Recently I read a lot of blogs and articles about changing shopping behavior and what drives those changes. Many different reasons were offered: from price to selection and convenience.
I think in retails’ more than 3000 years of existence there have only been 3 major transformations impacting shopper behavior all driven by retailers’ desire for operational efficiencies.
For many centuries the small store staffed by the owner or an attendant dominated retail. Then came self-serve shopping which gave the shopper control over the shopping process. On the heel of self-serve came one-stop shopping driven by increasing store sizes giving shoppers the convenience to buy everything in one place instead of having to go to the butcher, baker, grocer and farmer.
For many years shoppers had control and convenience with one major component missing: transparency. Shoppers were dependent on newspaper inserts from retailers to find out about best prices and selection of products. The arrival of the Internet and the mobile device to access it solved that issue.
Now shoppers have Control, Convenience and Transparency.
- Control through self-serve: select what, where and when to buy and for how much
- Convenience through one-stop: global shopping mall in every pocket
- Transparency through the Internet: knowledge of best selection, location and price
