often don't 
know anything about each other.   So, tell us who you are and what you do.

Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.

Sincerely


George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com

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  [2]  Where is retail going?
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Where it has always gone -- to change.  There was a time when small stores 
were the rule. Then came larger department stores that, it was said, would 
be the ruin of small stores. That didn't happen and small stores surrounded 
large stores.  Then we had the demise of the large department stores, the 
growth of some small stores but the coming on of the "category killers" 
which, it was said, would kill the small retailer.  Well, that hasn't 
happened either.  In almost every city and town there are rejuvenated areas 
where independent retailers are starting up and growing by filling in where 
the big stores don't service.

In along with this was the coming of the catalogue that was going to put 
retailers out of business.  Didn't happen.  Now the Internet is going to be 
the death of the retailer and that will not happen.

What is changing is that the industry is using several different channels 
to reach the public.  Some are not connected with store fronts, others 
are.  What seems not to change is the publics' need to touch things they do 
not know about and this is what keeps face-to-face retailing alive.

What we have lost is the training grounds for professional buyers who have 
experience and knowledge in their field of merchandise. The apprenticeship 
that stores such as B. Altman's, Macy's, Gimbels, Meier & Frank and the 
like offered are no more.  But, all is not lost because as the new small 
retailers learn their craft, they will be the new professional buyers of 
tomorrow.

Alan J. Zell, Ambassador Of Selling
Winner of the Murray Award  for Outstanding Achievement in Sales & Marketing
Chairman, PNW Sales & Marketing Group
Member, International Consultants Association

Please visit the articles about selling and business topics that affect 
sales at www.sellingselling.com
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  [3]  Member needs information
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New member Lonny Dill would like more information on:

o Etailer software reviews
o Credit card fraud protection for etailer
o Server suggestions
o Phone systems
o State evaluations of inventory taxes
o Shipping supplies sources
o Shipping carrier cross comparison
o Secondary damaged shipment insurance

Lonny Dill, President
Planet DJ, Inc.
1315 Greg St. Suite#101
Sparks, NV 89431

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  [4]  Consumer Market Is Going Experiential:  It’s not the thing, but the 
experience!
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The further my research takes me into the hearts and minds of today’s 
consumers, I always end up at the same place:  It’s not the thing, but the 
experience that people crave.

Our research among luxury consumers has shown that experiential luxuries 
provide the ultimate luxury satisfaction, more so than home luxuries or 
personal luxuries like clothes, cars or jewelry.  A new survey conducted 
for American Express Platinum Card among even more affluent consumers than 
we typically field found the exact same thing, with a sizable majority 
voting for luxury experiences over luxury things.

After a little reflection it may not appear so revolutionary that today’s 
luxury consumer market has gone experiential.  After all the luxury 
consumers are blessed with high incomes and the ability to buy just about 
anything their hearts desire.  For these highly affluent luxury consumers, 
material things are easy to acquire and don't demand a lot of 
sacrifice.  It just makes sense intuitively that the luxury consumers 
derive their greatest feeling of luxury satisfaction from experiences.

Consumers at every income level, every age range, across the board, favor 
luxury experiences over home or personal luxuries.

Assuming this logic holds, that for the affluent the ready availability of 
material things makes them value things less and experiences more, then it 
also intuitively makes sense that people who have less material wealth 
would tend to find greater happiness in acquiring material possessions 
rather than experiences.  But that isn't the case.  Consumers at every 
income level, every age range, across the board, favor luxury experiences 
over home or personal luxuries.

Wanting to see how extensive this experiential market shift is, we ran a 
nationwide omnibus survey among a representative sample of over 900 
consumers 18 years and older.  Screened only for their purchase of all 
three types of luxuries, a personal luxury, a home luxury and an 
experiential luxury, we asked from which purchase did they gain their 
greatest personal satisfaction and happiness?  We didn't ask anything about 
their spending, nor did we define or quantify what their specific luxury 
purchase might entail.  But for the largest percentage of luxury buyers (42 
percent) at all income levels, they get their greatest luxury satisfaction 
from the experience, as compared with 30 percent for home luxuries and 29 
percent for personal luxuries.

In research with consumers at all income levels, I have found that no 
matter who they are or where they live, no matter how much or little money 
they make, no matter how much or how little money they spend buying 
something, they all want the same basic things.  They want to feel special. 
They want to buy the very best quality thing —  whatever that is — that 
they can afford.

At the same time, they want to make sure they paid a good price and didn't 
get gouged or pay too much.  They want the item they buy to work right, to 
look good, to last a long time, to perform as expected and as promised. 
They want to be treated well and with respect by the sales people in the 
store.  Regardless of whether they are spending $1, $10, $100, or $1,000, 
they all want the same special feeling about their purchase.

This is the underlying motivational dimension of today’s consumer 
market:  Everybody everywhere wants to feel special.  You don't have to be 
rich in our society to want to feel special or to actually feel 
special.  Sometimes we turn to the commercial world to get our 
deep-seated  needs for confirmation met in the store, the mall or the 
restaurant.  Everyone wants that same feeling of specialness and we all 
have some means, no matter how big or how small, to get it.  This has huge 
implications for our businesses in the future.

Pam Danziger, President
Unity Marketing Online
http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/


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