Part 1: Consumer Habits Marketing

*this is part one of a three-part mini series on consumer habits*

Retail companies are constantly trying to learn more and more about their consumers. The knowledge of how a consumer will decide upon a product, the store at which to shop at, how much they will spend on each product are all vital pieces of information for securing revenues. Marketing specialists in major retail companies in the United States utilize the power of data collection, analysis, and neuroscience to discover trends in how people operate. In recent years, these techniques have exploded with the funding of many corporate entities and the advancements by researchers at universities around the nation. 

Information is analyzed using what is called predictive analytics, which attempts to understand not just consumer's shopping habits but also their personal habits, all with the goal to allow retail companies more efficiency in their efforts to market their brands, products, and stores.

For most shoppers, shopping at one store can be a seldom act. Traditionally, people will purchase goods at where they feel is most in line with what they desire. For example, clothing is something one would like to purchase at a department store. Cleaning supplies and home goods are more commonly purchased at major stores like Target. What retailers like Target want to do is convince their potential consumers to purchase both their clothes and cleaning goods all at one stop, their store. Stores that sell everything from cleaning supplies, to scarfs, to groceries, capturing peoples mindset to convince them that all can be purchased in one location is a primary goal. 

This is a really tough message to get across however. Many consumer's shopping habits are ingrained in their nature, and changing these habits can be a very challenging process. Luckily for retailers, there are some brief periods in people's lives that can be opportunities to change habits. The holy grail of these are the times when new parents are expecting the birth of a child. New parents feel the sudden shock in their lifestyles with the welcoming of a child, and on long nights where a new mother has many cravings for Oreo cookies and also needs toilet paper for the bathroom, the idea of shopping at multiple locations is just not too appetizing. Parents then get more inclined to shop at a multiple purpose store, this is the retailers chance to convince parents that not only can they purchase their babies diapers at their store, but also their baby formula, vitamins, and even that new T.V. to relax with in the evening hours.  

Marketing is a key and often hidden aspect of retail sales. For many, including myself, the lifestyle change of going to college has provided me an opportunity to be a habitual changer. In fact, my habits have changed a lot, and it seems Target has really done a great job of capturing me as a returning multiple purpose consumer. For many of my school supplies, health goods, and the occasional groceries, I typically shop there. It may also be due to their close proximity. Nevertheless, if you're a college student, don't be surprised to find an advertisement in your mail to visit a store, you are what retailers love, a person with the potential of changing habits. 

For more on this story, visit the NY Times article: "How Companies Learn Your Secrets"