How to ensure stellar customer engagement for 2015. The Retail Future Trends Report from Retail Customer Experience provided many valuable insights on both consumers and retailers and how they're feeling about the way we are shopping today. The retailers, while discussing technology and mobile and concerned about subjects like bitcoin and beacons, listed their second and third biggest challenges as those related to people.
When asked about current operational challenges, retailers answered this way for their #2 and #3: 2. Employees engaging with customers 3. This is revealing because as much as the main topics of conversation seem to rotate around technology, the bottom line is how people are still a critical part of the business. I find the operational "challenge" of employees engaging with customers particularly telling. This challenge is probably around worries about how employees don't engage with customers, or engage with them the wrong way. What can retailers do to confront this challenge?
Hire better. Catch people doing right. Vanity, thy Name is Man. The female of the species has a reputation for vanity which far exceeds that of the male. So when male style leaders introduced a highly groomed and manicured look in the early 2000s (think David Beckham in his sarong and endless changes of hairstyle) it seemed as if new ground was being broken. But look back at history and you see a very different story. From leg-revealing stockings and codpieces in the Elizabethan age to the dandy at the end of the 19th century, through to Elvis’ quiff, the Beatles’ mop tops and punk mohicans, men’s grooming has its own rich history.
Male vanity may be nothing new but somewhere along the line the idea that it’s ‘unmanly’ to be seen to try too hard emerged. Things are changing, though. Are there limits to how far this will go? For more information on our other events at the Selfridges Beauty Project, click here. Speakers Simon Blackburn Robert Crampton Nicky Haslam Nicky Haslam is one of Britain’s best-known interior designers. Frances Wilson Chair. Inteligence Squared: Vanity, Thy Name is Man at Selfridges London. 25 rise of the yummy. Meet the “Yummy”: the Young, Urban Male | Vanity Fair. Yummies: young, urban males obsessed with personal grooming and health | UK news. Luxury Fashion Brands Targeting Global ‘Yummies’: Young Urban Males. Luxury fashion may be switching gender and age roles. In much of the world now, the most attractive demographic for such companies as Burberry (BRBY) and Coach (COH) isn’t middle-aged women with sky-high credit limits; it’s twentysomething men with smartphones and self-esteem issues.
At least that’s the theory put forth recently by a three researchers at HSBC. The future of retail is in young, urban males—or as HSBC dubs them, “Yummies” (a handy verbal shortcut if one can say it without gagging). “The metro-sexual, that cliché from 20 years ago, is now becoming a commercial reality,” the HSBC team writes. Young dandies want to flash blue-chip brands as soon as they can afford them, while older consumers closer to the top of the socioeconomic pyramid don’t have as much to prove.
The silver-backed master of the universe is secure in his Speedo swimsuit and skin-tight driving gloves; he doesn’t need a camouflage backpack from Prada (1913:HK) ($980) to make his mark on the world. Here's The 'Yummy' Report. Unemployment-the-vanishing-male-worker-how-america-fell-behind. ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Frank Walsh still pays dues to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, but more than four years have passed since his name was called at the union hall where the few available jobs are distributed.
Mr. Walsh, his wife and two children live on her part-time income and a small inheritance from his mother, which is running out. Sitting in the food court at a mall near his Maryland home, he sees that some of the restaurants are hiring. He says he can’t wait much longer to find a job. But he’s not ready yet. “I’d work for them, but they’re only willing to pay $10 an hour,” he said, pointing at a Chick-fil-A that probably pays most of its workers less than that. Working, in America, is in decline. Continue reading the main story Nonemployed Articles in this series will examine the decline of work in the United States and its consequences, for individuals and society. At the same time, it has become harder for men to find higher-paying jobs.
High Costs Mr. Mr. Mr. Increasingly Men Are Focusing More On Their Style. Outfittery is a Berlin-based menswear delivery service that provides men with boxes of clothes picked out by style experts. The service starts with a short visual questionnaire in which men select photographs of the styles that most match their personal life, their work life and the style direction they’d like to go in. Men also provide their sizes and measurements, report their typical fit problems, upload photos of their styles and outline their price range.
Boxes of clothing items are then assembled by a style expert and sent to men to try on. Whatever items they don’t want can be returned for free. Outfittery is currently available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but after receiving more funding from investors, is set to expand through more of Europe. Helping me reach my fashion goals Many of today’s consumers are looking for help in finding fashions that fit their personal style – especially those consumers who are on a tight schedule. The rise of the metrosexual man. Written by Menswear Style in Grooming on the 9th October 2014 / 0 Comments Men are spending more time and effort grooming themselves. This sentence has certainly been a paradox in the past. However recent surveys now show that, indeed, some men are now spending more time getting ready when compared to their female counterparts.
What’s behind this change? More and more men are focusing on their appearance, and there are many reasons for this. "Grooming has become a necessity" The other factor that led to this change was that a large number of men in their 20s and 30s are not married. The term ‘Metrosexual’ Today, men are estimated to spend around £1.3billion a year on grooming products. "Men are less intimidated by appearing feminine" Changing lifestyles With a greater focus on personal appearance, men are less intimidated by appearing feminine. There has been a growth in use of hair loss medication by men to keep their hair.
"Men spend £1.3billion a year on grooming products" Customer Behaviour Is Changing: Check Your Assumptions. Brains, Brands and Buying. This article was published in the December 2014 issue of STORES Magazine. David Kepron Creative Director, Brand Experience Studio Little Diversified Architectural Consulting Charlotte, N.C. The coming revolution may be televised, but it could also be streamed on a device programmed for users’ distinct preferences. In Retail (r)Evolution, David Kepron takes readers on a ride, learning how rapid technological advances are literally rewiring the way the brain works, particularly in younger shoppers. Kepron, a longtime member of the Retail Design Institute who has worked with retailers like L’Occitane, Toys “R” Us, Godiva and Darden Restaurants, combined his 20 years’ experience with the latest research into the human brain in writing Retail (r)Evolution, which examines historic shopping paradigms as well as the importance of ritual and play to the retail experience.
What inspired the book? Tell us about “technempathy.” Give us a peek into the chapter titled “The Store Will Never Go Away.” Brendan Mullane on a Male Moment in Fashion - NYTimes.com. Photo Turning Point: Young men are fueling the luxury fashion market. Men have become the new style-setters, driving the consumption of luxury goods in countries like Japan and South Korea, as well as in emerging markets.
And in a post-metrosexual, pro-selfie world, they’re investing in the ultimate luxury experience: themselves. As men’s spending increasingly outpaces women’s, and as premium consumers get younger, luxury has taken on a new meaning beyond just the price — it’s about the experience, individuality and displaying a creative sensibility. Whether through handmade shoes or perfectly ripped jeans, a new generation of sartorially adventurous men is dressing to get noticed, refusing to get lost to the next swipe.
Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Men have really started to think about the art of dressing. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Before, women’s fashion was the pinnacle, and men’s fashion just followed what the women did the season before. JWT_Planning_Foresight_MasculinityModernity1. The Joy of Shopping: It’s All in the Mind - FITCH. AdWords' New Demographics Charts Offer Visual Insights On Age, Gender & Parental Status. Business Standard. Welcome to a new model of consumer behaviour: snackable consumption, a world in which people use smart devices to shop in increments, moving comfortably from one digital destination to the next, grabbing bite-sized information such as prices about brands, products and services, often doing their research while multitasking.
Snacking behaviour often discussed in the context of content consumption - now extends far beyond content. Increasingly, we are seeing this behaviour extend into new areas. We see many signs that snackable consumption is the norm: Smartphone users interact with their phones 150 times per day - every six minutes. Seventy-nine per cent of 18-44 year olds have their smartphones with them 22 hours per day, with the vast majority checking their phone within 15 minutes of waking up. On social networks, small and frequent online interactions are the rule. This change in behaviour challenges brands and marketers to rebuild how and where their brands engage consumers. The Secret Psychology Behind Selling Beauty Products to Men - In Depth.
In 1960, in the aftermath of the first-ever televised presidential debate, Richard Nixon wished he hadn't passed on the concealer, bronzer, and foundation. His opponent, John F. Kennedy, looked dashing, youthful, and put-together on screen; meanwhile, even Nixon's supporters said he looked like he'd just suffered a coronary.
Few political candidates since have been stupid enough to repeat Nixon's mistake. It's no secret that men in power—politicians, actors, business leaders—often rely on makeup artists to look their best, particularly in front of the camera. But most American men still see makeup as belonging in the female domain, lumped into the same category as tampons and lingerie. "We call it the M-word," says Michele Probst, a makeup artist whose client list includes Barack Obama, John Travolta, and Kid Rock. "It's still a major taboo. Although guys may seem uncomfortable with the idea of dolling themselves up, the men's beauty industry is growing explosively.
Photo: Kiehl's. Fashion consciousness increasing across socio-economic segments. Hot pants, or short shorts, a hot fashion item, sell at the same speed in cities like Bangalore and Pune and smaller towns like Kolhapur, Hasan and Hubli, says Abhay Bahuhune, brand head, People, a fashion apparel retail chain. In Kolhapur, it is not common to find the youth sporting micro shorts in public. They wear them in their houses and at house parties. As such, girls usually wear their jeans on top of the shorts when stepping out of their homes and take the jeans off once indoors, says Bahuhune. Fashion consciousness, which means people wearing fashionable and trendy clothes and being well groomed, is increasing across India and socio-economic segments.
For instance, film stars as well as pizza delivery boys wear coloured chinos and have styled or gelled hair. Also, there is no difference in the attitudes of youth from the small towns in India and the larger cities, they all are following global trends like clicking selfies. The Youth in small town India is into grooming. Male consumer thought piece.
Now & then: Shifts in consumer behaviour over the last 10 years. ET Bureau Nov 5, 2014, 05.05AM IST (Consumers of today have…) Consumers of today have evolved into a hyper active multi-taskers, constantly squeezing the 25th hour out of a regular day. Here are some of the most radical changes between contemporary consumers and how they behaved as recently as a decade ago. In an exclusive to Brand Equity, Devendra Chawla, CEO, Food Bazaar, chronicles the many shifts in consumer behaviour and attitude over the last decade. The star of a movie called 'me.' Indian consumers are a liberated lot. There's friction building between conformity on one side and self identity on the other, as consumers see themselves as stars of their own movie. Hair streaking, frowned upon once, is now a style statement.
Yes, people do look up to trendsetters, but instead of aping them, prefer to create their own sense of style. They are a product of abundance unlike yesterday's consumer, who was born in scarcity. Zero to best in 2 seconds (Image: Devendra Chawla, CEO, Food Bazaar) Tailoring to the new male consumer. Charts from the NRF Foundation’s Retail Insight Center. To access this data and more research please visit the Retail Insight Center. As men heighten their interest in the latest style, they increase their spending as well. In 2012, about two-thirds (65 percent) of spending on men’s sportcoats and tailored jackets is attributed to male consumers – up from 61 percent of spending the year prior. Menswear and online shopping is trending, and it’s no surprise that brands who build their business models off this trend are thriving. Take Indochino for example – the online menswear company uses a tailored (pun-intended) algorithm to ensure the perfect fit for custom suiting. They’ve been so successful that the brand has ventured into the brick-and-mortar space through Traveling Tailor pop-up shops in targeted metro areas.
It’s obvious that this Vancouver-based retailer is at the cutting edge of these trends. TREND REPORT: The New Male Consumer - julietlegrandthompson. E-tailer takes on men who hate shopping. Keep it simple: Modi Song and Melissa Lee. Photo: Daniel K Cheung Misa Han An online fashion retailer is cutting down on choice to target young men who hate shopping. Millennial men, or male consumers aged 20 to 35, have been a notoriously difficult group to target for fashion retailers. On Roy Morgan numbers, men in their 20s and 30s spend an average of $16 a week on clothes and shoes, which is just 1.5 per cent of their income.
Women in the same age group spend an average of $27 a week on clothes and shoes. To open these men’s wallets, online men’s suits and shirts retailer Joe Button streamlined the choices available to mirror men’s preference for simplified shopping experience and repeat purchases. “We have found that with men in particular, once they find something that fits them, they will stick with that product,” co-founder Modi Song said. Ms Song said the business used an “under the radar” marketing campaign using only social media and word of mouth. The changing consumer behaviour in a digital economy - Financial Express. The impact of digital economy and e-commerce is no longer a phenomenon restricted to only the developed world. With the spaces between geographies shrinking due to the digital technology and also with nations taking the connectivity to the rural and remote parts of the country, India is experiencing a significant transformation in the consumer buying patterns.
As a result no company can afford to ignore these trends irrespective of whether or not it is in the e-commerce space. It is noteworthy to recognise that it is no longer adequate to be reactive or proactive, it is the adaptive capability of the firm that is going to be critical to win the marketing wars. The traditional marketing research and understanding of the consumer behaviour will continue to play an important role in the long range planning but understanding the transactional behaviour pattern of the consumers and adapting its marketing strategy is the new game. These transactions could be. Decision Making Senses. Mintel pinpoints four key US consumer trends for 2015 - Retail Times. Engaging the Millennial Shopper: Times They are A-Changin' | Retail News.
RETAILERS ARE UNDERLEVERAGING CRITICAL CONSUMER DATA AS THEY SEEK TO STIMULATE INCREASED SALES VIA OMNI-CHANNEL SHOPPING CAPABILITY. Opinion: What men want - Retail Focus - Retail Interior Design and Visual Merchandising. Men's fashion: Online suits you sir. How to Sell Clothes to Men: On the Rise of Menswear in Fashion. The art and science of selling clothes to bros. LSN Seed Style guide Fashion brand has fun with Man uals. The Joy of Shopping: It’s All in the Mind - FITCH. Menswear UK March 2014 Infographic Overview (1) Login to Mintel Reports - Mintel Group Ltd. Trend Briefing Aus 2014 Summary. Menswear UK March 2014 Issues and Insights.