Ko Floor em Branding a Store faz um excelente exercício de 'reframing' sobre o futuro das lojas, dando pistas interessantes para as hipóteses de actuação e posicionamento futuro.
“The retail market will become increasingly between functional and emotional shopping. On one side of the market, retail brands will focus on functional and solution-driven shopping of (replenishement) commodities like food, household products, drugs and basic textiles.
On the other side retail brands will operate that sell expressive merchandise with strong emotional appeal, like fashion, domestic accessories and perfumes. Functional stores will mainly choose price, range and or convenience as their positioning attributes. In contrast, emotional stores will mainly position themselves on range and store experience. Retail brands in between, that do not make a clear choice between functional and emotional shopping, will disappear.”
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“There will not only be a clear dichotomy between functional and emotional retail brands: a strong polarization over price will also occur.
Price will continue to be an important driver in retail in the coming years. Consumers want to save money in some stores in order to be able to afford premium prices in other stores. This will cause a clear dichotomy in retail: low-price and high-value mass retail brands on one side of the market, and premium-priced niche retail brands on the other side.
Low-price and especially high-value mass brands will grow rapidly. After all, for most consumers it is not about the lowest price; it is about the highest value.”
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“In contrast to these low-price and high-value brands, premium niche brands will position themselves as deriving their appeal from their exclusivity and very high prices. The difference between these luxury premium retailers and the low-price/high-value retailers will become bigger than it is now. While low-price/high-value stores will emphasize their range and price, premium stores will pay attention to range, service and often to store experience as well.”
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“For years, the middle segment was the largest part of the market, but that is going to change. Just like with the functional and emotional retail brands, the middle segment will also disappear. Retail brands that are stuck in the middle will loose territory at a quick rate. These medium-priced retail brands will get squeezed between the low-price and high-value brands on one side of the market, and the premium brands on the other. To the consumer they do not have a clear offer.”
Isto das marcas não serem claras, não terem uma mensagem coerente e consistente não é treta, por exemplo, o artigo “Building Brands Without Mass Media” de Erich Joachimsthaler e David Aaker, publicado pela Harvard Business Review em Janeiro de 1997 ilustra um exemplo de como uma marca que quer ser tudo não é nada e anda à deriva:
“Consider Farggi. In 1993, a Spanish company called Lacrem launched Farggi as a premium ice cream in Spain--one year after the arrival of Haagen-Dazs. The Farggi name was chosen because it sounded Italian and hence would evoke images of quality ice cream among Europeans. It also drew on the reputation of the successful Farggi line of pastry outlets.
The problem was that the name had too many associations and messages. It had already been used for a standard-quality ice cream sold to food service establishments.
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The Farggi strategy, confusing at best, had too many elements: competing directly with Haagen-Dazs, exploiting ties to Spain, having an Italian-sounding brand, and cashing in on the popularity of American-style ice cream.
(The brand was positioned as being based on an authentic American recipe featuring the best-quality ingredients from Spain.)
Confusing messages were sent by Farggi’s method of distribution as well. It said "premium" by offering the ice cream in 500-milliliter cups for two people (originally pioneered by Haagen-Dazs in Europe) through Farggi-owned or franchised ice-cream parlors reminiscent of nearby Haagen-Dazs stores. At the same time, it said "cut-price" by distributing Farggi through hypermarket stores in low-rent neighborhoods and through concessions at regional soccer stadiums.
In short, the brand was everything and nothing. And we believe that, ultimately, its muddled identity confused consumers and put them off. Not surprisingly, today Farggi is trailing Haagen-Dazs in Spain by a significant margin in both sales and market share."
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Voltando a Ko Floor:
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“The differences between stores will become larger. Mid-priced stores and stores that do not make a clear choice between functional and emotional shopping will disappear. The disappearance of these mid-market stores will lead to a split of the retail market into four extremes: efficient routine, small pleasures, affordable dreams and luxurious experiences.”
Este esquema ajuda a enquadrar os desafios que as lojas têm pela frente, as escolhas que terão de fazer.
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E voltamos a temas já aqui abordados na óptica das empresas, temas como polarização dos mercados, stuck in the middle e fim do middle market.
