Consumer Spending 101

Remember psychology class during college? I do. It broke my brain. I couldn’t believe all of the incredible statistical data that pointed to the fact that we tend to be followers more than leaders, and are heavily influenced by advertising and what our neighbors are up to.

Well folks, it’s back to psychology class.

Truaxis just released an infographic (courtesy of Killer Infographics – and I have to say – it is pretty killer!) that breaks down a plethora of data on consumer spending.

Apparently, the top reason we buy online is linked to how many other people made the same purchase. Seriously? And 43 percent of American familys spend more than they earn. Wow, 43 percent?! The top online shoppers are women with “excess wealth” who feel the need to improve themselves. Are you kidding me?

Thankfully, there’s also some good news (and this is my favorite part of the entire infographic): when we purchased something for someone else, we felt happy; when we just purchased for ourselves, we didn’t. There’s one light at the end of the tunnel; giving truly is more fun.

Be sure to leave your comments below about which statistics blew your mind!

View the complete infographic here.

-Heather Strang

 

Young Adults Just Wanna Shop...In-Store

It’s 11 a.m. on a Tuesday and my 23-year-old sister Ashley calls me. She’s in the area and wants to see if I’ll meet her at Pioneer Place for some mid-morning shopping. My response? "You want to shop on a random Tuesday?!"

I shouldn’t actually be surprised. All of my younger sisters (there are four of them) love to spend a morning, afternoon or evening (they don’t discriminate) with a latte in hand while perusing through H&M, Forever 21, Nordstrom – you name it.

A new study by LIM College and the NRF Student Association (NRFSA) reveals that, in general, 18- to 25-year-olds prefer in-store shopping. Apparently, all of our fears and predictions that technology would circumvent the need to be in-store is pretty much false.

The survey goes on to share some fascinating details about this demographic’s shopping preferences:

• 68 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds would rather be in-store for apparel and shoe shopping.

• More than 88 percent of this demographic do not want to shop via Facebook/Twitter (I don’t blame them – so not a fan of this!) although they will “like” a brand on Facebook.

• 66 percent use the Internet as an information-gathering tool, not for shopping.

• Only 23 percent use a tablet or smart phone to shop.

Turns out, these young shoppers are savvier than we thought. They want to feel and try on their merchandise before buying, they love having the shopping “experience” (especially with sisters or friends!), and they use technology the way it’s meant to be used – for information gathering and knowledge enhancing.

I’m quite impressed!

So, while I (the 30-something that I am) spent my holiday gift cards online, this survey is turning it all around for me. I plan to say, “Heck ya!” next time my sister calls for a shopping excursion. Maybe that will keep me young. Will you join us?

What’s your take on the 18- to 25-year-old demographic? How can we continue to entice them into stores? Leave your thoughts below.

-Heather Strang

Gaga's Workshop Sets a New Bar for Retail Displays

Never before in the history of holiday window displays have celebrities turned out to gawk, stare and enjoy. But, they are now.

People.com caught Neil Patrick Harris and his partner at the opening of the Barneys Gaga’s Workshop, not to mention a host of other A-B-listers vying for a glimpse at this much-hyped display.

One of the most prominent features in the workshop that’s catching our eye is the 11.67-ft. by 6.25-ft. laser phosphor display (LPD) video wall by Prysm. It’s titled as the “Gaga Constellation” and is located in a window next to the Barneys front door.

This isn’t just any video wall (as if it could be for Gaga!). Oh no, this thing has it all – including social media and film. There’s a 90-second film directed by Tim Richardson that showcases Lady Gaga as she morphs into a variety of constellations along with a LIVE Twitter feed. Barneys and Gaga fans can send Tweets that will show up right on the video wall.

Who even knew that was possible?!

It’s classically Gaga – over the top, indulgent and raising quite the ruckus. It’s perfect for Barneys, perfect for Gaga and even allows customers to engage (right alongside celebrities). If this isn’t the best display idea, I don’t know what is.

And while I’m not a Gaga fan (she frightens small children!), there is no denying her draw and ability to get attention.

I certainly hope we see more retailers using video wall displays. Can you imagine all of the creative possibilities that exist with this option?

What are your thoughts on this display? Love the video-wall? Know other retailers who are utilizing this stellar technology? Leave your comments here!

-Heather Strang

*Photos courtesy of Prysm Inc.

P.S. The Diva can't wait to see these windows in person! She'll be in New York next week for the annual DDI Winning Windows competition—click here for more info!

Kenneth Cole Asks Us The Important Questions

If you read Retail Design Diva often enough (and we know you do!), then you know that I regularly encourage, suggest, state and request that retailers use their influence for good (not just for sales).

I’m proud to report that there is a retailer doing exactly that. And it makes me so happy I can hardly stand myself.

Kenneth Cole unveiled its "Where Do You Stand? Campaign," addressing hot topics, such as marriage equality, gun control, a woman’s right to choose and war. Wow, Kenneth – way to stick to the superficial topics! The retailer hits some of the hardest, most debated topics in our nation in this campaign – and does so in a powerful way through the use of video, imagery and language.

This campaign does so many things well, it’s impossible to touch on them all, but here are a few to note:

• Excellent use of social media. It isn’t the typical example of social media use with Facebook and Twitter logos splattered all over the page. They are stylishly placed and easy to find, but don’t take over the campaign message.

• While addressing massive social issues, the retailer showcases what it does best—fashion— and in a way that’s not distracting, but rather adds to the questions at hand. Who can pull that off? Amazing.

• It isn’t negative; it’s thought-provoking.

• There’s another aspect of the site, called What You Stand In, that focuses in on the fashion piece of the business. Users can watch style-guide videos covering fall trends for men and women’s clothing.

A big round of applause for Kenneth Cole please. They do an outstanding job using their power and influence as a major retailer to get consumers to think about something other than just what they’re going to wear for the fall season, while also getting them to think about what they’re going to wear for the fall season. Brilliant.

What are your thoughts on the "Where Do You Stand?" Campaign? Tell us about it here!

-Heather Strang

Shopping Via Facebook - It's Here!

According to my estimations, approximately 30 percent of our work days are now spent on Facebook (otherwise known as FB). Of course, my estimations include a sample set of one, but it seems to me that everywhere I go computers are tuned into the big FB.

What the heck are we doing on there anyway?? We’re checking out past lovers, looking for new lovers, reconnecting with folks we haven’t seen in 20 years, viewing the 500th photo of our best friend’s kiddos and shopping.

Shopping? On Facebook?

Yes, it now has come to this, and we may never leave the FB portal again.

Express (one of my fave apparel retailers) recently put its entire product catalog on Facebook. It’s wild, and you’ve got to check it out.  Folks can “like” particular products, “share” them with friends and post comments. Oh, and you can add your dream products – like the drape-neck banded skirt dress (which I have to have!) to your wish list.

This is dangerous people. I may never get off of FB now.

All purchases are made completely via a secure site, just like purchasing products off of the retailer’s website.

And you know what this means. More retailers are to follow. Will we need websites anymore or will everything in our lives now be happening via Facebook?

What do you think about this expansion in social commerce? Are we giving FB more power than it needs or deserves (after watching The Social Network, I really hate that I’m supporting Mark Zuckerberg so much)? Leave your comments here!

-Heather Strang

Globalshop 2011: Lessons from the Recession

With emerging global competitors and convenient mobile applications increasingly adding competition for retailers, can physical retail stores remain relevant to today’s consumers? Achieving that relevancy is a shared hope for those at Globalshop 2011. More than 500 attendees gathered this morning (March 28) at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas for the annual conference’s sold out opening keynote, presented by Envirosell CEO Paco Underhill, a renowned author, speaker, and shopping anthropologist, who discussed today’s changing battlefield of retail and consumer shopping trends and its subsequent affect on retail stores.

“For those serving the retail and design communities, this has been a very interesting time,” says Underhill, referring that data from a DDI March 2009 report on emerging economic realities stands to be even truer today. “The world of consumption and selling will change more in the next five years than it has in the past decades.”

The recession left all consumers on a budget—no matter their placement on the economic ladder—meaning shoppers are taking more time to do pre-shopping research and have the ability to opt for more convenient and, oftentimes cheaper, purchasing methods. Today’s retailers, according to Underhill, must now change their strategy and learn how to not only navigate these changes and new technologies—such as mobile shopper applications and price comparisons—to distinguish their brand and make the consumer shopping experience not only a functional and efficient process but an integrated model that is able to serve a global market.

“Connectivity has joined Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, probably somewhere between sex and shelter,” Underhill jokes. “We’ve reached the apogee of the ‘big box,” and we can’t grow the store any bigger or get more money out of people’s pockets with our current model.” He stresses that need for retailers to recognize that we cannot go back to what retail used to be—a straight-forward buy and sell model. Instead, “a marriage of research and design is needed. It’s time to stop being afraid of conceptual design and get involved in engaging your customers,” he says.

-- Stacy Straczynski

Charge It Up At a Kiosk Near You

The Malbec was delicious and the service was impeccable. But as I sat waiting for my BFF to arrive (seriously, if Paris Hilton can have one, surely I can too), I realized that my cell phone was near dead.

OMG! How would I check my texts and take calls during my dinner date (therefore annoying and disrespecting everyone around me)? I frantically searched for an outlet. The gal managing the bar only offered up an eye roll when I asked about available outlets behind the bar.

This is what I get for living in Portland, Ore., and not New York. In fact, if I was living in New York right now, this would not have been the sad tragedy that it was. Luckily, the smart folks at goCharge recently created table-top cell phone charging kiosks that are in 50 bars in NYC.

So now, no one (or at least very few in NYC) will have to suffer the indescribable pain of sitting alone at a bar, or with someone they would rather not be with, without a working cell phone. I believe this is when the heavens open up and the angelic choir begins singing. Cueing angels now…

In all seriousness, this is most likely the wave of the future. No longer will we be scrambling in airports, restaurants and bookstores seeking available outlets to charge our phones, laptops and other technological accoutrements. Soon, cell phone charging stations will be everywhere.

goCharge sees this as a magnificent opportunity for advertising, so the kiosks are covered in sponsor advertising and LCD screens with rolling advertisements in addition to trivia games and Mad Libs.

The choice of kiosks in bars was completely intentional since goCharge’s target demographic is individuals in their mid- to late-20s who, on average, tend to spend a lot of time in bars “socializing.”

We’ve got to give them credit for a creative product that could potentially be showing up in a bar near you. I, personally, like the idea, but would suggest the following: 1) put the kiosks in places where people legitimately run out of cell battery life – airports, bookstores, travel locales, etc. 2) extend beyond just cell phones, make it a charging station for all electronic devices.

What are your thoughts? Want to drink your vodka soda, chat up a cute boy/girl and charge your cell phone? Leave your comments here!

-Heather Strang

Luxury Awaits, And for Only Half the Cost or Less!

I’ve dreamt of attending the Sundance Film Festival ever since I learned of Robert Redford’s involvement. I openly drool at the sight of a Kate Spade bag. I tell myself that one day, when my mega-watt book deal comes through (of course), I’ll be able to live the life of the rich and famous. Until then, I spend lunch breaks surfing online, taunting myself with photos of items that “someday” I hope to purchase.

Enter LuckyChic.com.

It looks as if my “someday” is showing up a lot sooner than I anticipated. Tech genius Joel Fan joined forces with two other smarties and created an e-commerce site filled with all things chic – trips to St. Barts, a package to attend New York Fashion week, Fendi/Kate Spade/Louis Vuitton handbags, gift cards for Mac, Apple and any other high-end retailer you can imagine – and much more. Then, to make those rich goods accessible to those who have not yet won fame and fortune (it’s coming though, don’t worry!), they turned the site into a bidding machine. So you could spend 30 cents and receive a $50 gift card to Sephora, or spend a couple hundred dollars for a trip to St. Barts.

Now, have I got your attention?
I know, me too – I’m signing up for the site now.

Here’s how it works:

“Utilizing purchased "Lucky Chips," consumers have the ability to win exclusive once-in-a-lifetime celebrity and travel experiences and coveted retail merchandise in a variety of lifestyle verticals including fashion handbags & accessories, consumer electronics, beauty, home/design, baby, kitchen, and fine art. The minimum number of Lucky Chips that can be currently purchased is 10 (for $6 total) and consumers are given free Lucky Chips upon account activation.” (Taken from its 1.11.11 press release.)

The site is easy to navigate and the Lucky Chic team signs off their notes to customers with “Love” – which makes me love them almost more than that Kate Spade bag. Consumers are urged to “bid” responsibly, so there’s a step-by-step tutorial to help folks through the process.

And even though LuckyChic.com is still in its start-up phase, it was already chosen as one of 2010’s “Most Brilliant 100 Companies” by Entrepreneur Magazine.

I, for one, would have to agree.

What’s your take on the LuckyChic.com concept? And how are these guys making any money? Leave your thoughts here!

-Heather Strang

Freshly Scented Sheets Spark Marketing Hoopla

When I was a kid, I hated going to bed. I was certain that as soon as I fell asleep, the adults were going to do something incredibly fun, and I was going to miss it. On occasion though, there were nights when my mom had just washed the sheets and I was so exhausted from riding my bike (big red, as I called it, complete with banana seat and huge handlebars) that I gratefully crawled into bed.

Apparently, it was really all about the sheets.

Stay with me here.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, eighty-five percent of people are more “excited” to get into a bed that has a fresh scent. Now, I’m not really sure what qualifies as “fresh” but I suspect it has something to do with that“just got out of the laundry” feeling. Downy, the masters of all things detergent, decided to take this data and spin it into a whole campaign.

Welcome to the Ultra Downy April Fresh “Clean Sheet Week” Challenge (say that 10 times fast!). This state-of-the-art liquid fabric softener has “dual note scent pearls” that allow the scent of freshness to extend for a week. Typically I would expect them to challenge Americans to sleep in Downy washed sheets for as long as they could while maintaining the “fresh” scent - but no, they didn’t go that route. Instead, they partnered with Macy’s (who happens to sell sheets) and comedian Mike Birbiglia; challenging him to sleep in Downy washed Macy’s sheets for seven nights from January 26 through February 1…in a window display at the Macy’s Herald Square flagship store in New York.

And he said yes.

Of course, this is a great promotion for virtually everyone involved. Mike will be tweeting and Facebooking his way through the seven days/nights, Downy will be in full-on promo mode with Macy’s events, ad displays and more social media updates than you could shake a stick at.  I love the multi-faceted nature of this campaign, and how a simple report from the National Sleep Foundation can spark so much creativity.

I feel for Birbiglia though, and hope he’s getting some good compensation for all of this hoopla. He allegedly suffers from an unnamed sleep disorder, according to the Downy and Macy’s press release. Seven nights with no sleep would be a drag. Do you think it ever gets quiet outside the Macy’s Herald Square store?

Besides all of that - do people really care that much about fresh sheets? Or is this a well-thought out multi-level marketing campaign? Leave your thoughts here!

-Heather Strang

P.S. Watch all the action LIVE.

Sephora Joins the Hello Kitty Revolution

My friend Lisa has a fashion problem. A fashion “problem” that also affects a large number of 10-year-old girls. You see, my friend Lisa is a Hello Kitty fanatic. She is also 37 years old. How Hello Kitty has managed to single-handedly dominate both the 10-year-old girl market as well as grown women is beyond me. But it has. And it’s done it beautifully.

Sephora is getting in on the action with its ultimate Hello Kitty Beauty charity auction beginning Monday, Jan. 17 (today!). Sephora has partnered with eBay Giving Works for this auction with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Starlight Children’s Foundation.  And let me tell you, this auction is chalk-full (thanks mom, I haven’t used or heard this phrase since I lived at home!) of must-have, to-die-for Hello Kitty goods – perfect for any die-hard Hello Kitty fan.

Here’s the dealio:

• Login to www.ebay.com/sephorahellokitty through 11:01a.m. EST on Jan. 27, 2011 to bid on any of the following:

                 - Star in your own Hello Kitty Beauty photo shoot in New York shot by a famous photographer, including hotel, airfare, makeup application by a Sephora makeup artist, invitations to an exclusive party with Ms. Yuko Yamaguchi (Hello Kitty designer from Sanrio Tokyo), a selection of Hello Kitty Beauty products, plus a custom piece of Hello Kitty artwork created especially for the shoot.

                - Three once-in-a-lifetime "Hello Kitty Beauty Experience" trip packages for two to New York, Los Angeles or Honolulu, including hotel, airfare, priority access to meet Yamaguchi at an exclusive Hello Kitty Beauty event at Sephora, makeup application by a Sephora makeup artist and a selection of Hello Kitty Beauty products.

That's just a taste of what's in store—the list of prizes goes on and on! What Hello Kitty fan is not going to go nuts for this??! It’s like Hello Kitty heaven, courtesy of Sephora and eBay.

Folks can check out the Sephora and Hello Kitty Facebook pages for more info as well: www.facebook.com/sephora
www.facebook.com/hellokitty

Sephora is doing it right: charity auction, cult Hello Kitty following and utilizing social media. Will you participate in the Hello Kitty frenzy? If so, share your experience here. Or do you know of other retailers utilizing this type of strategy, and doing it well? Let us know about it!

--Heather Strang