Economic downturn prompted major consumer change: OMD

Blurred boundaries between media has also contributed to the shift, the report said. The research, presnted yesterday as part of the OMD Predicts series, aims to aims to anticipate what is around the corner in the retail segment. It is being brought to Asia-Pacific for the first time, starting with several countries in the Southeast Asia region.

Jonathan Schaaf, global director of digital strategy at OMD, noted that to connect to changed customers, marketers need to reinvent the connection through a variety of channels, reestablish the brand through value exchange and understand that profitability comes through faster inventory turnover.

He went on to say that customers’ purchase decisions can be harnessed with the help of technology focusing on four key themes. The first is 'omni-channel' retailing, where it sees the melding of the digital and physical worlds through technology. It reconciles physical and digital experiences, while replicating the efficiency of e-commerce.

Personalisation is also important in driving relevance through better data management, and that marketers need to create reasons to engage beyond the sale to change the process from transactional to experiential. Post-sale experience is also important to drive loyalty, he added.

Increased mobile use means consumers are more active in seeking reviews and tips, insider information, location-based gift huides and heat mapping activity for preview shopping.

OMD also predicts that the in-store experience will be the launch-pad for loyal relationships. One of the examples is the “Homeplus Subway Virtual Store” for Tesco Homeplus in Korea last year.

Jeremy Paul, managing partner at OMD subsidiary Ignition Factory, said the volution of commerce, retail, consumer, technology and experience have come together to create talkability in-store, which subsequently launches relationships with consumers.

He noted that the ultimate goal was to create “talkability”, and to add value to customers’ shopping experience to either complement or beat online retail.

The conference was attended by over 100 delegates in the media, marketing and advertising industry in Singapore. The Thailand and Malaysia version of OMD Predicts took place on 3 May and 8 May, respectively.