Brands that provide a better experience and align that with authentic values will be able to avoid “discount chicken” with their competitors.
According to the Connected Customers report released by Salesforce, 83% of consumers say the experience they have is as important as the product or service they're buying.
James Johnson, Salesforce director industry strategy for retail and CPG, told AdNews this is an opportunity for brands to leverage experience as their point of differentiation instead of constantly going on sale.
“If you don't have a differentiated value proposition in market, then you are going to have a hard time really excelling,” he says.
“So, the opportunity is to to have a differentiated experience and it can be [done in] a multitude of ways.”
He says that increasingly the store is becoming a place of experience, as opposed to a place where consumers go to just purchase a product.
“Now the expectation is that a store does a lot more. I go there to be entertained. I go and have an event, I do styling workshops or how to's, those sort of things.”
As consumers continue to expect more from brands, Johnson says creating a better experience and building relationships with them will be aided by “aligning with millennial values” like authenticity, trust and sustainability.
He says that these values need to come from a genuine place rather than just woke-washing though.
“I think the really clear thing is that it needs to be authentic. It needs to be genuine and it's not brand washing or greenwashing,” he says.
“There's clearly an opportunity to provide an experience that ticks all those boxes and meets those consumer expectations.”
The report found 83% of 18 to 44 year olds in Australia use their mobile devices in-store, of which 40% used it to compare prices and 32% used it to take a photo.
Johnson says Australian consumers are 30% more likely than UK or US consumers to use their phone in-store which is an opportunity for brands to incorporate into the experience they offer.
Rather than just trialling emerging technologies like augmented reality or virtual reality, he says retailers can use mobile as the “digital glue” to create a more connected experience.
“You've got all the information on digital property,” he says.
“It's really linking it together to provide utility which is the key for customer so it's not just providing a shiny toy, it's providing something that gives value to the customer as part of that journey.”
Looking to 2020, he says mobile will continue to increase and so too will the way consumers experience a brand and its product or service.
"We'll see formats change to reflect that experience. Brands in places that that ordinarily they wouldn't be."
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