Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Anyone considering attending the Retail Evolution Summit in San Francisco next month (Feb. 18-19, 2015) will get their money’s worth, if a short talk I had with one of the keynote speakers, Todd Hale, is any example.
Hale, former senior vice-president of consumer and shopping insight at Nielsen, and now operating his own retail insights thought leadership firm, Todd Hale LLC, discussed a range of topics with me from the effect of the economy on both the retailers and the consumer, to the spending habits of various multicultural groups, and the differences in attitudes between the Millennials, the Boomers and the elderly.
He said that, at the Summit, he will discuss growth opportunities with respect to:
- Staying connected with winning retailers & categories;
- Engaging in e-commerce & digital shopping;
- Winning the trip through precision marketing and sales focused against shoppers that matter;
- Driving the health & wellness growth wave;
- Winning the occasion – whether it be an eating occasion, seasonal period, or personal/home cleaning occasion.
”I’ll be talking a lot about how we eat, where we shop, and how connected we are, among other things,” said Hale. “A lot of stores in the US are struggling. These include companies like McDonalds. Stores that we see doing well are those connecting with the affluent shoppers, such as sporting goods stores, and those who attract shoppers who want to save money such as club stores. But a study by Nielsen looking to the retail channels to 2018 sees toy stores and drug stores among those losing share, and real problems for specialty stores such as bookstores, electronics stores, and apparel. And it sees a 12% growth in e-commerce.”
Hale said that income in the US is stagnant at the moment. As boomers move out of the workforce, younger people are being hired at lower salaries – and these young people are not necessarily working the jobs that they want. Further, even though they are the most connected (55% of Millennials have eight touchpoints of connection), they are saddled with huge debts from their university studies and more.
“They are online more but have less spending power,” he said. “They make less trips to bricks-and-mortar stores. They are digital savvy, and they buy more on deals.”
Further, Hale said that a big concern for retailers is the fact that, while consumers of Asian descent are generally better off financially, the spending power of the Afro-Americans and that of the Hispanics – both major sectors of the population – tends to be lower.
“Asian grocery stores will probably continue to do well,” said Hale. “But pet stores, although forecast to grow, could have problems because multicultural populations have lower pet ownership rates.”
Hale also discussed how connected we all will be and how much we will really use all the apps we download.
”Retailers still say that paper, print, is more important to them,” he said.
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