Three Observations on 2011 Retail

Others will comprehensively comment on chain closings, product hits and misses and results by various categories and specific retailers. Instead, here are a few observations on the year just past.

1. It was a good year. Overall, retail sales grew 6.5%, according to the US Dept of Commerce. That’s the best growth in over a decade. Holiday sales grew 4.1%, more than the 2.8% predicted by the National Retail Federation as recently as Thanksgiving. Auto sales contributed significantly by jumping 10% in 2011. Consumer confidence grew after several years of severe weakness.

2. ZMOT matters. Both consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and retailers recognized that the “zero moment of truth,” when people search, seek opinions of others and explore purchase options before even going out to buy – online or in-person – is crucial to success. You must win the ZMOT before the first moment of truth (at the store) or the second (when the consumer uses the product). ZMOT gained great currency in 2011.

3. Bricks meet clicks. For 15 years, people have forecast the end of bricks-and-mortar stores at the hands of the Internet. That’s hooey. Shopping remains a visceral, social and even entertaining activity that meets peoples’ needs. Smart phones, QR codes and mobile marketing only made the retail experience better in 2011.

Shopnocentrism

I'm guilty. Are you? When I think about "at-retail marketing," I think about North American retail environments like Target or Toys'R'Us or Kohls. By contrast, for much of the world, the photo to the left is retail reality.

The photo came this morning from a friend living in Accra, Ghana where he visited the famous Makola Market on a slow, post-holiday shopping day. Normally, people jam every square inch of the area selling or buying products.

What common elements of in-store advertising do you see? People stake out there real estate - literally - like we do here. They present their wares in an attractive, user-friendly way. Some of the stalls offer umbrellas to make it easier for shoppers to tarry on a sunny day. Another guy takes "mobile" to a new level with a four-wheel cart for getting his wares up closer to the shopper. There are few POP displays per se but, then again, each stall is manned by a seller who can capture the shopper's attention, answer questions and suggest purchases, something that must often be accomplished without a shopkeeper in the Western world. This difference aside, color, product variety and depth, signage, presentation - it's all here.

Wherever people buy and sell products, those of us who work in this broader world can learn. Be aware of your own shopnocentrism. Whether an outdoor market or the indoor bazaar of Herald Square, the precepts of effective point-of-purchase advertising are universal.