RSR Research: 2010 - The Year of Transparent Retailing

The latter two are not consumer trends unless it's an obvious deviation from their values, or a big ticket item. I would not advise retailers to spend much time discussing channel distribution or how you found them. Sustainability is a responsibility and not a differentiator.

Customers desire simplicity and their needs to be filled. Don't confuse your responsibilities with what is important to them.

Christopher P. Ramey, President, Affluent Insights

I think Supply Chain is an interesting way to become transparent, and feel it falls within the domain of sustainability. Here is where a retailer can control the price of things and since petroleum or transportation costs put so much strain on pricing, now may be the time to rethink these strategies, depending upon price vs value and what can be delivered to the consumer in the best possible way.

My case is that I can only import a certain type of fabric, but the product is made in the U.S.A.. I've had to do a cost/benefit analysis and be clear with the customer on how the product has been put together so they can appreciate the finer points. And now I'm working on making it even more visible to them through some sort of certifications.

Kim Barrington, President, the kimbro agency

"Transparency" is for sure a growing issue, but I'm thinking of transparency in the sense that stores are basically quasi-public places, and with shoppers being wired for both sound and video, stores will soon be subject to more surveillance than the drones provide in Afghanistan. In this case, we have already spent years in building the metrics that the "drones" will be reporting to the outside world.

Herb Sorensen, Ph.D., Scientific Advisor TNS Global Retail & Shopper, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute

Demand singularity is simply not a workable concept in the retail world. Demand forecasting, adapted for limited consumer group modeling, is a necessity to achieve economies of scale in distribution, effort and marketing.

Online, demand singularity can be presented, although this approach has yet to show any pervasive uptake or best practice implementation. The idea that altering what a specific consumer sees as a function of the information available about that consumer remains deeply intriguing...and the actual implementation remains a subject for enormous debate. All predictive modeling must draw on data, and the data must be weighted, interpreted, and extrapolated from; which leads to endless discussions of what weighting, how arrived at, what interpretation, and how extrapolated.

As for "green," while it is politically incorrect, I have yet to see overwhelming consumer adoption of the "green" philosophy either in supporting apparently "green" brands and products, or in the willingness to pay more for those products or brands. Yes, "green" is topical. To what extent does the consumer's perception of that status impact intent-to-buy? I haven't seen definitive research. My personal opinion is that "green" is relatively low on the scale after value, quality, and fit with the consumer's physical needs. "Green" is a higher order (thank you Maslov) need, and becomes relevant when all other need states are equal. That is almost never the case in retail, or usually only with commodity merchandise.

Don Delzell, Managing Director, Retail Advantage

The most important move retailers made to maximize sales success during the recent holiday selling season was an opaque one. They limited inventory while maintaining margins. What a way to kick off the age of transparency. To my recollection, most of the transparency steps made for consumers by brands and retailers over the years were forced by the government. Ingredients, country of origin, certifications, warnings, etc. They were hardly voluntary and there's no reason to believe that will change. Just more government control. Conversely, consumers are notoriously resistant to additional intrusions into their privacy. In-store RFID applications, while essentially ready to implement, are only slowly gaining traction. When asked about more access to their personal preferences and practices, shoppers are always reluctant.

Perhaps the best we can hope for is translucency.

M. Jericho Banks PhD, President, CEO, Forensic Marketing LLC

Isn't supply chain visibility, what we used to call "landed cost" back in the day?

No matter what you call it, it's always good to have a handle on expenses.

'myopinion'