How big a factor is social media in changing shopping dynamics?
It’s huge. In a pre-social media world that controlling approach was probably appropriate behavior because retailers didn’t have the tools to scale shopper feedback. But now shoppers are in control and if you don’t believe it sit down with a manufacturer in the CD and DVD business or the travel industry. Consumers are creating entire industries on their own like virtual goods markets where $150 million worth of baseball caps and T-shirts that didn’t exist have been sold through Facebook. The consumer is powerful. Who’s doing it right? Apple is a spectacular example. You walk through that Apple Store and everything, from the way the sales associate captures the transaction near the display to the nature of their training bar in the back of the store. Even the way the point of purchase is organized reflects what’s important to the shopper and not what’s important to the brand. And look at their display labels: they’re not filled with technical specs. Instead they tell you what the produc
