Retailers told to forge ties with the young consumers

CEBU, Philippines — Retailers are urged to build relationships with the young consumers to stay in the highly competitive retail market.

British forecasting company WGSN advised retailers to alter marketing strategies at this time of hype-driven consumers highly influenced by the millennial group.

One of the tricks in stroking a relationship with the young breed is to adopt drop-focused strategies and lower price points to capture business opportunity.

“In satisfying a younger consumer with entry level product, core offerings can become more premium. This also creates broader brand relevance and builds a relationship with a younger consumer, future-proofing the brand,” the report recommended.

The drop-culture has evolved into a retail phenomenon, which is also being implemented by luxury brand retailers in their effort to reach out the young market.

“The strategy that helped turn Supreme into a billion-dollar business is now being adopted across all of retail,” WGSN said in a report.

The “consider drop-focused strategies is now an effective tool for generating market heat, and look to new aesthetics and products to act as an add-on to core offerings.

WGSN noted that brands even outside of the luxury space are successfully using drop culture as a marketing tool to gain and connect with a hype-driven consumers.

Citing a 2018 report from Deloitte, the WGSN said millennials and their Generation Z counterparts will represent more than 40 percent of the overall luxury goods market by 2025.

The same report said 20.5 percent of millennials cite social media as their predominant source of luxury product and fashion trends.

The WGSN report pointed out that collaborations will continue to prove beneficial for luxury brands and provide entry points.

It also underscored the importance of focusing on the ‘phygital’, noting that digital iterations should incentivise store visits or add an interactive element to bricks-and- mortar.

“Alleviate in-store queuing by dedicating physical retail space to experience. If Instagram-friendly, these will self-market with social sharing,” the report added.

Earlier, Rustan Group’s Stores Specialists Inc. (SSI), the exclusive franchisee of some of the finest and luxury international brands, noted that the company is seeing continued interest from international retail brands, taking into account the country’s young population and increasing disposable income.

Interests from new brands are increasing because of the country’s young population, said SSI Group Incorporated president Anthony Huang. (FREEMAN)