Who rules the social web? | Information is Beautiful
Priority Matrix for Emerging Technologies, 2009 from Gartner Hype Cycle 2009: Web 2.0 Trending Up, Twitter Down | ReadWriteWeb
Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2009 from Gartner Hype Cycle 2009: Web 2.0 Trending Up, Twitter Down | ReadWriteWeb
It’s interesting to see the hype around e-book readers — I was just thinking about getting one. E-books, like the digital music before, have yet to come to terms with multiple formats and digital rights management. Moving in the right direction is Sony’s announcement that it will support ePub open format.
Gartner puts Twitter on the decline into the “Trough of Disillusionment”. Microblogging itself might be tailing off but there is significant momentum behind the real-time web. It is no surprise then that Facebook has just purchased Friendfeed and Google’s updated search engine, “Caffeine”, is focusing on speed and freshness, and introducing real-time results and news feeds.
10 Web Sites That Will Matter in 2009 | PC World
By Mark Sullivan [January 22, 2009]
ASOS 'superb' show boosts sales by 108% | This is Money
So, it seems that shoppers are still spending. Well, at least, the 16- to 34-year-old that Asos target. With impressive sales figures over the Christmas period, fast-fashion retailer Asos is proof that clothes shopping online is catching on. Sure, it was bound to happen as internet shopping matured but the ‘credit crunch’ has no doubt precipitated the change in shopper attitude to buying their clothes online.
Keep calm and carry on spending, please
Batten down the hatches, here comes the recession. House prices are falling, unemployment is rising, real income is declining, and the financial system is in chaos. People are feeling poorer and have no idea when things will get better. Without an end to the economic downturn in sight or even a reliable prognosis, everyone is stuck in the waiting game.
A report by Ernst & Young showed British companies issued 111 profit warnings in the third quarter of 2008, the highest number since 2001. The widespread prediction is that the UK economy will be in a full-blown recession by Christmas, recording at least two quarters of negative economic growth. In fact, some analysts believe we will have the worst Christmas trading in at least 30 years for non-food retailers. According to the British Retail Consortium, the UK retail sales value has now been lower than a year ago in five of the past six months.
However, the clearest sign yet is the collapse of young fashion label Miss Sixty, the Queen’s couturier Hardy Amies, soft furnishings group Roseby’s, and home-wares chain Joy into administration. All this have led other retailers to resort to sales and clearance events to battle both the poor weather and the tough trading conditions. So, what else can retailers do to persuade consumers to return to their shops?
The first thing to do is to look at how consumer behaviour has changed. The mood is such that free spending and retail therapy has been replaced by financial anxiety and thrift. Pleasure is still derived from going shopping but rather than just the joy of spending, it is the satisfaction of unearthing a bargain that is the dominant motivator. Where consumers are shopping is also shifting. The bargain-hungry consumer is leaving the high street and heading for supermarkets, discount outlets and inevitable the Internet. Rising fuel costs have dampened the enthusiasm of consumers to drive to out of town shopping centres and superstores. That is unless the sales are on or they are going to discount outlets, like the Bicester Village Shopping Centre. Consumers continue to spend, albeit with tightened purses, in foodstuff and other necessity goods. However, they are avoiding spending on durables, and instead making do with what they currently have and preferring to wait and see what the market is doing.
So in a shrinking market, retailers can really do two things. They can club together to generate confidence and drum up sales across the sector. However, more realistically, they will be in a dog-eat-dog struggle for market share. In the foodstuff sector, where consumers are actually still spending, we can see supermarkets re-positioning themselves. Consumers have been seen ‘trading down’, that is, those who previously shopped at Waitrose can now be seen in Sainsbury’s and so on. Analysts report that the in the first half of this year, the Co-op increased profits by 35.6% and Morrisons by 19%. It has also been a successful year for the likes of Aldi, Lidl and Iceland. So, it seems that middle-classed consumers aren’t just going down a rung but are donning their hats and slinking to the previously shunned low-end supermarkets.
It is not surprising then that Tesco has responded to stop the exodus and also to capture bargain-hunting shoppers. Tesco hasn’t quite re-branded but they are now leading with the strapline “Britain’s biggest discounter” alongside “Every little helps”. This may make business sense in the current trading conditions but it seems to go against their efforts over the last 20 years to banish their pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap image and to achieve middle-class respectability. In addition, to the strapline in all advertising, a new label, ‘Discount Brands at Tesco’, has been created. This sits between the ‘Value’ range and the branded and ‘Finest’ products. Discount is and odd word and I wonder whether it does more harm than good. Discount can easily mean end of the line rather than value. Aldi and Lidl might be regarded as discounters by the industry but consumers are seeing them as excellent value if not always of the highest quality. On the other hand, they may perceive Tesco’s discount products as reasonable quality items that are about to expire.
I see local convenience stores making a comeback as a buy-what-you-need-when-you-need-it mentality beds in. Own-brand ranges will also be successful as the brand equity of named products diminishes. Expect to see more slogans like: “price-crunching deals” and “unrivalled fresh offer in store”. Retailers will meaningfully lower their margins in a proper competition (unlike the drop-in-the-ocean reductions during the phone price wars of the past).
There’s a similar re-positioning in fashion retail. The migration downwards is evident in the numbers of consumers flocking to penny-pinching stores like Primark and Poundland. The latter announced a 122% profit in Q1 of this year and astoundingly claimed a 22% rise in shoppers from the AB socio-economic group!
In the US, Target, which saw a fall in Q2 profit of 8%, is facing stiff challenge from big-box discounters such as Wal-Mart and warehouse club stores such as Costco. Target has always been a little bit more expensive but could boast exclusive, stylish goods created by such big-name designers as Isaac Mizrahi and Michael Grave. But now as consumers count their pennies, trendy isn’t driving sales. So, like Tesco they are recalibrating their marketing to emphasise the “pay less” bit of their “expect more, pay less” brand message. However, this does not mean compromising on quality or losing their trendy labels. They will be rolling out new lines by 22 top designers including Anya Hindmarch and Jonathan Saunders.
Low-cost retailers such as Wal-Mart and Kohl’s aren’t the only ones battling for the discount chic crown. There is arguably a bigger threat from fast-fashion retailers such as H&M, Mango, Topshop and Forever 21. These retailers focus on getting designs from sketch pad (or rather photos from the catwalks) to store shelves in as little as two weeks. Fashion items may only stay on the rails for only a month or so and are replaced by the current in thing. H&M even has their own collaboration with celebrity designers (Comme des Garçons is up next), bringing high fashion to the high street. This is all great for consumers still yearning for a continual fashion fix at affordable prices.
But how long will this lust for fast-fashion last? Already, just like with food, there is a movement starting for ‘slow fashion’. The focus is on fewer but better clothes that are ‘trans-seasonal’, made from quality materials and are produced sustainably.
Ethical fashion e-tailer Adili are at the vanguard of the movement and markets the idea of assembling an “enduring wardrobe” of classic pieces. True, these values are appealing more with older consumers but they also vibe with younger and ethically-aware consumers.
I see a mixture of these initiatives working but as much as I like the idea of buying ethically-sourced products for their quality and longevity, I don’t see consumers giving up their desire for newness. Consumers may think twice before making purchases but if the queues at Primark are anything to go by, they aren’t visibly slowing down; just buying at cheaper retailers than they used to. So, for the time being, stay on the look out for “further reductions” and “everything must go” signs, and go grab yourself a bargain.
![Web Trend Map 2008 Beta| Information Architects Japan
2008 Web Trend Map, which includes almost 300 of the most influential and successful websites, based on the greater Tokyo-area train map. [January 25, 2008]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/1k7gDl0gheidtfxyE5cmig04o1_250.gif)
Web Trend Map 2008 Beta| Information Architects Japan
2008 Web Trend Map, which includes almost 300 of the most influential and successful websites, based on the greater Tokyo-area train map. [January 25, 2008]
