Responses to Change: Society

Leading brands and retailers are already innovating to strategically respond to the 8 drivers of change in society, like aging populations, urbanization, shifting attention patterns and more, which will not only determine the future of retail, but their leadership in that future.

 

DRIVERS OF CHANGE

WHAT SOCIETY DRIVERS WILL IMPACT YOUR SHOPPERS, AND HOW?

  • AGING SOCIETIES: Aging will erode household wealth, driving demand for affordable quality products, and accessible health products and services.
  • URBANIZATION: As lifestyles urbanize and get busier, the share of time-poor shoppers expands, driving demand for convenience and fast solutions, such as frictionless checkouts.
  • EVOLUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS: As household sizes shrink, consumer behaviors will shift away from both regular cooking and big weekly shopping trips, driving fast and frequent convenience missions close to home and online.
  • EXPERIENCE FOCUS: As consumers value experiences more highly than in the past, more share of wallet will shift away from products. This will fuel shopper preference for retailers moving beyond the concept of product on shelf.
  • HEALTH, WELL-BEING & SELF-CARE: Accelerated lifestyles, growing health awareness and aging will reinforce and create dietary trends, driving demand for healthy products with high-quality ingredients.
  • RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION: A more conscious consumer will demand more organic, vegan, free-from, sustainable and traceable products, and develop loyalties with retailers and brands that demonstrate strong credentials. 
  • CONSUMER DIVERSITY: Demand will continue to rise for more diverse products, with migrants (well beyond refugee streams) looking after home region specialties and domestic populations looking for new experiences.
  • SHIFTING ATTENTION PATTERNS: Shoppers are absorbing information in a new way, shifting from a linear attention pattern to the simultaneous use of several devices – reducing concentration spans and patience in the search for information.

 

IN-MARKET LEADERSHIP CASE STUDIES

SO HOW ARE BRANDS RESPONDING TO DIFFERENT CHANGES IN SOCIETY?

Urbanization

As urbanization makes delivery services more economically viable and widespread, Kraft Heinz is growing its assortment available on San Francisco-based online grocery platform Farmstead.

Experience Focus

To enable deeper personalized experiences for a larger number of consumers, Samsung has launched an experience store at Dubai Mall, looking to attract shoppers with events and interactive product displays

Responsible Consumption

Serving demand for ethical supply chains, Dutch brand Tony‘s Chocoloney aims to make its chocolates 100% free of slave labor. It has now overtaken Milka as the country‘s leading chocolate brand.

Evolution of Households

Targeting the small-basket shoppers who plan their meals less, PepsiCo has expanded its Hello Goodness vending kiosks that sell to-go snacks and beverages and introduced snack delivery bots.

Health & Wellness

As consumers look to make more informed purchases and demand transparency around supply chains, Nestlé is introducing Nutri-Score labelling to its products across Europe by the end of 2019.

Shifting Attention Patterns

To generate short moments of intense attention with large numbers of shoppers, Mondelez launched a pop-up Cadbury experience at Stansted’s Dufry-owned World Duty Free store.

 

IN-MARKET LEADERSHIP CASE STUDIES

SO HOW ARE RETAILERS RESPONDING TO DIFFERENT CHANGES IN SOCIETY?

Aging Societies

As Japan grapples with a rapidly aging population and the resulting labor crunch, retailers are finding it harder to maintain the traditional 24-hour model. FamilyMart is now testing shorter operating hours.

Evolution of Households

Aimed at rising demand for on-the-go products from shrinking household sizes and less active cooking, the Co-op UK has opened its first ‘On the Go’ store in London, offering a fast convenience experience.

Health & Wellness

To meet the growing demand for organic foods that are good for both consumers and the planet, SPAR Switzerland has newly launched the SPAR Natural product line in stores throughout the country.

Consumer Diversity

With the aim of engaging the next 200 million customers coming online in India and ensuring cultural inclusion, Walmart-owned Flipkart has introduced a local Hindi language interface on its platform.

Urbanization

Responding to the demand for speed from time-poor urban shoppers, Kroger is testing 30-minute grocery delivery from stores within a three-mile radius. The Kroger Rush service offers every day “need-it-now” essentials

New Touchpoint Devices

To offer enhanced personalized experiences through tailored content elements, recommendations and promotions, Alibaba in China has unveiled a new engaging format for online brand flagship stores on Tmall.

Responsible Consumption

Responding to a surge in shopper interest in plant-based meat alternatives, discounter Aldi has launched its own label brand I Am Vegan, with plans to roll out further SKUs within a period of six months.

Shifting Attention Patterns

To capture the elusive attention of hungry tourists at popular visitor destinations, Zabka has opened 12 seasonal stores in resorts close to the Baltic Sea, offering food-to-go items and hosting in-store cafés.

 

KNOWLEDGE TO WIN

NOW WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR YOUR BUSINESS TO WIN?

 

POWER OF PARTNERSHIP

WE'RE HERE TO GUIDE YOU WITH THE KNOWLEDGE TO WIN.

DIGITAL COMMERCE, DECODED.

<DEFINE/> Plan your retail strategy with market intelligence and forecasting

<DEMYSTIFY/> Optimize your digital shelf execution to drive margin and sales growth online

<DELIVER/> Monitor online performance and results in sales and market share

Understand what’s happening in retail and equip yourself to make the next winning move.

Our client engagement team is standing by with world-class retail insights and solutions to meet your unique state of business.

Fill out the form below to request a free demo of our services and solutions or email us at info@ascentialedge.com.