Navigating Retail: Curating a brand for modern consumers

Establishing a strong brand identity and an effective retail strategy is crucial for success in a dynamic market.

Continually evolving with your audience and creating unique experiences for them will contribute to a compelling and unique brand presence and help strengthen even the most robust retail approach in the modern market.

In this article, the third for our Navigating Retail series, we’ll discuss two key trends for consideration in your brand strategy - the generational shift of consumer demographics, and their preference for experiences over products.

Building loyalty across generations

• Retailers must adapt to build loyalty

As we discussed in the first article in this series, the growing Gen Z and Millennial market have a very different interpretation of loyalty compared to the Baby Boomer generation. For Baby Boomers, adopting a brand takes a long time, and moving away from that brand is also incredibly hard. They are less willing to try new brands, but incredibly loyal. In contrast, younger generations haven't established loyalty; they seek the stimulation of choice. They’re more willing to try new brands, but loyalty is difficult to earn.

The best way to build loyalty is to ensure you're supplying the best total offer on a continual basis and understanding how to market to these groups, particularly from a social perspective. Maximising performance across all social channels in a targeted and appropriate manner is crucial, and establishing loyalty programs can only achieve so much. If you're not constantly thinking about your customer and the changing nature of their behaviour, you'll lose them anyway - no loyalty program will keep them.

There is nothing more important than branding itself when dealing with loyalty, no matter the generation. Therefore, your brand must go further than consistent colours and fancy logos. Your brand should be an identity that consumers can relate and connect to.

Take the time to build, adapt, and reinforce your brand

Many consumers stay loyal to a brand due to an attachment to it, and brand trust is one of the most important factors influencing consumers when it comes to loyalty.

No amount of change management can be effective without clarity around your brand’s purpose and values. Investing in your brand is crucial, not just financially but in every aspect - if the culture isn't understood and embraced by the organisation, it won’t be understood by the consumer and as a result of losing both of these audiences, it will flounder.

• Fundamental behaviour shift: experiences over things

Consumers are increasingly seeking experiences that offer personal growth, happiness, and satisfaction, which they perceive as more valuable than the mere ownership of products.

Fifteen years ago, there was a strong bias toward buying products. Now, many consumers across all demographic sectors are seeking to buy better products, but less of them, and they are focusing more on enjoying experiences.

This shift stalled during the pandemic as many experiences, like travel and entertainment, were shut down, but since they have reopened, the demand for experiences jumped and continues to grow.

This emphasis on experiences is partly because we are more confident in our wealth and the mass availability products, both necessary and luxury items alike.

We know there will always be food at the supermarket, clothing available, and a warm bed to sleep in, and education has played a key role here. We have a far better-educated society today, both in and out of school and the ongoing level of education has increased with each passing decade, with people constantly updating themselves to stay current.

This education drives confidence and makes people more mindful of what things are worth, particularly in the health and well-being space, which was accelerated by COVID. For example, most consumers now focus more on what they're eating, how often, and where it comes from. This focus on hygiene and fitness regimes has become an important part of our lives, and the pandemic made us realise the true value of real-life experiences and the importance of health and well-being.

This is being seen across the retail landscape, and shows no sign of slowing down.

Adapting your offering

This trend underscores a broader move towards seeking fulfillment and meaning through experiences rather than through the accumulation of goods, driven by a desire for authentic, memorable interactions that contribute to one's identity and well-being. For this reason, it's crucial for retailers to ensure they're not just facilitating transactions, but also, providing experiences.

For brands, this shift presents both challenges and opportunities. While it necessitates a re-evaluation of traditional marketing and product-centric strategies, it also opens up new avenues for engagement through experience-driven offerings. Brands that successfully integrate meaningful experiences into their value proposition can foster stronger loyalty and advocacy among their customer bases of all generations.

Retailers are responding by creating immersive, experience-driven environments that engage customers beyond traditional shopping. Concepts like experiential retailing, where stores offer unique in-store experiences, workshops, or events, are becoming more prevalent, aiming to create deeper connections with consumers, and do more than just sell a product.

Some brands deliver great service at the coalface, enhancing the standard in-store experience. The role of the ‘store’ includes all the components that make up the store, from location to navigation systems and customer support. This meaningful brand image is created within the store environment, whether that be a virtual shopfront, or brick-and-mortar establishment.

From an online perspective, there is still opportunity to create a unique experience despite the commoditisation of e-commerce platforms. It's about how you choose to use these platforms for your business to reinforce your business's purpose and principles, creating a refined and unique experience for your customers.

How BDO can help

As consumer preferences continue to evolve with the growth of our younger generations, it’s important to be confident in the core of your brand while remaining adaptive to stay in front of new trends and behaviours. Look to your customer experience for opportunities to differentiate yourself in the market and gain loyalty.

Retail strategies developed to adapt to this situation will vary widely, subject to multiple factors such as category, customer demographics and the maturity of online propositions. For tailored solutions for your business, our retail experts are here to help. Contact us today.