Scoring the shopper trifecta

The discussion and debate over the good and bad of online retailing continues. Last week Channel Nine and SBS took balanced and thoughtful positions on how the store and online formats are coming together.

In New Zealand, and around the world, the debate and conversations are just the same.

I always enjoy visiting and working with Kiwi retailers and manufacturers. Again last week, I had the opportunity to meet with the bright and innovative men and women who are thinking and sorting their way through New Zealand’s tough economic and retailing climate.

In fact, New Zealand is enduring a much harsher retail climate than Australia or the United States.

New Zealand’s market has a much more limited retail competition landscape, with even fewer retail groups than Australia has, but that doesn’t seem to concern anybody.

This limited retail competition landscape is just the sphere in which all shoppers and manufacturers experience retailing.

Interestingly, some of the store formats and online offerings are truly innovative and representative of world class retailers, regardless of the small size of the market and its far-flung geographic isolation.

During the week, I attended three separate retail planning meetings with senior management of the New Zealand subsidiary of one of the biggest food companies, the New Zealand subsidiary of one of the world’s biggest entertainment and electronics companies, and with the CEO of one of the world’s smallest, and potentially fastest-growing, food companies, which is based in Dunedin, at the bottom of South Island.

I am aware that calm and quiet optimism is part of the Kiwi psyche, but what struck me most in these meetings, was how natural and integrated online retailing and communication are within the minds of these decision-makers and their businesses.

In these discussions, there were no downsides, just issues to address and dots to join, in order to allow the shopper to buy their products whenever and wherever they want.

For me, the most remarkable part of the trip was seeing just how far the Woolworths New Zealand business has come in the past five years.

Today, the company is branded under one national banner, “Countdown”. With the same fresh green imagery of its Australian parent, it has developed and delivered store formats, brand communication and a strong online offering, which is impressing manufacturers and wooing shoppers with the offer of a great and thoroughly integrated shopping experience.

And when retailers get it right, with the support of their manufacturers, shoppers enjoy choice, good service and better pricing. That’s called the “shopper trifecta”.

In his role as CEO of CROSSMARK, Kevin Moore looks at the world of retailing from grocery to pharmacy, bottle shops to car dealers, corner store to department stores. In this insightful blog, Kevin covers retail news, ideas, companies and emerging opportunities in Australia, NZ, the US and Europe. His international career in sales and marketing has seen him responsible for business in over 40 countries, which has earned him grey hair and a wealth of expertise in international retailers and brands. CROSSMARK Asia Pacific is Australasia’s largest provider of retail marketing services, consulting to and servicing some of Australasia’s biggest retailers and manufacturers.