Retail marketer Integer unveils concept of Digitail'ing
April 5, 2009 by Dave Haynes
The retail strategy guys at The Integer Group have released a copy of the presentation they did the other day at the Instore Marketing Institute’s summit last week in Chicago, and it has a lot of good bullet point thinking on where retail is at and going, particularly as it relates to digital.
The presentation – The Convergence of the Digital and Retail Space: The Effect Promotions Have on Shopper Behavior – is one of the merciful ones in which the guy with the mike didn’t just read what was up on the screen, so just getting the PDF doesn’t fully fill you in. But there’s still much to glean.
The guys from the retail marketing biggie’s Denver office have coined the term Digitail to talk about the convergence of digital and retailing. I’m not liking the chances of this becoming a standard, but I didn’t like Digital Out Of Home either, and it’s getting used all over the place now.
They also trot out some other Frankenstein words like pre-tail and post-tail. Hmmm.
Anyway, the key point of the presentation was to say that the sputtering economy has caused a big change in the way people shop, and in the US, it is going to be a lasting change. Just about everyone is taking care in their shopping decisions, and thinking twice before they whip out the credit card yet again.
Research is showing more people are using technology like touch screens in retail. And the growth in smart phones, in just 18 months, is staggering.
This all leads to what Integer calls a perfect storm (though I am not sure it is nasty for the DS industry):
1 – this is the era of conscious, not conspicuous, consumption
2 – people are seeking efficiency in the way they shop, ie they are all over something that will help save money or make the right choice
3 – consumers need to be engaged
4 – technology has a big opportunity here, ie the smartphone thing, among other things
But all this requires greater, better thinking about the digital approach.
The Integer guys also say consumer shopper needs will drive technology adoption, acceptance and acceleration. They stress, correctly, that there is no shortage of “solutions” looking for problems. Are screens running music videos at a grocery deli counter a solution???
Good stuff. And the company has a good blog called Shopper Culture.
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