A new generation of shopper has been identified by him! in its latest report. This new shopper has high expectations of their local retailer; they want good prices and ultimate convenience, and they want it now, as we discover.
by Kevin Scott
Convenience retail is becoming a more complex business. As marketing evolves and becomes more sophisticated, pressure grows to understand more about your customers, but there’s a good reason for all this. By knowing more about what your customers want, you can work towards providing them with the perfect customer experience, and there’s no better way to boost your business than that.
Him! has long been at the forefront of understanding local retail shoppers and in its latest report it has uncovered a new generation of shopper, Generation C – the C of course, stands for convenience. This new shopper may walk and talk like their ancestors – Generation T (who were cash rich and time poor) and Generation P (who were driven by price and not much else) – but Generation C is different, a combination of their retail forefathers. They want a good price and the ultimate convenience experience, and they want both. Now.
Him! provides some context for this by first examining trends around local retail this year, so we’ll do the same. The first of these is the growth of franchise stores and symbol groups. Franchises are an interesting one; relatively absent in Scotland, that will change this year with Conviviality and One-Stop. The him! study finds 15% of unaffiliated stores say they’re likely to join a symbol in the next two years.
Forecourts will also see more franchised stores, and him! predicts that by 2020 (which alarmingly, is only five years away) there will be more forecourts with a fascia than without.
The company also says brand partnerships will continue to grow, creating a ‘purchasing halo’ thanks to joint branding, such as Spar’s recent foray into joint branding with the likes of Gregg’s and Subway.
Him! also says we are seeing the end of the age of large stores. Backing this up, 85% of UK adults do a top up shop every week and 30% of households say they don’t do a ‘main weekly or monthly shop’. So, smaller, more versatile stores will be in a great position to make the most of this continuing movement towards little and often shopping.
Finally the report looks at shifting footfall drivers, saying a ‘new and increasingly aggressive fight for space is emerging’. In the backdrop of the impending tobacco display ban, these new footfall drivers include collection services, food to go and a growing number of concessions.
So, all in all it sounds like being an incredibly busy, exciting year. And that’s before we even begin to look at the Gen C shopper.
Let’s say hello to them now: the first thing you should know about Gen C shoppers is that they are what’s called an omni-channel shopper, which is a clever way of saying that they use three different retailers in a typical week. 28% say they are visiting more stores, with 96% saying they visit supermarkets and a huge 71% visiting convenience stores. Food Discounters are visited by 41% and Variety Discounters 30%.
In terms of shopping habits, they’re pretty demanding. Essentially what we have is a customer who wants their shopping experience to be all about them, they want a personal concierge, they are less forgiving, shop on auto pilot and allow digital technology to touch every part of their lives. They demand complete honesty from their retailer and while they are price conscious, they are not 100% price driven.
In terms of how demanding they are, Gen C shoppers are used to having every sort of information and ordering hub in the palm of their hands. Therefore, says the him! report, the act of physically shopping is itself an inconvenience, which is why if a shop doesn’t meet these high demands within two visits, they will go elsewhere.
Outstanding service, therefore, becomes a minimum requirement – it will be service that retailers shout about, not their product range or their prices. Gen C shoppers also want to see technology used to improve service with shopping becoming increasingly automated. For retailers, this means getting onto the same page as these shoppers and beginning to address their needs.
The personal concierge element is effectively asking c-stores to become one stop shops for a variety of services, from parcel pick up points, to bean-to-cup coffee, bill payment services, ATMs, free wifi, prescription pick up… the list goes on. In fact, services will become a top three footfall driver. “Good stores will make the shopping experience easier, but outstanding stores will make their shoppers’ lives easier and more enjoyable,” says him! No pressure then.
With price becoming less important, promotions will become ‘solutions-led’ with more cross-category promotions. They will also need to become more personalised Service will have to speed up too – again service will drive footfall ahead of price alone.
A final word on honesty – another demand of Gen C. 59% of people trust the food and drink industry to sell food that comes from where they say it does.
Generation C are getting used to having reviews from ‘real customers’ at their fingertips. Retailers shouldn’t attempt to pull the wool over their eyes. Social media, price comparisons, online reviews and blogs means there are few places to hide.
Sounds like we’ve all got our work ahead of us, but in reaching out to win these shoppers there is no question that store standards will improve, and that must be what we, as an industry, are aiming for.
