The highlights and key takeaways from this 12 months’s occasion.
March 2024: Trade leaders, professional audio system, and panelists from all corners of the Technical Client Items market convened in Berlin to share their most necessary insights and predictions for 2024 on the tenth annual TCG Summit, the premier worldwide assume tank for the TCG retail trade, showcasing GfK’s worldwide experience.
As the only real perception accomplice for greater than six years operating, GfK performed a pivotal position in making certain the success of this occasion via the supply of key trade insights and knowledge. Utilizing superior analytics and state-of-the-art platforms, GfK supplies a holistic retail learn and complete shopper insights into the TCG market, facilitating a deep understanding of shoppers’ shopping for conduct and the dynamics impacting markets, manufacturers, and media tendencies.
This 12 months, GfK’s International Strategic Insights Director, Namrata Gotarne, delivered her extremely anticipated keynote deal with: Influence and alternatives amidst worth centric markets.
We requested Namrata for her tackle this 12 months’s occasion and a better have a look at the important thing factors of her presentation.
Which audio system or displays have been highlights for you from this 12 months’s summit?
Vincent Gufflet, COO of Fnac Darty offered how they’ve successfully remodeled their enterprise mannequin. I actually favored how they’ve targeted on driving sustainability conduct amongst their shoppers by creating an ecosystem to scale their subscription companies (for repairing gadgets and home equipment). That was a superb instance of tips on how to meet shopper expectations and on the identical time create further income streams.
One other spotlight was Olivia Reid’s presentation in regards to the affect of Generative AI on companies and types. Olivia, who’s the Lead Strategist at Journey, targeted on the way forward for AI enabling hyper-personalization and enhancing hyper-customization.
The rise of the value-centric buyer was a key level of your discuss. How is the notion of worth altering for shoppers within the electronics trade at the moment?
In an unsure financial surroundings, worth sensitivity amongst shoppers has elevated, resulting in extra aware procuring. Regardless of this worth sensitivity, worth continues to rule as shoppers stability their cash spent and worth acquired. The notion of worth, nonetheless, goes past worth; shoppers count on retailers and producers to ship value-based innovation in addition to experiences which have a optimistic affect on shoppers’ lives. So, services or products which are handy, sustainable, and even one thing that may assist them save prices in the long run.
How are TCG retailers adapting their methods to regulate to evolving shopper conduct?
The pursuit of assembly shoppers’ expectations of seamless procuring experiences continues; Omnichannel technique nonetheless is on the forefront for all retailers. Assorted paths are being adopted to finally provide the very best of ‘phygital’ procuring throughout totally different areas. There may be an elevated concentrate on operations to supply comfort to shoppers. This additionally allows them to optimize their prices. From implementing self-checkout kiosks to rethinking retailer codecs and areas to utilizing shops as success facilities. Retailers are additionally investing to both launch or revamp their loyalty packages to have interaction shoppers to supply unique entry and VIP perks throughout promotions.
You shared knowledge displaying that promotional occasions have gotten more and more necessary to shoppers. How can promotions be used to ship worth in 2024?
Promotional occasions have been used as an efficient device to drive gross sales and provide an ‘further push’ to shoppers to make purchases, drive demand and win cost-conscious shoppers. This 12 months, shoppers are marking their calendars to schedule their purchases. Retailers and producers want to make sure these promotions are tailor-made to shopper expectations to domesticate recurring shopper relationships. Thus, creating a possibility to have interaction shoppers and providing worth that goes past worth cuts. This consists of: the suitable assortment, wealthy procuring expertise, and a concentrate on high quality of service like fee strategies, installment choices or just quicker supply and a simple returns course of.
How a lot of a precedence is sustainability for shoppers within the TCG trade?
The significance that buyers world wide place on sustainability has endured, whatever the competing urgency of the pandemic and the present cost-of-living disaster. Almost three-quarters of individuals world wide see “International local weather change / world warming” as a really or extraordinarily severe concern. It has risen to be the #5 high shopper concern at the moment. Shoppers’ expectations listed below are increasing. To be perceived as genuinely eco-friendly, producers and retailers are more and more anticipated to have the ability to level to all the pieces from the suppliers they work with to their merchandise’ materials, packaging, transportation, sturdiness, and recyclability, to their help of environmental or humanitarian causes.
What have been the important thing takeaways from the panel dialogue following your keynote?
For me, I feel there have been two important takeaways. The primary is that innovation has slowed down significantly within the TCG house. The foremost incremental innovation is occurring inside small home home equipment, however all the pieces else has form of slowed down. We’d like the subsequent iPhone second to entice shoppers to purchase new merchandise. The second level is that on the identical time, innovation is occurring — nevertheless it takes time. As Mehmet Ragip Balcioglu (CCO Arcelik ) talked about there may be loads of money and time being invested into analysis into main home equipment to supply increased efficiencies. To see ultimate outcomes, it would simply take time.
In your opinion, what are among the important tendencies that may form notions of worth and shopper conduct sooner or later?
Shoppers are looking out for excellent or wealthy experiences from the merchandise they buy and the retailers they buy from. They’re on the lookout for services and products that allow versatile dwelling or price financial savings in the long run or designed particularly for his or her distinctive wants. Clear use instances that ship worth for the additional cash they’ll spend can be essential. High quality of service is a widely known buy driver which is now regaining its prominence whereas making buy selections or selecting a specific retailer to buy from. It’s typically neglected and thought of easy; the truth is, shoppers usually tend to return to buy or buy from a retailer in case such a optimistic expertise was delivered to life.