senses. The signs around the shops point
to directions that can be summarized as
look but don’t touch, obviously don’t smell
and once you taste it consider it sold.
Depending on what you want to purchase,
going to a store requires more patience
and more time. Buying items such as
perfumes, clothes and jewelry is much
easier online. One needs to do a little
more research and reading of reviews, but
this approach may offer a better customer
experience than walking into a store.
A phone call to the store may also be a
better idea when you cannot engage and
interact with the product. Speaking to the
store attendant can also help you make
a purchase decision based on something
you have seen online.
As already determined, the online
shoppers experience needs to be
enhanced. Customers can make better
purchase decisions from interactive media
than from static media. Real estate seems
to be taking strides towards this direction
using channels such as periscope or
YouTube videos for virtual home tours,
but this opportunity remains largely
unexploited by most brands. A clothing
store for example can have characters
with different body shapes and types
Customer expectations
are growing as
they expect more
and more innovative
stunts on social media
and are attracted
to unique marketing
ideas given that
they are now spending
much more time
online. Their expectations
of brands
are much higher,
and they tend to be
drawn to brands that
show a sense of responsibility
towards
supporting the current
crisis.
Local brands need to get their voice heard
because customers are making more conscious
decisions to purchase local products
and support local businesses. International
brands can also localize their
marketing campaigns to align with the
patriotic feeling that customers have developed
during the crisis.
alongside the dresses they are selling that
can be fitted on the characters like a 3D
animation video game. Most smartphones
can support this feature and will reduce
customer disappointment when they get
to the store and realize they cannot fit
dresses. Manufacturers of paint are already
using these integrations on their website
which can be tweaked for mobile.
Electronic stores can take advantage of
3D interactive to give customers virtual
tours of their stores or allow customers to
experience gadgets via their phones. The
power of 3D interactive marketing is its
ability to make shopping fun, engaging
and real for customers. It also allows
marketers to collect data in the same way
they would during market research beyond
likes, shares and comments. The selections
that customers make for example in the
case of the clothing store, can give the
insights into the most preferred color of an
outfit, the body types of their customers,
the most preferred design of clothing,
even the most purchased material. Local
designers can benefit from these insights
to improve and inform future collections.
The tough economic times seem to have
strengthened patriotism and relationships
between customers and local brands. The
customer in our scenario said she was
only shopping at the store because it was
locally owned, and she wanted to support
her fellow country man. This stood out
for me because on any given day, this is a
statement that would not matter to many
shoppers. I, for example was in the store
because they had nice dresses and I was
just looking around for a dress. I was not
in that store because it was locally owned.
Looking back in retrospect, the livid
customer had all good intentions to
support growth of local business but
needed a little more convincing or
assurance. The takeaway for me from that
single statement was that local brands need
to get their voice heard because customers
are making more conscious decisions
to purchase local products and support
local businesses. International brands can
also localize their marketing campaigns
to align with the patriotic feeling that
customers have developed during the
crisis. Customers may also now prefer
local businesses because of restrictions on
imports which has slowed down influx of
high street fashion and other products.
None the less, it is an insight that any
business can take advantage of and cleverly
tweak to suit their business needs.
Are brands taking advantage of the
pandemic to sell more products? Is it a
good thing or a bad thing? Do customers
take positive notice of it or do they feel
used and cheated? Several questions went
through my mind about why the lady felt
the store was taking advantage of the
situation. To the best of my understanding,
many brands have seized the opportunity
to make sales on essential products such
as sanitizers, masks and wet tissues to
increase market supply and accessibility
to these products, while diversifying their
portfolios to keep their businesses afloat
and play their role in social responsibility.
Some customers however may have a
different view and feel that brands are
taking advantage of the pandemic to sell
more products. This can only point to two
things: that customers are more sensitive to
brand messaging at this time and they are
drawn to brands that are empathetic of the
situation. The customer seemed to be aware
that the store was now making masks as a
new product line and may have thought
it was taking advantage of the situation
because of the way they communicated
about the masks being available at the
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