How brands can identify consumer buying behavior/style?
Multi-Brand Outlets (MBOs)/Multi-Brand online stores play a crucial role in understanding consumer buying styles. The last two years have brought a drastic change in the retail industry. Customers started squiggling to seek products or services best suited them. It has become the firm's responsibility, especially for the teams working on product development, marketing and sales, to fulfil the customer needs.
For instance, consider a customer at an apparel shopping mall. When it comes to apparel shopping in a retail, there is a saying, "Men on a mission, Women on a journey". It is one of the reasons why women's shopping takes comparatively more time than men's. The reason behind this segregation can be identified using the famous learning model, VARK, irrespective of the customer's mode of shopping (online/offline)
(V)isual: Few customers shop by visual representations. For example, if we open fashion apps like Myntra/Flipkart, creative banners pop up on the screen with sale details that are part of their marketing campaign. Visual representation also acts as an efficient sales pitch for the companies.
(A)uditory: If we visit multi-brand outlets like Reliance Trends/Lifestyle International Pvt Ltd/Max Fashion India, we can observe customers listening to the audio recording. It is one of the sales strategies where brands tap consumers who shop by hearing about the sale.
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(R)ead/Write: In online/offline stores, customers often read the product description in addition to their size info. It is because customer tastes vary with brands. Few customers prefer cotton cloth in Brand X; a few prefer synthetic cloth in Brand Y. Indirectly, brands assist customers in choosing and decoding their wants for a successful sale.
(K)inesthetic: It is comparatively easy for brands to find Kinesthetic customers in offline stores rather than online stores. In offline stores, customers will have an option to "look & feel" the product during the time of purchase. Customers can buy the product based on their preferences utilizing the trail room. However, in online shopping, customers can touch the product only when the order is delivered. The challenge is that if the product doesn't meet customers' expectations, the return order rate may increase which is critical KPI for sales and warehouse teams. Usually, brands view returns as cost centres. To minimize this impact, online brands started social media advertising like Instagram handle, where customers can watch the product style, cloth and fit.
Apparel companies claim that nearly 40-80% conversion rate is observed due to marketing campaigns.