I was recently sitting with some people as we were being told about a new methodology to research Shoppers in China. The premise that was driving this shopper research methodology was that shoppers in China are on auto pilot. What it meant was the most of the shoppers already have fixed preferences about brands and they are just ‘executing’ their preferences while they are inside the store. This is a big assumption. However, in my understanding of this market the shopper choice is not premeditated. 
There are many reasons for this
1. For ‘majority’ of the Chinese (in some way similar to the way it is for Indians) the whole process of shopping (even if it is for seemingly boring things like grocery) is about entertainment. It is not a chore – they actually enjoy the process
2. This is also perhaps because the modern trade format (“so many shining shelves”, “so much variety”, “such a clean &comfortable environment to buy”, “attractive packaging”, “so many offers” etc) is still a new experience for the consumers – shopping is almost like going to a carnival.
3. Also, consumers are not very sophisticated to be able to discern the difference between 21 verities of Shampoos or 38 kind of soaps – they are still flirting and romancing with choice
Given this consumer context Autopilot is not the right assumption for the consumer yet (and please, I am referring to the average consumer – not people in advertising and marketing – who are, more often than not, on auto pilot and evading communication)
That brings us back to so where did autopilot come from?
Well, I believe that most of these shopper models are created in the developed markets and they are brought to Asia in their ‘fully built form’ – with least regard to adapt it for the local markets.
These models are very accurate when it comes to describing how people shop -say in France or UK and even US. Because consumers in these markets are seasoned in a way and do not process information in the retail environment the way their Chinese and Indian counterparts do in Asia.
Here is an example of how we as marketers and advertisers can go terribly go wrong by assuming that the consumer is very discerning and is looking for very specific things in those shelves. “Organize the shelves by product description (viz. for dry skin, for oily skin, for skin toning, for skin whitening etc) instead of organizing the shelves by brands (Dove, Nutrogena, Ponds etc). However ‘majority’ of shoppers in China and India still identify things from brand name, for they are not so sophisticated to discern their needs that well. Also, they want to try a few before they can settle on a certain brand. Needless to mention that choice is relatively new and they are still looking around.
So you see my point. We need to step back and let the consumer have a little fun while s/he is still enjoying the process of shopping – let us not assume that he is too bored already (like he is with advertising!)
Happy New Year (shopping)!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
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4 comments:
it seems the buying pettern in India & china are quite same.
what is the major difference between the consumers in china in comarison to the Indian consumers.
how different is the positioning of the products/comodities on the shelvs in chinees orgnised retail stores...
Saurabh, your questions and big. I am not much of an expert on retail, however in terms of placement on shelves - I have not discovered anything strikingly different between retail stores in India and China.
Key differences that I can talk about are a little broad.
1． For example - what is on display (Chinese food section looks very different from the food section in a Indian retail store)
2. The other big difference is the fact that organized retail debuted in China much before India - thus greater incidence of organized retail in big cities (including organized convenience stores like Seven Eleven). In other words - you do not see to many neighbourhood 'Aggarwal' general stores in Big Cities in China.
There are more – but these two comes to my mind first
Hi Saurabh,
This is an interesting research conducted which raises questions about the 'autopilot' model that you were referring to (not specifically related to either India or China though) - http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2132
Its interesting to know how culture, economics and lifestyle play an important part in the automation of consumers! And then there's the curiosity of a new retail format.
I agree with you on the 'sophistication' argument. I know for sure that consumers in India particularly have a long way to go before we are able to cope (or not cope maybe) with choice the way our US counterparts do.
I for one get extremely confused when i enter a Wal Mart store. I entered one this weekend and i left without purchasing anything - i just did not know what to do. And i would label myself as an evolved Indian consumer (not in retail albeit). I can only imagine the problems associated with the same for Indian consumers who are just exploring these formats.
The seeming 'auto - pilot' nature thus kicks in because consumers will also be a little intimidated in these new formats and stick to things/ brands they feel comfortable dealing with. Products and brands that give them a feeling of security in a completely new environment.
Here is another analysis of Organized Retail Confronting Local Challenges in India - http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4269
And another - Organised Retail is not doing so well anymore in India - http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4355 (this however is more finance rather than marketing or consumer behaviour)
Thanks for sharing additional knowledge Harshil. I had not seen these two before.
If one were to look closely at markets, people, cultures, places , one would discover that they can all be so diverse; however in best interest of savings through scale (and sometimes to save time) organizations take the template/toolkit approach. I would not say that it does not work but I would urge it to be well researched.
To land all this into retail although it would sound like a cliché, I would still say that Mr. Khatri of Bombay saris makes his customer very comfortable before she tries the saris. Cut to the way people behave in shopping malls (with over-clean and consequently sometimes a very slippery floor) everybody enters and starts talking in English.
To me majority of people are already in a defensive mode in the modern retail formats. You are right - we need to make them comfortable befire we expect them to buy anything.
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