Article

Digital merchandising tools key to shopper marketing, customer experience

Digital signage and integration of mobile devices is changing shopping by helping retailers connect to customers emotionally at each touch point.  

April 14, 2009 by

When it comes to shopping right now, having the right price is not enough. At a time when people are struggling with having less money to spend and feeling less secure, they are increasingly seeking more value in life.

"People are looking for ideas," said Christopher Gray, Psy.D., of Saatchi & Saatchi X, a shopper marketing firm. "They are looking for experiences that help soothe, calm and reassure them and provide a certain emotional benefit that they are not getting elsewhere now."

An opportunity to improve people's experience with shopping, a task both mundane and repetitive, led Gray, a former practicing psychologist deep into the world of shopper marketing. Seven years later, he remains passionate on identifying the needs, perceptions, motivation and decision making of shoppers. The goal is to not only provide shoppers with a more satisfying experience, but also one that is more effective for brands and retailers as well. 

"There's no such thing as a neutral environment," said Gray. "Every touch point to the shopper communicates something." He stressed it is more important now than ever that retailers and brands identify the shopper touch points and align the messaging to prevent confusion.

Christopher Gray, Saatchi & Saatchi X

Paul Flanigan, Best Buy

Al Wittemen, TracyLocke

Extending digital tools to the physical store can be a way to deliver meaningful and holistic retail experiences, according to a recent digital outlook report by Razorfish.

"Developing a digital signage network that enables highly relevant messaging and promotions to be delivered to specific geographies, dayparts and demographics can begin to enable an in-store custom dialogue similar to online for shoppers who prefer to browse the aisles," said the report, published in early March.

An example of such network is the Wal-Mart Smart Network that uses Internet protocol television (IPTV) which "deploys response measurement and message optimization technologies to enable delivery of the most relevant content to shoppers," according to the company's September 2008 press release. Customization can get increasingly granular if broken down by store, by screen, by day and by time-of-day.

The retailer is expected to complete the "shopper intelligent" network roll out in 2,700 locations by early 2010.

The Razorfish report also touched on the ability of interactive interfaces in the retail environment, including kiosks, projected displays and wireless, to offer tools for price comparison, product recommendations and store offers or promotions, much like the online environment. Improved integration of signage with mobile is also expected for retailers. The report cited opportunities in couponing, quick response (QR) code, store plan-o-grams, location-based services and social shopping.

Paul Flanigan, producer of the in-store network at Best Buy is also excited about the potential of mobile and hopes to see full integration in the next three to five years.

"If you are in a store and interested in a particular item, and you see a digital sign asking you to send a text to 1234 if you want to learn more, we can then send someone with high knowledge of the product over to you," he said.

The notion of demand integration with the customer is powerful since it allows retailers to learn more about how customers navigate the store and in turn, create an environment that is endemic to them.

Shopper marketing experts stress the importance of understanding the consumer connection points along a total continuum. Gray, who holds the title of vice president of shopper psychology at Saatchi X, is expecting a come back in making emotional connections with the shopper, which he felt was lacking when retailers embraced the "clean store" concept and stripped away communications efforts.

"While there is value in simplifying the process…shoppers need much more than that," he said. "They need to connect emotionally with the experience."   Since people generally seek out things that make them feel good and avoid things that make them feel bad, the in-store environment, including the use of digital signage, plays a key role in creating a positive shopper experience. This is especially true when it comes to the content and messaging on the screens.

Flanigan, who oversees the business model, creative, execution and research associated with the Best Buy in-store video network, recently shared some content tips in an interview with Laura Davis-Taylor of Retail Media Consulting.

• Keep the content relevant to the consumer • Keep the content simple and compelling • Align the content with the environment • Relate the content to the environment's brand identity

The obvious danger with digital signage, along with other in-store communications, is becoming clutter to shoppers.

"The challenge with shopper marketing and how it's different than other types of advertising is that in order for it be effective, to be successful, it has to be useful to the shopper," said Gray. "Otherwise, it gets deselected and shoppers won't even see it."

People in a task-oriented mindset, such as shopping and ticking items off a list, tend to only focus on things that are immediately relevant to them.

However, when done right, digital signage networks have a great role and ability to transform message targeting, relevance, and most importantly, return on investment.

"Today's technology and evaluation techniques allow us to create content, measure it, analyze it, then change it accordingly," said Al Wittemen, managing director of shopper marketing at Dallas-based TracyLocke. "This is retail at its best."

Best Buy's focus ahead is right along the veins of what Wittemen touched on.

"In the next year, it'll be truly understanding how we engage customers, which means doing research, testing and measurement," said Flangian,

The consumer electronics retailer will be figuring out the optimal use of in-store networks, seeking answers on:

• How does this fit our brand and culture? • What can we use it to do? • Where is it going to be? • How is it going to work with other channels?

At the end of the day, to be most effective, retail environments need to utilize tools and messaging that engage people and make people feel good.

After all, "emotion is what influences shopper behavior," said Gray.

For more insights on shopper marketing, in-store media and content strategies, join Christopher Gray, Al Wittemen, Paul Flanigan and speakers from Target, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Organic and more at the Fourth Annual Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit on May 12-13 in Las Vegas.

Christie Liu is a conference producer at Strategy Institute, host of the Fourth Annual Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit.