Consumers increasingly use brick-and-mortar stores, the Web and catalogs interchangeably, according to a report released yesterday by Adjoined Consulting Inc., Miami.
The report, “Retail Demand 2005: Emerging Consumer Desires in the Retail Sector,” is based on findings from a panel of 5,000 U.S. consumers who rated 25 leading retailers' abilities to meet their emotional and rational desires. This is the second year that Adjoined completed the survey.
“Consumers expect all aspects of the retailer supply chain to work seamlessly with each other in order to deliver a single, united customer experience,” said John A. White III, a managing officer in Adjoined's strategy services — products division. “The days of online versus physical stores are behind us, and the champions will be those retailers that can integrate multiple shopping channels seamlessly and deliver the right products and services at the right price and time.”
The study's findings include:
· Nearly 80 percent of consumers use brick-and-mortar stores, the Web and catalogs interchangeably, up from 57 percent a year ago.
· The top-performing retailers in each channel are: mass merchant, Wal-Mart and Target; department store, Neiman Marcus; apparel store, Coach; Internet merchant, Amazon.com.
· Consumers fall into four categories: Thrifties, who shop at mass merchants as well as Kohl's and eBay to get the best prices; Allures, who want a social and fun shopping experience and shop at Coach, The Limited and Bloomingdale's; Speedsters, who look to save time yet want access to brands and prefer to shop at Target, Costco and Overstock.com; and Elites, who take their time looking for the best and shop at Neiman Marcus, Toys 'R' Us and Amazon.com.
Chantal Todé covers catalog and retail news and BTB marketing for DM News and DM News.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
