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New Retail Report Music To Gerry Harvey’s Ears

New Retail Report Music To Gerry Harvey

The research group claims that Instead, they should target older shoppers with more money to spend.

Harvey who has criticised Internet shopping in the past, is a traditional retailer who deep down still believes in stack it high sell it low retailing. 

The Forrester Research report called “The Future of Shopping,” looked at income and demographic changes over the past 40 years. 

The bulk of consumer spending has shifted from those younger than 45, who now make up a smaller percentage of the population and are strapped with student loans, to those 45 and older, who have equity in their homes and bigger incomes.

The recommendation runs counter to retailers’ frenzied push to court millennials, the generation born after 1980, with new gadgets and fashion trends.

“There’s this obsession with millennials,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, the analyst who wrote the report. “The truth is millennials aren’t spending any money with anybody because they don’t have any.”

Retailers also need to stay lean if they want to be competitive in coming years, Forrester found. The chains that are able to cut costs without compromising customer service will win, according to the report.
Trader Joe’s

One example they claim is a US store called Trader Joe’s, this small retailer chain, has fewer stores but better-trained personnel.

 That helps it get higher sales volume from each location while containing costs. 

Home Depot and Nordstrom were also were praised for using self-checkout tools to reduce cashier expenses, freeing up employees to serve customers and stock shelves.

Equipment that helps stores stay open longer without additional costs, including self-checkout kiosks, will help retailers gain an edge, Forrester found. Those advances may ultimately make a bigger difference than other technology, such as beacons that use smartphones to detect a customer’s proximity to a product and send them a coupon, Mulpuru said.

Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers that rely on new stores for sales growth will have a tougher time. 

They’ll face more competition from e-commerce companies according to the report. Chains like Best Buy Co. and Toys “R” Us Inc., meanwhile, may have to close additional stores until they can make more fundamental business changes, Forrester said.