Three major initiatives are making an impact on the world of retail today: private label, healthful eating, and digital connectivity with shoppers. The fact that these are consumer-driven, as opposed to industry-driven, makes these initiatives that much more interesting and significant.
Private label products have been growing in the past years, and they were given a boost as shoppers turned to them when the economy turned sour. As the economic outlook improves, growth—while slower—is continuing for store brands. This is partly due to consumer acceptance of private brands as “real” products, and partly due to retailers making sure their store brand offerings are more than just copies of national brands. A recent Nielsen report predicted continued gains by private brands, with a likely 1.5 percent share improvement this year. Considering that one share point represents more than $5 billion, it’s no wonder that private brands have garnered so much attention.
Health and wellness has been a topic of growing interest as well. As the Boomer generation matures, they are looking at maintaining their health through proactive measures, including a focus on eating well as a preventative. Couple this with the national concerns over obesity, the food supply and recent FDA findings about package labeling inconsistencies, and it’s easy to see why the awareness of healthy food is at an all-time high.
Digital connectivity has been growing, driven by mobile use for price checking, product research and even mobile purchasing. With the majority of new phones being of the “smart” variety, i.e. Internet capable with a keyboard and camera, this growth will not only continue, but increase in speed. Shoppers today have access to more, and better, information than ever before.
Add these three together and the opportunities are virtually endless for retailers to engage their shoppers in a meaningful manner, with an end result of greater loyalty and increased share of wallet.