Create Community, Never Bore Your Customers

By Lorrie Baumann

The young people who are in their late teens and early 20s grew up in a world in which material things were cheap and consumers’ choices became limitless. Now they’re less likely to value either, according to Michael Dart, a Partner in the Consumer/Retail Practice at A.T. Kearney, a global consulting firm. He spoke to housewares executives during CHESS, the International Housewares’ Association’s annual gathering for a Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession.

That has led young people to value abstract qualities like meaning and connection over physical objects, and it’s why the mass market is on its way out, according to Dart. Businesses that survive will be those that form meaning and connection to their brands within the minds, hearts and spirits of their consumers, he said. “With the mass market breaking down, what becomes absolutely critical for the consumer, for the retailer and for the brands you offer is one of two things: a great experience – there’s lots of different ways to think about experience. Or you have to have some incredible meaning and relationship to that consumer,” he added. “The brand really has to stand for something.”

That provides renewed opportunities for independent retailers, who are in a better position to create meaning around their brands and to forge relationships and emotional connections to their customers. “One model that is going to flourish are the local stores, the local independent stores,” he said. “People like to shop locally; they like to have a connection to the community. They actually also like to know that the people there are knowledgeable about what they’re buying and what they’re getting.”

Successful Retailers Create Connection

Independent specialty retailers have some opportunities to become the last places left on the retail landscape where consumers actually go to shop, according to Dart. “Number one, you can become a great entertainment destination,” he said. Or you can work to make sure that your store is an active part of the community, the way that farmers markets are part of the communities in which they operate. “The farmers market you go to on a Sunday, and it’s incredibly vibrant. There’s a lot of people; there’s music; there’s food; people are talking to each other, discussing different things,” he said, drawing a sharp contrast with the conventional supermarket that also offers fresh produce. It’s all food; but what’s sold at the supermarket is offered in an environment that doesn’t offer the excitement and entertainment of the farmers market. “Retailers that don’t define themselves in either one of these spaces [as an entertainment venue or as a part of the community], I think are really going to struggle in terms of getting great economic returns.”

To look for a model to emulate, look to independent bookstores, which took a beating when Barnes & Noble and Borders came into the market. They took another beating with the ascendance of Amazon. Now Borders is gone; Barnes & Noble is struggling. Independent bookstores are one of the fastest-growing segments of retail, according to Dart. Among the attributes contributing to that growth is their curated assortment that plays into customer desires to connect to the community, for customization and convenience. “Local bookshops have just done a phenomenal job of that,” he said. “It’s clear the consumer is responding to them.” He predicts that this particular sector will continue to grow.

(Photo courtesy of International Housewares Association.)