The Endless Shopping Trip

March 14, 2012

Many businesses have long considered customer feedback a vital sign of success. In fact some argue that the most important measure of customer satisfaction is asking whether one shopper would recommend a store, product or service to someone else. Like so many other activities, technology is empowering that discussion like never before.

For an increasing number of shoppers, Facebook and other social webs are constant companions on their regular errands and that means a company’s reputation and competition are following them through every step of their trip.

While preparing for a trip shoppers can use the social web to learn about new products, special discounts or simply do research on a host of issues. The journey of discovery continues inside the store where shoppers can easily employ smart phone apps to check for better prices or get insight from their network on various products. Such input might range from comparing fashions in a clothing store to discussing recipes or product reviews in a supermarket.

Once they leave the store the networking continues with an increasing number of shoppers sharing their opinions on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, CitySearch among many sites. And that means that all experiences, positive and negative, get shared quicker and more widely than ever before.

The need to understand how the social web is impacting business was the key reason the operators on Coca‑Cola Retailing Research Council made this their topic of investigation. These new insights on shopper behavior and the web’s impact can be found in Part 3 of this new report, available at www.ccrrc.org under the tab for North America.

Michael Sansolo

Research Director

Coca‑Cola Retailing Research Council of North America