Need has become desire (merchandising)

We no longer pay just for goods and services,we want to be inspired,challenged,stimulated and amazed.We buy goods and the dreams,hopes,experiences,emotions and entertainment that they give us.Need has become desire.

Welcome to the age of experience!Today's consumers are not rational decision makers who base their purchasing decisions on functional and objective product features and benefits.In our relationship with the products we purchase,we want to "feel", "relate", "sense" and "act".

A purchasing decision is not based on a simple exchange of money for goods or services.It is a part of a conversation between a brand and a customer.As customers,we expext this conversation to be uniqu,engaging,and personally meaningful.The store is the best medium availiable to a retailer to reach out to us.It can be the anchor point of a brand's marketing and communication mix.

Consequently,the retail sector is becoming a holistic industry,competing with leisure,entertaiment and even wellness.The winners in this new game are those brands and reatilers that know how to manage the entire customer experience at each customer interaction point.Shops that stage the point of sale as a theater of dreams will prevail.

In the end,it is the consumer who wins big.

text

from the book

Experience Shopping

( Ann De Keiver, Koen Van Damme - Lannoo )

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