The Year of ‘Supershoppers’ – How To Engage And Monetize Them

The Black Friday and the Cyber Monday usually pave the way for the grand opening of the holiday shopping season. While traditional consumers would wait until the last minute to buy their gifts, the digital customers show a completely different behavior.

Welcome to ‘The Year of Supershoppers’, a new breed of customers, set to revolutionize the retail industry. What are the peculiarities of the new shoppers? How are you going to change your strategy to deliver amazing experiences?

‘Supershopper’ is a term recently introduced by Google to define the digital customer in a more emphatic way. The difference between a shopper and a supershopper is a matter of purchase habits and behaviors:

“We all have that friend—the one who somehow knows the latest brands, the season's must-have products, and where to find the best deals at the snap of a finger. In years past, this friend was an enigma, making us wonder how does she (or he) do it? Today, we can all be that friend.” (Julie Krueger, Think With Google)

In his core essence, the brand new customer is driven by technology. The smartphone has become the primary reference when he needs to search for information, compare products, find the best deals, and connect with a brand/organization.

The supershoppers are tech-savvy, and you can not even remotely think to engage and monetize them as you did with the clients of the past decades. If you do not speak their language, you will never capture their attention, and ultimately you will lose all relevance.

What does it mean for retailers to be, or become, relevant in the age of mobile? Easy, they need to rethink how they plan their marketing strategy, how they connect with customers (online and in-store), how they convey their contents and values.

In a few words, you must use technology to establish your brand as a trustful source of information and inspiration. And you must do it not once and for all, but improving day after day after day.

The supershoppers, in fact, always keep their options open. According to Google, more than 50 percent of customers are open to purchasing from new retailers. “Often, people begin with a broad search and then adjust their criteria as they home in on what they want - and that's reflected in their search behavior.”

This poses a threat ...

… but also an opportunity:

We know that digital customers heavily rely on their mobile devices. Well, this is even more true during the holiday shopping. They will still stare at the decorated window display, but they will always go to the small screen in their palm to look for inspiration.

They search and often discover new alternatives along the way. 64 percent percent of smartphone shoppers, in fact, turn to mobile search for ideas about what to buy before heading into stores.

Price is not that important anymore; they look for the best, not the cheapest. They want something that is personalized, unique, cool. This rule applies to the products itself and also to the experience they live. The customer experience is the foundational element of that separates what is ‘average’ from what is ‘really amazing’.

With this in mind, you need to rewrite your online identity for mobile shopping, but also your physical presence. Although supershoppers love to buy on mobile, they still use mobile devices as a new door to the retail store.

Think about this:

An optimized mobile experience will bring huge benefit, also to brick-and-mortars. Mobile devices enable different approaches to old problems. Shoppers want local info, and they want them quick: more than one-third are in a hurry searching for local business on their smartphone.

Your customers are ready to buy. They are ready to buy from you. They just ask one simple thing, that you can surface relevant information on their smartphone when they are ready to buy, whether they are inside the store, on the way to the store or simply chilling on the couch.

Study and understand the supershopper; be present in the micro moments that matter; stay relevant and be epic. Only then you could conquer their heart and mind. And have a happy holiday, even when the decorations come down.

For more stats and facts about mobile and customer trends, head to Think With Google, the primary source of data for this article.

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