Adapting to the New Consumer : It's all about "ME"

“We don’t have your size and color, Sir!” remarked the salesman of the apparel shop, after me trying out a few options at the store.

Result: No sale for the store, time wasted for me, bad experience, disappointed customer.

The "WE" Consumers :

Businesses over the years have focused on “WE” consumers, adopting the approach of generalizing consumer preferences in to buckets based on size, color, quality and budget.

So you find dress with generic fits, shoes of standard sizes, watches with standard designs, standard dishes at the restaurants, car’s with standard features or houses with similar layout.

The experience too is generalized with generic treatment at the airlines, similar offers at the store, standard treatment at hotels, standard discount offers, generic loan and insurance policies and so on.

At best there are varied choices offered across categories, but the features offered within a category are generalized for the particular category.

The Shift :

However with increasing growth in earnings and living standards, the consumers are increasingly seeking a more personalized experience suited to their individual taste.

Be it the watch, shoe, clothes, food, mobile, entertainment, health, car or home, individual preferences are taking precedence over generic options.

Businesses soon have to wake up to this idea of “ME” consumers to remain relevant and achieve future growth.

Adapting to the Shift:

So how do they achieve this?

Businesses can leverage on the trifecta of transformative technologies: Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Analytic's:

• IoT Technologies enabling the ability to sense & capture consumer environmental parameters accurately at a granular level.
• Big Data Technologies to store & process this voluminous and variety information in real time.
• Analytic Technologies to gain intelligence and draw actionable insights from this processed information.

Together these technologies will empower the businesses to design products and services that offer a very personalized experience to the consumer.

The "ME" Consumer :

Let’s re-look at the above scenario of the apparel shop now converted to a SMART SHOP that leverages on these technologies:

• The apparel shop has beacons embedded that track my movement in the store and beam offers,
• Switches on/off lights automatically on me entering/exiting the trial room,
• Sets lights and music in the trial room as per my mood ,
• The trial room with a SMART MIRROR that uses sensors to capture my exact body dimensions when I stand in front of it,
• Allows me to try options from the store database virtually,
• Analyze my preferences in real time and suggest offers to match,
• Suggest what others matching my preferences have earlier bought from the store,
• Does competitive analysis to offer me best pricing dynamically,
• Offers discounts in real time as per my purchase patterns,
• Generates bill and sends it to my mobile,
• Accepts digital payment from my mobile wallet or through NFC transfer.
• Store details of my demographics & preferences ,
• Sends targeted offers to me in future.

While some of the concepts here are already a reality and some may be little far-fetched today, but the idea is to overall make the experience very personalized for ME.

Result: Sale achieved, Up Sale done, Time saved, Delightful Experience, Engaged customer.

Conclusion:

The winners in the new market will be the businesses that recognize the market  transformation early and pivot their offerings customized to this New Consumer seeking personalized products and services.

Businesses have to define a blueprint for integrating the technologies of IoT, Big Data and Analytic's in to their existing frameworks or build new frameworks, to adapt to this change.

For businesses to succeed they have to realize that the future market is no more about "WE",  its all about "ME".