How shopping will change in the ‘new normal’ and the impact on exporters Part 3,
Follow-on blog from How shopping will change in the ‘new normal’ and the impact on exporters Part 2
Now than ever before it is crucial that you kickstart the business, reopening in the new “normal” and work with the opportunities to
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think differently
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think ‘wrong’ and
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create a real difference
Many companies are now adding the direct-to-consumer business model to the already existing routes to markets during the global lockdowns to keep the supply chain up running.
The customer and consumers’ behaviour also changed overnight. Shopping online became the norm and communication both private and professional shifted to online platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Team to mention a few.
But how many of these ways of operating will stick and how? A quick recap of key changes can be found here. What is the situation for your industry and your business?
Whichever angle you are taking, the customer has, should and will remain the key focus for growth and customer retention
The business landscape has changed and continues to evolve and develop at speed.
Returning to the 3 key areas
• think differently,
• think ‘wrong’ and
• create a real difference
Brand leaders from complementary categories are collaborating
Cocktails is one of the fastest-growing categories across the alcohol category and the Spritz serve is the fastest-growing category within cocktails, a tree easy steep long drink for the summer months. The world’s No.1 vodka Smirnoff No.21, is collaborating with leading mixer brand, Fever-Tree
The “Spritz Up” partnership champions the simplicity of creating a quality served in just three easy steps. The campaign is Fever-Tree’s new premium soda range, paired perfectly with triple distilled Smirnoff No.21, helping inspire consumers to switch up their choice this summer.
So to combine the two leading brands Fever-Tree and Smirnoff are now partnering in support of the Sprintz –Up campaign this summer
Smirnoff has extended its brand with flavours such as Raspberries, as so many other brands in the vodka category have done during the lockdown.
Yes, this is rather unique as the category offering has changed for both brands and following the consumers’ interest and demand for premium home enjoyment as in the hospitality outlets.
Retailers are growing their e-commerce business
Major retailers, such as M&S and John Lewis in England are focussing on their e-commerce business and have further developed product and services offerings with third-party suppliers.
Retailers are reviving the retail model, creating a loop around the offering nearly as “the retail pop-up concept” in the online store with the “retail red brick environment” is being created and strengthened with hybrid offerings. This is being done whilst keeping the core brand offering and following the customer demand for use of e-commerce offerings around a marketplace platform without the brick surroundings.
Some might think it is a wrong offering, so many different brands in one branded online platform under the retailers’ brand platform. But it is not so different to the leading Amazon Market concept. We have also seen towns and villages grouping together to create an online marketplace to satisfy the growing consumer demand and a stronger base.
Focus on creating a real difference and create a real global impact
One such product that really stands out for me personally is the eco-label scheme from Foundation Earth. Here food giants such as M&S, the Co-Op, Sainsbury, Nestle to mention a few are members of the non-profit Foundation Earth.
The labelling scheme draws on the world’s two leading systems for measuring the environmental impact of the product’s production. The environmental impact will be illustrated on a simple label on the front of the retail pack. The traffic light style score is based on measuring criteria such as carbon emissions, water usage and pollution. The scheme will also analyse the environmental impact from farming, processing, packaging and transport.
The scheme will be piloted and rolled out in September 2021 in the UK and from autumn 2022 there is a full European-wide rollout, where Nestle is funding an intensive nine-month research programme for the European wide foundation.
Following Carlsberg’s innovative move to the new glue dot packaging method of the cans to completely replace and remove the plastic rings Heineken are now also stopped using the plastic ring method on the can packs
Even supermarkets are starting to offer more plastic-free shopping methods, some even offer you to dispose of the plastic after shopping and before going home. When I lived in Berlin about 20 years ago this concept was op running in many supermarkets, there was not the current strong call to protect the earth but to save the consumers to have too much extra domestic waste in the local bin system. It can be done with more suitable packaging, branding is still present and your choice is heard in a very positive way in the current and future settings.
