In "Seeing Past the 'Core Customer': Channel-blurring means [image-nocss] retailers should embrace complexity--and even paradox," Bona described how timeworn retail channels are blurring today in interesting ways: Malls that once relied on upscale, fashion-forward tenant lineups, for example, are now welcoming the likes of Costco and Target to backfill vacated department store spaces. Walgreens, which has been looking more like a convenience store with each passing year, now aims to put e-vehicle fueling stations in its parking lots, making that resemblance even more striking.
"Convenience stores, once known for that shriveled hot dog of indeterminate age, are transforming into something akin to a quick-serve restaurant, replete with cafes and prepared meals," wrote the veteran retail designer. "Even Goodwill is cleaning up its stores and moving into nicer neighborhoods."
Given these changes, Bona wrote, many retailers could discover new opportunities by reaching out to the heterogeneous mix that is their customer base. While he acknowledged the value of data-driven customer profiles, Bona also pointed to the rarely discussed limitations of drawing up vivid descriptions of a core customer and then basing all subsequent campaigns on the perceived needs of this composite character.
"In all likelihood," he wrote, "you have heard or even given presentations that rely on this kind of language: 'Her name is Cindy. She's 37, works in the insurance business and has 2.3 kids. Her husband, Dale, is an IT whiz. He hates going to the mall and has just started doing online shopping with his beloved iPad'."
This single-minded focus on one type of shopper tends to ignore the reality of channel-blurring. Over time, however, more retailers have learned to appreciate that their stores are not necessarily for one type of person alone. "Cross-shopping among store formats and price-points is rare only among the very rich and the very poor," Bona wrote. "Cindy might be perfectly content to buy her husband an anniversary present at Nordstrom, but then hit T.J. Maxx for a small token of affection for one of her girlfriends."
Indeed, savvy retailers have already prospered by reaching out to new shoppers. "Walmart did this by ramping up quality and cleanliness while preserving its emphasis on price," Bona wrote. "Duane Reade, the New York pharmacy chain, has done a fantastic job of reaching out to a broad array of shopper types using everything from organic foods to high-quality cosmetics."
In the "new normal" of today's economy, Bona explained, shoppers will continue to be circumspect about how they spend, and this will make cookie-cutter approaches even more outdated. "Embracing complexity--or even, at times, paradox--is a must," he wrote. "While your brand might have been founded on other attributes, it is still possible to introduce, say, more value or convenience." But balance is important. "Your niche still has to be your strength," Bona concluded. "Retailers who try too hard to be all things to all people can overreach, just as those who focus too much on an ideal 'core customer' can miss valuable opportunities with the rest of us."
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New York City-based CBX is a fully integrated creative agency specializing in retail design and operations, brand and corporate identity development, packaging, research and motion branding. As a full-service consultancy, it offers architecture, interior design, merchandise and store planning, identity and branding, graphics and environmental graphic design, media design, product design, master planning, construction detailing and consumer research.
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