How the Restaurant Industry Is Using Digital Media

Posted on November 13, 2013 by bermanevansretail
There are lessons to be learned by retailers from the experiences of the restaurant industry with digital media — both good and bad.
According to eMarketer:
“Social media have become a blessing and a curse for the restaurant industry. The same immediacy that makes it ideal for connecting with customers is exactly what can damage a brand when used against it, according to a new eMarketer report, ‘Social Media Damage Control: Learning from the Restaurant Industry.’ Social media are used to connect, correct, and keep tabs on problems as they arise. They are also prominent for advertising and promotions. In fact, it is the most-used marketing tactic employed by restaurants by far, according to a study conducted by Ipsos MediaCT on behalf of Groupon and the National Restaurant Association. Among US restaurants in March 2013, 80% used social media — 17 percentage points higher than E-mail, which was the next most popular choice. Social’s ubiquity is likely because it’s viewed as less expensive than traditional forms of marketing. Furthermore, 68% of restaurants said they monitored restaurant review sites, showing that keeping on top of customer feedback is considered to be part of marketing for many in the industry.”
Click the chart to read more.

 

 

Posted in Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What Can We Learn from Alibaba’s 11-11 Shopping Extravaganza?

Posted on November 12, 2013 by bermanevansretail
Most retailers can only dream about the success of an event such as China’s Alibaba’s annual November 11 sale day. This day was wholly created by the online retailer as a time to have fun shopping — in essence, a holiday for shopping.
As reported by Shanshan Wang and Eric Pfanner for the New York Times:
“Alibaba, which owns Tmall and other E-commerce sites, first latched onto so-called Singles’ Day, symbolized by the four lonely 1s of 11/11, five years ago. The company realized men could easily seek solace by buying electronic devices and other gear on its sites. Today, like Veterans Day sales in the United States, Singles’ Day promotions retain little connection with the people or events that inspired it. As a red letter day for shoppers, it has spread to Chinese consumers of all kinds — single or married.”
“On Monday, China’s biggest online shopping company processed more than $5.75 billion in its online payments system — a record for a single day anywhere in the world, surpassing by two-and-a-half times the total for American retailers last year on so-called Cyber Monday. Alibaba reported that it had 402 million unique visitors to its sites — more than a third of the adult population in China — and prepared 152 million parcels for shipping.”
Click the image to learn more.

Image by Qilai Shen for the New York Times

 

Posted in Global Retailing, Online Retailing, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What Do Shoppers Want from Retailers This Holiday Season?

Posted on November 10, 2013 by bermanevansretail
We’ve been posting a lot lately about the 2013 holiday shopping season — which is already underway (despite the media fascination with Black Friday).  Here are links to two of our recent posts: “Gearing Up for the Holiday Shopping Season” and “Timing Holiday Promotions.”
Now, we have a new report from PriceGrabber.com to add to our series of posts: According to its Winter Holiday Shopping Survey, “69 percent of consumers plan to shop at the same retailers as they did last year. When asked why, 70 percent said they would remain loyal to certain retailers because of good customer service. Online retailers and discount stores continue to remain the most popular destinations for holiday shopping. When asked to select all the types of stores where consumers plan to shop for gifts, 75 percent chose online retailers and 68 percent said they would visit discount stores. This survey includes responses from 2,887 U.S. online shopping consumers.”
Check out the infographic below.


 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments