The Dynamics of Consumerism

Chain Drug Review, March 15, 1999

Luminaries from North America's leading retailers were brought together in New York last month by Conde Nast Publications for a daylong seminar on "Consumerism in the Third Millennium."

The group heard from economic and political insiders before closing the program with a roundtable discussion with Conde Nast editors and publishers. Speakers included former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers, Den of Thieves author James Stewart, and Bear, Sterns & Co. senior managing director Dana Telsey.

Throughout the day Conde Nast executives committed themselves to serving retailers in marketing partnerships based on an understanding of magazine readers.

"Some of our most important business partners are retailers," said Conde Nast vice president of marketing and database Stephen Jacoby. "Our objective is to help you get to know your customers better."

Toward that end Conde Nast conducted research this year and developed a customer profile from its 16 million-name database to provide a sense of who the heavy mass market shopper is and how retailers can best market to them.

The custom research, undertaken specifically for the roundtable, was a telephone survey to determine what will make shoppers go to mass market stores more often in the future. "We wanted to find out firsthand from your customers today what they want from you tomorrow," Jacoby commented.

The company surveyed 200 of its readers--a microcosm of the nation's shoppers. Asked what the single most important thing chain drug stores, supermarkets and discounters would have to do to retain their business in the next three to five years, 60% of those surveyed answered that stores either had to have good prices or a convenient location.

Those were the expected answers, so the researchers probed further by asking for the next most important elements of shopping. The most common answers were: better selection/variety (18%), better quality products (17%) and better customer service (15%).

"There are a lot of chains at a lot of intersections with a lot of stores--many times on each of the four corners. The question now becomes, if for the most part the price is fair and for the most part the location is convenient, what else will distinguish them? That distinction is going to be the difference between success and failure," said Jacoby.

The survey revealed that 35 % of consumers will shop more frequently at stores "that provide information and solutions for my life in addition to just selling merchandise." That can range from menu planning for special diets to stain removal tips, noted Jacoby, "or anything that's helpful in people's lives."

Even more significant, over half of those surveyed said they would do more shopping in stores that are merchandised in ways that match their attitudes and lifestyles.

"This is also the issue of not just lining up the store the way you want to line it up, but in a way that the customer sees it fitting within her life," he said.

Two elements of shopping that consumers are not particularly eager to experience more often are amusement and novelty. Asked whether they would shop more frequently in stores that provide fun/new experiences, 44% of those surveyed said no.

Eckerd Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer Frank Newman said that sentiment was perfectly understandable. "When I'm going shopping I'm not necessarily going for fun," he noted. "I'm not going to Disney World. I'm going to accomplish something."

Peter Armour, senior vice president of consumer marketing at Conde Nast, said the program laid the foundation for closer working relations and continued dialogue. "Let us continue the dialogue," he said, "into 1999 and beyond."

The Voice of Americas Shoppers

Conde Nast Publications is the voice of America's most avid shoppers. Its magazines reach 39 million unduplicated adults each month.

And there is one feature of magazines that makes them unlike any other medium, according to Glamour publisher Mary Berner. "There's a built-in relationship with the reader," she said at last month's Conde Nast Publications Retail Executive Roundtable.

"There's an emotional connection between the reader and the magazine," added Lynn Heiler, publisher of Bon Appetit.

Berner emphasized that Conde Nast's refusal to license any of its magazine names has given the publisher a paint of difference. "People believe that when the Glamour name is on something it means something," she said.

Referring to the publication's work with Eckerd Corp. on the semiannual Healthwise supplement, she added, "I'd rather partner with Eckerd and do something substantial than have both of us just make a few bucks with a superficial license."

Several publishers noted that magazines are in many ways similar to stores. "You want the consumer to fill her basket because it resonates with her" remarked Rochelle Udell, editor of Self.

Keeping Track of What Consumers Want

Conde Nast collects and owns powerful data on American consumers.

The Advance Marketing Database comprises 16.1 million subscriber files with 250 demographic and lifestyle characteristics appended to those files.