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Will attractive aromas spritzed in the air be able to save bookstores? According to an article by Robert Klara (@UpperEastRob) in Adweek (@Adweek), a growing trend among diverse businesses (including retail, hotels, funeral homes, retirement villages, medical and law offices) is secretly scenting the air customers breathe to get them to buy more.

At a time when brands have already fine-tuned everything from their store color palettes to employee dress codes to the music thumping through the speakers, scent — the sole remaining sense that can directly influence how a customer regards a brand — is becoming an increasingly important instrument in the marketer’s toolbox. Given that smell is the most powerful and emotional of all the senses, the bigger surprise might be that it’s taken brands this long to wake up to smell’s potential.

...Environmental psychologist Eric Spangenberg of Washington State University says, “The technology has advanced to the level where anyone can do it.”

...Brands want their customers to be in such environments because, as research has shown, even a few microparticles of scent can do a lot of marketing’s heavy lifting, from improving consumer perceptions of quality to increasing the number of store visits.

...Brands that use the technology have a singular aim: to put people in the mood to spend. “Pleasant, subtle scents lift our moods and impact buying behavior,” says Donna Sturgess (@donnasturgess), president of Buyology (@BuyologyInc), a neurological marketing firm based in New York. Brands that have found the right ambient scent, she says, “have seen results as high as double-digit increases in brand preference.”

Read this in full.

Also see our previous blogpost, “Life-Like Mannequins Inspire Real-Life Shoppers.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you identify blue ocean strategy for your brand.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Emily Temple, editor of flavorpill (@flavorpill), has compiled more photos of more gorgeous bookstores “from Slovakia to Brazil to West Chester, PA” (see our previous blogpost). Enjoy these (and maybe even plan to visit them) while appreciating the fact that not all bookstores are bereft of customers these days.

See the photos and read this in full.

If you’re a book lover like we (@smrsault) are, bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

The website Book Guys (@PaulTheBookGuy) discovered this article gem by Emily Temple, editor of flavorpill (@flavorpill). Despite grim news of brick-and-mortar bookstores closing, there are still bookshops open that are wonders to the eye and beckon customers to come see!

We can’t overestimate the importance of bookstores — they’re community centers, places to browse and discover, and monuments to literature all at once — so we’ve put together a list of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, from Belgium to Japan to Slovakia.

See the photos and read this in full.

Also see our blogposts, "20 More Beautiful Bookstores from Around the World" and "The 20 Coolest Bookstores in the World."

If you’re a book lover like we (@smrsault) are, bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

It turns out that consumers who are physically touched in stores judge products more harshly, leave more quickly, and are less willing to spend than those who aren’t, especially if they’re touched by a man.

Implication: Although retailers try to drive as many customers to their stores as possible, overcrowding may drive them away as well.

Read this article in full.

Read the study in full.

Be sure to bookmark and use daily our (@smrsault) SomersaultNOW online dashboard designed specifically for professionals in the book trade.

L2 Think Tank (@L2_ThinkTank) reports that, according to Union Square Ventures Partner Andy Weissman (@aweissman), we’re moving into “the ambient computer age,” where our connected devices are becoming smaller and more powerful. The implications of this changes our media habits, the way we socialize, and much more. In an attempt to quantify this impact, Weissman outlines the 8 places in our lives where mobile will have the biggest near-future impact on investment:

Reading – A new breed of mobile-primary reading formats are emerging that allow us to consumer and share media in new and different ways.

Social – Our always-on devices give us instant access to sharing at all times.

Payments – In Japan people are already paying for subway rides with their mobile devices. Before long we’ll be using what was formerly a voice device for transactions, and this trend is already well underway in the United States.

Learning – We can now absorb information from our mobile phones and use the classroom as a venue for discussion and collaboration.

Location-Based Innovation – One in 3 searches on mobile devices have local intent.

Media – Facebook holds the biggest archive of photos in the world. Media in the mobile world is fundamentally conversational.

Blurring – The smartphones we keep with us on our hip at all times create a blurring effect in the world of connectedness. We’re no longer just connected on our laptops, but wired-in everywhere.

Medicine – Today patients share data and information with doctors in real-time.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you take advantage of mobile trends to advance your brand.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Novelist Ann Patchett discusses on The Colbert Report the importance of brick-and-mortar bookstores and explains what prompted her to open Parnassus Books (@ParnassusBooks1) in Nashville.

Articles in Harvard Business Review (@HarvardBiz) focus on the reinvention of retail that’s going on right now. “The Future of Shopping” explains that when the dot-com bubble burst 10 years ago, the ensuing collapse wiped out half of all online retailers. Today, e-commerce is well established and much digital retailing is now highly profitable.

As it evolves, digital retailing is quickly morphing into something so different that it requires a new name: omnichannel retailing. The name reflects the fact that retailers will be able to interact with customers through countless channels — websites, physical stores, kiosks, direct mail and catalogs, call centers, social media, mobile devices, gaming consoles, televisions, networked appliances, home services, and more.

If traditional retailers hope to survive, they must embrace omnichannel retailing and also transform the one big feature internet retailers lack — stores — from a liability into an asset. They must turn shopping into an entertaining, exciting, and emotionally engaging experience by skillfully blending the physical with the digital. They must also hire new kinds of talent, move away from outdated measures of success, and become adept at rapid test-and-learn methodologies.

A successful omnichannel strategy should not only guarantee a retailer’s survival — no small matter in today’s environment — but also deliver a revolution in customers’ expectations and experiences.

Read this in full (registration required). See a PDF version here and here.

In “Retail Isn’t Broken. Stores Are,” J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson is interviewed:

When Johnson joined Apple, in 2000, as the senior vice president for retail, conventional wisdom held that a computer maker couldn’t sell computers. Johnson promptly tossed out the retailing rule book and built the Apple Store from scratch. “The Apple Store succeeded not because we tweaked the traditional model,” Johnson says. “We reimagined everything.” Today, Apple stores are the highest performing stores in the history of retailing.

In November, Johnson took the reins as CEO of the venerable J.C. Penney department store. Times are tough for many retailers, but Johnson, characteristically, sees the chance to reinvent the department store as a great opportunity. He also understands the challenges ahead. “A store has got to be much more than a place to acquire merchandise,” he says. “It’s got to help people enrich their lives.”

Johnson discusses his vision of the future of retail and shares insights about innovation, leadership, and why he trusts his gut.

Read this in full (registration is required). See a PDF version.

“Know What Your Customers Want Before They Do” says

Shoppers once relied on familiar salespeople to help them find exactly what they wanted—and sometimes to suggest additional items they hadn’t even thought of. But today’s distracted consumers, bombarded with information and options, often struggle to find products or services that meet their needs.

Advances in information technology, data gathering, and analytics are making it possible to deliver something like the personal advice of yesterday’s sales staffs. Using increasingly granular customer data, businesses are starting to create highly customized offers that steer shoppers to the “right” merchandise — at the right moment, at the right price, and in the right channel.

But few companies can do this well. The article demonstrates how retailers can hone their “next best offer” (NBO) capability by breaking the problem into 4 steps: defining objectives, gathering data (about your customers, your products, and the purchase context), analyzing and executing, and learning and evolving. Citing successful strategies in companies such as Tesco, Zappos, Microsoft, and Walmart, they provide a framework for nailing the NBO.

Read this in full (registration required). See a PDF version.

Also see HBR’s portal The Future of Retail.

To stay current with news about publishing, consumers, branding, retailing, and more, bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Smartphone-toting consumers are embracing a world in which they can find out about (and potentially buy) anything they see or hear, even if they don’t know what it is or can’t describe it in words. According to trendwatching.com (@trendwatching), the concept of “Point—Know—Buy” will reshape consumers’ info-expectations (“infolust”), search behavior, and purchasing patterns. Here are some of the drivers trendwatching identifies:

·         QR Codes

·         Augmented Reality

·         Tagging

·         Visual Search

Available online services that accommodate those drivers include WordLens (@wordlens), leafsnap (@leafsnap), Skymap (@googleskymap), Shazam (@Shazam), Aurasma (@aurasma), Blippar (@blippar), and others.

Read this in full.

See the PDF report.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you track and act on trends that impact your brand.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Internet users in Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, and US were surveyed, representing more than half of the world's online population and more than 60% of the world's gross domestic product (GDP).

For the first time on the survey, Canada reports that the Internet is now more influential overall in purchasing decisions than family and friends. Comparatively, in the US, the Internet rates about equal in importance (46% compared with 47% for family and friends). The Internet's greatest sway is in Asia, where the gap between the influence of the Internet and that of family and friends is 9% in China (79% to 70%) and nearly twice that in India (79% to 60%).

Overall

·         66% of contributors say the Web has an impact on their purchase choices

·         61% for guidance from friends, family and colleagues

·         51% for email

·         43% for newspapers

·         42% for television

·         37% for direct mail

·         28% for magazines and radio.

When looking online for information about products

·         89% use search engines

·         60% visit brand websites

·         50% access user-review platforms

·         24% post a question on a forum

·         18% turn to the brand's Facebook page

·         14% go to the corresponding feed on Twitter

·         12% search Twitter for comments in this area.

The average participant of the survey spends 13.7 hours per week using the Web, vs. 9.8 hours watching TV and 4.7 hours on a mobile device.

Regarding social media, 42% of the sample have “liked” a brand on these services.

·         79% became “fans” to learn more about a brand

·         76% were seeking discounts

·         73% sought exclusive information

·         69% wanted to give positive feedback.

·         67% hoped to share opinions

·         59% had ideas to submit

·         58% wished to “display an affiliation”

·         57% liked being part of a community.

Read the survey in full (pdf).

Read the facts and figures ebook (pdf).

Bookmark and use daily our (@smrsault) free online dashboard SomersaultNOW; especially the Research tab.

trendwatching.com (@trendwatching) provides an overview of “12 must-know consumer trends (in random order)”:

·         Red Carpet — In 2012, department stores, airlines, hotels, theme parks, museums, if not entire cities and nations around the world will roll out the red carpet for the new emperors, showering Chinese visitors and customers with tailored services and perks, and in general, lavish attention and respect.

·         DIY Health — Expect to see consumers take advantage of new technologies and apps to discreetly and continuously track, manage and be alerted to, any changes in their personal health.

·         Dealer-Chic — In 2012, not only will consumers continue to hunt for deals and discounts, but they will do so with relish if not pride. Deals are now about more than just saving money: it’s the thrill, the pursuit, the control, and the perceived smartness, and thus a source of status too.

·         Eco-Cycology — Brands will increasingly take back all of their products for recycling (sometimes forced by new legislation), and recycle them responsibly and innovatively.

·         Cash-Less — Will coins and notes completely disappear in 2012? No. But a cashless future is (finally) upon us, as major players such as MasterCard and Google work to build a whole new eco-system of payments, rewards and offers around new mobile technologies.

·         Bottom of the Urban Pyramid — The majority of consumers live in cities, yet in much of the world city life is chaotic, cramped and often none too pleasant. However at the same time, the creativity and vibrancy of these aspiring consumers, means that the global opportunities for brands which cater to the hundreds of millions of lower-income CITYSUMERS are unprecedented.

·         Idle Sourcing — Anything that makes it downright simple - if not completely effortless - for consumers to contribute to something will be more popular than ever in 2012. Unlocked by the spread of ever smarter sensors in mobile phones, people will not only be able but increasingly willing, to broadcast information about where and what they are doing, to help improve products and services.

·         Flawsome — Consumers will consider those brands awesome that behave more humanly, including exposing their flaws.

·         Screen Culture — Thanks to the continued explosion of touchscreen smartphones, tablets, and the 'cloud', 2012 will see a screen culture that is not only more pervasive, but more personal, more immersive, and more interactive than ever.

·         Recommerce — It’s never been easier for savvy consumers to resell or trade in past purchases, and unlock the value in their current possessions. In 2012, ‘trading in’ is the new buying.

·         Emerging Maturialism — While cultural differences will continue to shape consumer desires, middle-class and/or younger consumers in almost every market will embrace brands that push the boundaries. Expect frank, risqué or non-corporate products, services, and campaigns from emerging markets to be on the rise in 2012.

·         Point & Know — Consumers are used to being able to find out just about anything that’s online or text-based, but 2012 will see instant visual information gratification brought into the real and visual world with objects and even people.

Read this in full.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you track trends that impact your brand.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.