Consumers are, now, more than ever looking to shop with brands that share their ideals and values.
How can retailers determine their purpose and convey it to both their employees and customers?
Fears for the future of our planet and the treatment of workers are driving a surge in the numbers of socially conscious customers.
These customers are the ones who vote with their feet and shop with brands that share their values.
Why is this happening now?
Simply put, shopping isn’t the same as it used to be.
Start-ups and support industries are on the rise, swooping in fast to grab market share.
They are able to sell directly to end consumers rather than following traditional wholesale models.
Offering a product at the right price may have done the trick in the past to gain the confidence of customers, but things have changed.
The planet is now an interconnected marketplace, with the number of consumers rising all the time.
The number of buying points has exploded and consumers can shop at any time and from anywhere.
Here are 3 considerations for retailers who want to stay relevant and open.
Number 1:
A good cause.
A simple way to demonstrate purpose and do good is to ask the consumer to round up their purchase or add a pound for a good cause.
An advantage of modern Point of Sale systems is that you can simply add and track this method of fundraising.
Adding a pound at checkout, for example, could plant two trees and give 10p to a good cause.
This makes the consumer associate their purchase with both climate positivity and social good.
You can use point of sale to add a positive element to purchases online as well as in bricks and mortar stores.
This positive action is already popular with merchants such as PayPal.
Number 2:
Make products about experiences.
With COVID and travel bans, consumers are desperate for new experiences.
Take for example the rise in popularity of cook yourself meals.
This is directly down to changing consumers values.
A restaurant could make meal-packages for customers to prepare their favourite meals at home with the aid of an online lesson from a top chef.
A craft store could sell kits for a famous project and provides an online class from a teacher.
You can meet consumers’ new way of consuming your products, by adding a positive experience, along with positive action.
Number 3:
Go directly to your customers.
COVID has driven a need for contactless transactions.
This means you should be thinking about going direct to your customers.
Nike is doing just this by focusing on Nike Direct.
Telling your story and making sure your consumer understands what your brand is about, must focus on purpose.
A great example of this is the direct-to-consumer sock brand Bombas.
The team at Bombas linked its sales to its good causes.
They began to communicate this information over social media.
The outcome was a 50% increase in its year-on-year sales despite the world being in lockdown.
There has never been a better time to look at new with purpose collaborations that will open new markets for your business.
Making your business profitable and doing more good in the world, just makes sense.
