Retail Consumer/Shopper: Meaning of Retail Shopper, Factors Influencing Retail Shoppers

Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells in smaller quantities to consumers for a profit. Retailers are the final link in the supply chain from producers to consumers. Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain final goods, including necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it takes place as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping and browsing: it does not always result in a purchase.

Retail markets and shops have a very ancient history, dating back to antiquity. Some of the earliest retailers were itinerant peddlers. Over the centuries, retail shops were transformed from little more than “rude booths” to the sophisticated shopping malls of the modern era.

Most modern retailers typically make a variety of strategic level decisions including the type of store, the market to be served, the optimal product assortment, customer service, supporting services and the store’s overall market positioning. Once the strategic retail plan is in place, retailers devise the retail mix which includes product, price, place, promotion, personnel, and presentation. In the digital age, an increasing number of retailers are seeking to reach broader markets by selling through multiple channels, including both bricks and mortar and online retailing. Digital technologies are also changing the way that consumers pay for goods and services. Retailing support services may also include the provision of credit, delivery services, advisory services, stylist services and a range of other supporting services.

Retail shops occur in a diverse range of types and in many different contexts; from strip shopping centres in residential streets through to large, indoor shopping malls. Shopping streets may restrict traffic to pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to create a more comfortable shopping environment; protecting customers from various types of weather conditions such as extreme temperatures, winds or precipitation. Forms of non-shop retailing include online retailing (a type of electronic-commerce used for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions) and mail order.

Consumer

A consumer is a user of a product or a service whereas a customer is a buyer of the product or service. The customer decides what to buy and executes the deal of purchasing by paying and availing the product or service. The consumer uses the product or service for oneself.

The retail customer can be understood by examining the behaviour of the retailers with respect to their buying habits in the retail stores. This concept is essential to understand who buys what, when and why. To all the promotions made by the sales person, it is important to examine how a customer responds to that particular sales promotion. For the business to survive and prosper it is essential to understand the consumer of the retail sector.

Factors Influencing Retail Shoppers

Identifying a customer

At some instances, when the customer enters the shop along with somebody else then it is not possible to make out who exactly is the decision maker. Therefore, whoever enters the shop is considered as the customer. In spite it is important to identify the origin of the customers.

Composition of Customers: Customers are of different gender, age, different education status, economic status, religion, nationality and occupation.

Origin of Customer: Origin of the customer include the place from where the customer comes from, the distance travelled by the customer to reach the shop and the area in which the customer lives.

Objective of Customer: It is essential to understand what is the objective of the customer whether to buy or to shop. Buying includes the actual purchase of the product and shopping includes looking out for some of the new products.

The factors that influence the buying behaviour of the consumer are as:

Market Conditions/Recession

Consumers would like to spend more on comforts and luxuries when the market for those particular comforts and luxuries is performing well. But the customers would prioritise on their purchase habits when and change from the luxuries to the basic needs and focus only on what exactly is essential for the survival of the customers.

Cultural Background

The buying behaviour of the consumers also vary depending upon the culture through which the customers have been brought up and depending upon the demographics they come from.

Income Levels

The changes in the levels of income also lead to changes in the buying pattern of the customers. People belonging to high income levels usually have high self-respect and hence expect the best in the market. They take quick decisions and do not think much while deciding on the purchase of quality products.

Whereas the consumers belonging to low-income levels always look for low-cost substitutes and try to find out the similar products. For instance, an Indian taxi driver cannot even think of purchasing an iPhone6 where as a professional with handsome package can easily afford for the same.

Social Status

The position of the customer in a particular society is considered as the social status. Different groups are formed by the people when they tend to interact with each other in order to satisfy the social needs of the customers.

The buying behaviour of the customers is mostly affected by their social status. When family members or friends accompany the customers, then it may happen that the choice about the product tends to be changed as the customer may get influenced by the peers. The changes in the choices or the decision-making are mostly done by the people who dominate the most in the family.

Personal Elements

The buying behaviour of the customers can also be influenced by some of the personal elements such:

• Gender: The perspectives, objectives and the habits of the different people differ and is highly dependent on the buying habits of the customers. A study conducted on shopping with respect to buying pattern of men and women have revealed that men tend to buy more and women tend to shop. Usually, men take less time for shopping than women. The decisions regarding purchasing of the products and shopping is done quickly by men and women like to look out for much better deals with regard to purchase of the products.
• All the four Ps of the marketing mix has to be set and framed in such a manner that the marketing policies seem to appeal both the gender.
• Age: The purchasing decisions differ for people belonging to different ages and different stages of life cycles.
• Occupation: The desire and the requirement for the product and the service also changes with respect to the occupational status of the consumers. For instance, a high-versioned and high-budgeted electronic gadget may not be required by a farmer but may turn out to be necessity for an IT professional.
• Lifestyle: Different products are being selected by the customers of different lifestyles even within the same culture.
• Nature: Customers tend to be very choosy in selecting a product for the purchase when have more awareness, confidence and adaptability about the product.

Psychological Elements

The buying behaviour of the customers is also influenced by some of the psychological factors such as:

• Motivation: Some of the factors of motivation behind the purchase by a customer are the natural force of hunger, need of safety, thirst etc.
• Perception: After the product is being used, different people have different perceptions about a particular product. Therefore, the buying decisions turn out to be biased depending upon the perceptions of the customers.
• Learning: There are different sources in the market for the customers to learn about the product and some of such sources are advertisements, peers, internet etc. The buying decisions are mostly affected by what exactly the customer learns about the product. For instance, the customers initially identify the difference between the specifications, costs, durability and other aspects while making the buying decisions.
• Beliefs and Attitudes: The buying decisions of the customers are highly influenced by the beliefs and attitudes of the customers.

Different buying behaviour Patterns of the customers

The purchasing behaviour and the purchase patterns of the customers are derived from the needs, tastes and preferences of the consumers. The different buying behaviour patterns of the customers are as follows:

Place of Purchase

The places of the purchase are divided by the customers. Customers usually prefer visiting different places and then decide on what to purchase at which shop, in spite all the products are available at the same place. The customers do not tick to a particular shop for purchasing, when they have been given a choice for purchase.

The purchase place of the customer is very much important for selection of the location and maintaining appropriate merchandise and selection of distributors.

Product Purchased

The quantity and the list of items that are being purchased by a particular customer has to be determined. Depending on some of the factors, the customers decided on what needs to be purchased. They are as follows:

• Availability/Shortage of product
• Requirement/Choice of product
• Perishability of product
• Storage requirements
• Purchasing power of oneself

These factors are to be considered by the producers, distributors, retailers etc. For instance, soaps, toothbrushes, potatoes are essential for the customers irrespective of the areas in which they live. But some of the products like French Grapes, avocados, baked beans etc are only available in specific areas and is desired by less number of the customers who have very strong regional demarcation.

Customers do not purchase a single piece of potato or banana and at the same time customers do not purchase more than two of the watermelons.

Time and Frequency of Purchase

Retailers should always work and maintain themselves available to the customers as desired by the customers. The purchase time of the customers is mostly influenced by some of the factors such as:

• Weather Conditions
• Season
• Location of customer

Based on the following factors, the purchase frequency is dependent. They are as:

• Type of commodity
• Degree of necessity involved
• Lifestyle of customers
• Festivals and customs
• Influence of the person accompanying the customer.