According to research firm The Hartman Group, people have a broad view of the definition of wellness. When polled, 67 percent of participants defined wellness as “not being ill” and “being able to deal with stress.” More than 70 percent described wellness as “being physically fit” and “feeling good about myself.”

In an interview with Adweek, Shelley Balanko, VP of Ethnographic Research at The Hartman Group explains what retailers can take away from this study‘s results.

“While the notion of quality of life is very broad, consumers are still looking to markers of quality on a category-by-category basis.” Balanko said. “Consumers are becoming more attuned to authenticity cues to discern the ‘real’ from the ‘fake.’ Authenticity is communicated through compelling product/company narratives with products containing whole, real and clean ingredients created by knowledgeable people who genuinely care.”

In short, consumers largely base wellness on coming first from the notion of “you are what you eat.” Food companies, especially, take note. Brand development and marketing strategies should focus on promoting wellness, but just making a sticker for a product that exclaims, “Promotes wellness!” won’t convince a consumer that the product is worth buying. Instead, companies must convince consumers their product is real and authentically good. Be warned: consumers do not like being treated like children. Food companies should stay away from being preachy or overly complimentary: You don’t know how amazing you are! If only you knew after trying our product!

“When spoken to as a peer, and presented with high-quality products (regardless of health-and-wellness positioning), consumers respond with interest as they seek high-quality experiences for a quality life.”

As the electronics business gets more competitive with discount stores like Target and Walmart fighting specialized stores like Best Buy for a larger customer base, stores realize they need to do a lot more than just stock shelves with the products customers want–and need. In an effort to become more of a destination electronic store, Target announced new services for electronics shoppers.

Among the new offerings, Target is adding a free telephone technical support service for purchases, an electronics recycling program that offers store gift cards and more wireless phone choices.

“Electronics are getting more complicated and more of us are connected to the Internet and wireless,” Senior Vice President Mark Schindele said. “Guests want a seamless experience.”

Like Best Buy’s Geek Squad and Apple’s Genius Bar, Target’s new services hope to bring more traffic to the store. Time will tell whether consumers will buy what Target is selling.

Ann Taylor reported a second-quarter profit and rising sales that even bested their lower-priced namesake Loft chain, which used to be a superstar during the recession. MarketWatch quotes the company saying gross-margin comps “dramatically outpaced” sales performance because of “the strength of the full-priced offering.”

It’s an encouraging report for women retailers. Often, women retailers feel the effects of a recession harder than other companies. When women oversee the household finances, they tend to cut back their own spending first. Plus, Ann Taylor, a retailer known for supplying professional clothing, found itself in a tricky situation trying to sell business clothes amidst job layoffs and potential job layoffs.

While the economy still isn’t in great shape, it’s nice to hear that retailers can do well in the present situation.

According to a recent study done by the Pew Research Center, consumer needs aren’t the same as they once were. According to the study, just 42 percent of Americans say they consider a television set a necessity, down from 52 percent just last year and 64 percent in 2006. The landline telephone also saw a dip in numbers. Of those polled, 62 percent still consider the landline phone a necessity, down from 68 percent in 2009.

“It’s true that in the digital era, consumers know they can watch a lot of television programming on their computers or smartphones,” Pew said. They also can make calls from their cell phones, a belief young people especially share. Fewer than half of those in the 18-29 age range consider a landline phone a necessity, but almost 60 percent think a cell phone is a must have item.

The report also shows people consider cars, clothes dryers, microwaves, home air conditioners and home PCs as less of a necessity than years prior.

“This suggests that the psyche of the American consumer is in a much different place now than it had been in the heady days before the recession.”

Still, just because more people categorize certain goods as a luxury over a necessity doesn’t mean the products aren’t selling. Retailers can take this information and apply what they know to their future marketing strategies.

Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with the NPD Group, told msnbc.com, “The consumer is not in any rush.”

An earnings call from Walmart indicated more shoppers are making their school supply purchases closer to their schools’ start dates. The National Retail Federation also predicted a quarter of school shoppers won’t begin their back-to-school shopping until one or two weeks before school begins. In some cases, families may even put the shopping off until later in the fall after seeing what’s in style and what students really need.

Still, the National Retail Federation predicts American families will eventually spend more on back-to-school supplies and clothes than last year. Back-to-college spending should remain about the same.

Meanwhile, retailers are offering deals for the customers now. Abercrombie & Fitch’s jeans are currently 40 percent off, Target is offering free shipping on $50 online purchases and Amazon.com has bargains on coffee makers, printers, microwaves and textbooks for college students.

“It is an intimidating category with lots of complexity,” said Sam’s Club Chief Executive Brain Cornell in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “This will allow a member to walk up to a Samsung LCD Internet-enabled TV and see how to find his Facebook page or stream video from Vudu.”

Wi-Fi will also improve customers’ in-store Internet access on their smart phones and will allow them to easily find more information about a product and do comparison shopping within the store. Sam’s Club isn’t concerned about its customers doing price comparisons with its competitors. Consumer electronic analyst Stephen Baker from NPD Group, a market research firm, confirmed Sam’s Club has little to worry about in that respect. “[Retailers] know they are not going to lose customers over a few dollars, and many retailers have price-match programs.”

Retail analysts agree Wi-Fi access is especially important in stores like Sam’s Club, a place that is known for low prices and not necessarily for its customer service. One of Sam’s Club’s competitors, Best Buy, is also developing a mobile application for its customers this holiday season. Many other stores are sure to follow suit.

Corporate leaders dramatically overestimate how much the customer wants to talk to a customer service representative. They believe customers value live service twice as much as self-service. HBR’s data shows customers are significantly indifferent to that claim, and they value self-service just as much as they value using the phone. More interestingly, that indifference doesn’t change across their demographic, issue type or urgency.

It’s an interesting predicament: what should your company do to improve its customer service when the customer prefers self-service? And what’s compelling the customer to repel real-life interaction? It could be argued that with the rise in social networks, people don’t like to engage in as many face-to-face conversations with others. Maybe fascination with technology has won out and the lure of fancy, powerful machines are more attractive than the sales associates. Or, now, everyone considers themselves a control freak and dislikes relying on other people to get something done.

Or maybe, customers haven’t wanted the relationships companies have been pushing all along and this rise in self-service finally gives them the easy way out. That’s not a comforting thought for retailers who build their company on the promises of quality customer service. So, what should those retailers do?

It’s a simple task in the world of automated customer service recordings, information computer stations and high tech self-service cash registers: have customer service reps be real people. Too often, customers blow off the sales associates because they sound like robots reading from a script. If customer service practices create authentic experiences by individualizing how each customer gets served, it’s a good bet that customers will again appreciate that friendly face that greets them right when they walk through the door.

A Virgin Atlantic customer’s free limo failed to pick him up at his hotel (apparently the customer waited at the wrong door). So, he called a cab and arrived at the airport angry, running late and nervous he would miss his flight. A Virgin agent spotted him and tried to calm him down, apologized for the limo mix up and rushed him through the security staff lane to get him to his gate. She even reimbursed his taxi fare out of her own pocket. The passenger boarded the plane on time thanks to the Virgin agent’s ability to turn a negative customer experience into a positive one.

Unfortunately, when the agent later recounted this story to her supervisor and asked to be reimbursed for the $70 taxi fare, her supervisor asked if she had a receipt and refused to repay her without one. Branson pointed out that had any Virgin employees learned of the agent’s trouble with the supervisor, they would be unlikely to act in similar manners when other potential customer service issues arise. Agents would hesitate to steer from procedure to help customers if they knew their jobs would be at risk. That’s definitely not a good thing for Virgin’s customers, and therefore, not a good thing for Virgin.

Luckily, the airport manager heard about this story and intervened. He informed the finance team that he approved the reimbursement and educated the supervisor on the merits of “catching people doing something right.”

Branson writes, “Good customer service on the shop floor begins at the very top. If your senior people don’t get it, even the strongest links further down the line can become compromised, as the story shows.”

Train your employees well enough and instill faith in them that they can always act in a way where they’re “doing as they would be done by.” When your employees are happy, your customers are happy, and therefore, your company is happy as well.

The study reports that only four percent of U.S. online adults use location-based mobile apps such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt. Only one percent update these services more than once a week. Even more, a good majority of respondents—84 percent—claimed they were unfamiliar with the apps, a number to surely make companies rethink how necessary it is to start a marketing campaign using LBSNs.

Those numbers may seem like LBSNs aren’t a great investment at this time, but the report calls for another look. Among location-based service users, almost 80 percent of them are male and about 70 percent of them have a college degree and are between the ages of 19 and 35. Even more importantly, Forrester discovered these users are highly influential. They are far more likely to research products and read customer reviews and frequently have family and friends coming to them for advice before purchasing a product. In this sense, companies in the gaming, electronics and sportswear industry that target their marketing plan to men may want to include an early adoption of LBSNs.

Still, plenty of companies have launched marketing plans with location-based apps that aren’t just for the guys, including PepsiCo and Starbucks. When deciding whether LBSNs are right for you brand, consider your demographic and marketing plan’s goals. Weigh whether you want to establish yourself early in the location-based marketing playing field or whether you’d rather sit in the bullpen and wait until the user numbers grow to give it a try. Like every other marketing plan for a retailer, whether it be holding a sweepstakes, advertising or social networking, location-based mobile apps can be just another tool in a well-stocked toolbox.

Forbes Insights published a study that surveyed leading U.S. retailers’ use of mobile applications in enhancing consumer’s shopping experiences. Researchers discovered many retailers–almost fifty percent–are hoping to capture first-mover advantage as their customers go mobile. The levels of sophistication in mobile design and application vary depending on the retailer and its goals. For many, the mobile features are a scaled-back version of their website. Others have ventured into offering transaction-based and customer-oriented applications that use powerful GPS technology to pinpoint an individual customer’s needs.

Whether you want to try to increase e-commerce sales, give out coupons or suggest products to your customer, mobile applications must be molded to fit your store’s demographic and mission in order to be effective. American Eagle Outfitters, a specialty retailer that caters to 15-25 year olds, was one of the earliest adopters of mobile technology when they launched their mobile website in August 2008. They recognized their customer base was highly engaged in mobile technology and made sure to capitalize on that activity by going to where there customers spent their time: on their mobile phones. Since the experiment began, the store has seen several hundred thousand customers opt in and contribute to sales through the mobile site. Vice President Michael Dupuis cites their success to consistency across all channels. Customers can access all the same information on their mobile phone that is on American Eagle’s website. Similarly, The North Face built applications that use GPS technology to determine the location of skiers, bikers, rock climbers, runners, and more. The mobile phone users can then access information about terrain they soon will face and read suggestions for how to tackle the trails. The possibilities for what kind of mobile application a retailer develops are endless, and it’s important to figure out what your customers want in their hands.

Retailers should know that mobile technology is not a passing fad. Soon, customers will expect stores to have mobile applications. Like a website, mobile technology will be just another part of the shopping experience.

PSFK advised retailers to think of all store locations as flagship stores and treat customer visits as opportunities to tell the story of the brand. Disney stores executed this idea by remodeling their stores to become a family entertainment hub where kids can interact and play with the merchandise. The New England grocery chain Stew Leonard’s organized their stores by stocking merchandise needed for certain occasions together, such as a barbecue or birthday party. Customers then buy items for an experience and possibly pick up a few things they didn’t think they needed, like birthday hats or corn on the cob holders. Stew Leonard’s stores also have animatronic farm animals kids can play with, flat screens that show feeds of their own daily cows and bountiful offerings of free samples.

The important thing to remember is that the store is an extension of the brand and thus offers a unique opportunity to create an immersive brand experience for the consumer. Apple stores capitalize on this opportunity by keeping their design aesthetic relevant to their brand and by offering product testing stations and optional education classes for customers. Lance Armstrong’s bike shop in Austin, Tex., is meant to be a hub for the diverse biking community, whether people are beginners or almost pros. Mellow Johnny’s even has a coffee shop, showers and bike storage systems to encourage more people to join the cycling community. By creating a community and not just a software store or cycling shop, Apple and Mellow Johnny’s make a visit to their stores not just another stop on an errand run but a place to spend an afternoon browsing and talking with others.
 
It’s also important to note that the stories retailers tell require scene changes. In order to keep up with shopping and cultural trends, retailers need to continually reinvent the shopping experience, all the while still keeping the brand’s core message and story in mind. Product displays and merchandise need to be rearranged and transformed to give the customer a reason to return.

PSFK highlighted some great ideas of how retailers can leverage technology and drive consumers to their stores. For certain retailers, it may be helpful for the customer if they post wait times, store maps and inventory lists on their website. Google has launched an initiative to begin posting pictures of the insides of places on Google maps. Retailers can set up an appointment with Google photographers to get their interior shot and added to the Google places site. In the meantime, stores can post updated interior photos themselves and even set up a web cam so customers can watch a live stream of the store’s activity any time they want. This way, customers can time their visits based on whether they think the photos and videos show it’s a good time for them to shop.

Once a customer gets to the store, employees can use technology to create a more personalized shopping experience. Sales staff can use handheld devices and iPhone and iPad attachments to make transactions on the floor, freeing them from the desks and increasing interaction with customers. iPads stationed in store can run applications that help customers find what they’re looking for or get more information about a product when they don’t want to talk to a sales person.

Stores can also encourage its customers to share their experience on social networking sites by building a station where they can upload a picture or message in store. Diesel in Spain equipped their stores with a kiosk and camera so customers can upload photos to their social networking sties and ask for friends’ opinions as they try on outfits. This summer, JC Penney embraced user-generated content and had kids create YouTube back-to-school haul videos, showing friends what they bought when they shopped at JC Penney. The department store hopes the viral videos featuring ordinary teens will influence followers and friends to make similar purchases.

Technology will continue to be a welcome addition to the physical store environment. It’s a valuable asset in helping retailers create a destination shopping experience through storytelling and product education.

The retailer that boasted more than $400 billion in store revenues in 2009 launched a store remodeling initiative named Project Impact in an effort to boost efficiency and sales. The project started in 2008 and is on track to have reached about 32 percent of its stores by the end of 2010. Forbes reports that the remaining stores should be remodeled by 2014.

Project Impact was put in place to declutter stores and highlight popular merchandise while discontinuing unpopular items. Reduced inventory and improved inventory turnover supports Wal-Mart’s goal to be the low price leader and helps attract customers and increase sales. Many believe the remodeling strategy was a way to appeal to consumers who frequent the retail stores Target and Costco.

Project Impact is reportedly yielding positive results. New customer data shows that Wal-Mart is attracting more upscale customers with higher household incomes and has driven a sales boost of between 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent. Even after bringing back several product categories that were initially cut, Wal-Mart still decreased its inventory volume by 6 to 8 percent, improving its working capital position.

In this volatile economy and fast-paced digital age, retailers can’t afford to be static fixtures. Wal-Mart’s renewed attention to customer service, consumer experience and store management has proved to be a winning combination for the retailer, reinforcing the idea that not all change is bad.

TheStreet points out that the survey echoes a 2006 Journal of Marketing study regarding the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). That study revealed the top 20 percent of companies in the ACSI combined outperformed the Dow by 93 percent, doubled the S&P 500 and nearly tripled the Nasdaq.

This year, Nordstrom saw increases in its ACSI as well as its net earnings, and it currently leads all department store retailers. It boasts an ACSI score of 83 out of 100, up 6 points from 2009, and saw a 44 percent boost in net earnings, a 17 percent jump in net sales and a 12 percent increase in same-store sales in the first quarter that ended May 1.

Jim Bush, American Express Executive Vice President for World Service, thinks some companies should rethink how they view customer service. “It’s important to see [it] as an investment, not a cost.”

It’s an investment with an infinite payoff. According to the survey, 75 percent of consumers claim good customer service will make them spread the word about a company that treated them well. Today’s digital age makes that easy for them to do. Reward your customers, and they will reward your company.

In an interview and a book excerpt posted on NPR, Underhill reveals that five years ago, young women under the age of thirty over took men in earning power for the first time in history. Underhill writes, “In the United States, the chances of being twenty-five years old and gainfully employed are higher if you’re a female than a male. These odds go up even further if we don’t consider immigrant, African-American, and Latino populations. Economic hard times favor females, too. During the recent recession, 82 percent of job losses befell men, who tend to be disproportionately represented in industries like construction and manufacturing. Historically, women are apt to work in fields such as education and health care, which are more resistant to economic swings.”

More money means more power, independence and wealth to spread. Retailers better take notice, and Underhill points out that some of them already have.

Using examples from the hospitality industry, Underhill explains how hotels have tweaked their shower curtains to appeal to a woman’s higher standards in personal hygiene and modified their check-in process to increase a woman’s feelings of security.

When trying to increase a female customer base, retailers should not only concentrate on what products and services they sell, they should also place importance on how they’re doing the selling.

Ms. Scott is the former Chief Executive Officer of Pathmark Stores, Inc., where she spent the bulk of her 30‐year retail career. She rose through Pathmark’s management training program and held a variety of positions including vice president of sales and marketing, senior vice president of non‐foods and pharmacy, executive vice president of merchandising and logistics, and executive vice president of store operations before being appointed CEO in October 2002. At that time, she was the first female CEO of a U.S. public supermarket company and one of only seven female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Scott retired from Pathmark in September 2005 after successfully negotiating a $150 million private equity investment in the company.

“Eileen is uniquely qualified to lead ICC/Decision Services into the next decade, when we project tremendous growth, particularly in the areas of customer experience management and shopper marketing,” said David Rich, CEO of ICC/Decision Services. “I am thrilled to have her join us and I look forward to working with her and our clients to redefine how to measure, manage and improve the customer experience.”

“I am excited to join the ICC/Decision Services team and focus on the goal of helping our clients hear the voices of their customers and use actionable metrics to drive sustained customer experience improvement,” said Scott.

Additional background
After leaving Pathmark, Scott decided to fulfill a longtime dream of getting a graduate degree. She received her MBA in Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business in January 2009. Most recently, she served as interim executive director of the Women’s Fund of New Jersey at the request of the Board of Directors. She managed the organization during a difficult time and led the executive search and eventual transition to a new executive director.

Scott is a member of the Board of Directors of Perdue Farms, Inc., The Food Bank for New York City and the Girl Scouts of the USA. She is a charter member and champion of the Network for Executive Women, whose mission is to attract, retain and advance women in the retail and consumer products industry.

About ICC/Decision Services
ICC/Decision Services was founded in 1979 to design and execute Customer Experience Management programs. The company offers a wide range of qualitative and quantitative business tools, including mystery shopping, shopper intercepts, iPhone applications, conversion rates tools, customer satisfaction and employee engagement. Clients include Coach, L.L. Bean, Rite Aid, 7‐11, Foot Locker, CVS, Walmart and others. The company is headquartered at 122 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001 U.S.A. Phone (800) 444‐1717. More information is available at www.iccds.com.

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The In-Store Marketing Summit is the premier educational conference for agencies, CPGs, retailers and P-O-P producers looking to improve their retail marketing strategy.

David Rich is the President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, a privately held company headquartered in New York City serving customers across North America. David has spent close to two decades in the retail and customer experience management and, as President and CEO of ICC, he develops creative solutions for some of the world’s leading retail brands in many of the largest retail vertical markets. ICC/Decision Services offers a wide range of qualitative and quantitative business tools, including mystery shopping, customer feedback and employee satisfaction surveys. Clients include Coach, L.L. Bean, Rite Aid, Eddie Bauer, Foot Locker, Walmart and others. The company is headquartered at 122 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001, U.S.A. Phone: (800) 444-1717. E-mail: info@iccds.com. More information is available at www.iccds.com.

Pret A Manger

“My name is Evan Georges. I am the Manager at this Pret Shop.”

“My team and I meet every morning. We discuss the points you’ve raised, the good, the bad and the ugly. If we can deal wit it ourselves, we will. If we can’t, I’ll forward this card to Martin Bates, our president. I know he’ll do what he can. Either way, thanks.”

I guarantee few issues end up in Mr Bates office. The reason is simple…the stores are empowered to take care of the customer. Further, and perhaps most importantly they have clearly communicated this to their customers. BTW…As a customer, I had an excellent experience today. No surprise.

This story on CRM.com discusses the subtle, but very important differences achieved in giving the customer experience a high profile in your day-to-day operations. Here are a few of the major points:

It is true that the customer experience has a lot to do with sales and marketing, but to limit it to these silos is to miss the larger point. Everyone in your organization is a touch point to the consumer.

It’s also true that the customer experience reflects the emotions or feelings of your consumers. However, there are also tangible elements like contract clarity, financial options, web support, or even something as simple as the ease of transporting your product.

There are those who believe customer experience is a “tradeoff to profitability.” This “necessary evil” attitude is misleading. A healthier viewpoint is to see your operations as a means to solving your customers’ problems. The better you can do this, the more profitable you will be.

The truth is that there is a grain of truth in every attitude toward the customer experience. The only trouble is that many of these approaches are incomplete. Try thinking of the customers’ need in all phases of your operation.