Aligning with Values: Key Strategies for Retail Success

S1:E3 Beyond Price: How Consumer Values Drive Retail Loyalty
 
In this episode of Retail Razor Data Blades, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden chat with Georgina Nelson, CEO of TruRating, about critical consumer insights and the importance of aligning retail strategies with customer values. Georgina shares findings from TruRating's research at the point-of-sale, revealing that 77% of consumers are driven by retailer values over loyalty cards or discounts. The discussion highlights the importance of eco-friendly initiatives and tailored communication strategies to foster customer loyalty and convey values effectively. The discussion underscores the necessity for retailers to maintain their commitment to these values even in tough economic times.

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(00:00) Show Intro

(01:11) Georgina Nelson - How Aligning with Consumer Values Still Plays a Critical Role

(05:01) Show Close

Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, and a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. Once immersed in fashion & supply chain tech, now slaying Franken-stacks & building retail tech!

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

Episode Transcript

Ricardo Belmar (00:06):
Welcome to our new Retail Razor Show, DataBlades, our new standalone Retail Razor
Show, where we talk real world numbers andslice through measurable consumer insights
based on research at the point of sale.
And bringing us that slicing and dicing ofdata is Georgina Nelson, CEO of TruRating.
TruRating helps retailers heardirectly from validated shoppers

(00:28):
daily, and recently had a majormilestone of half a billion responses.
Retailers using TruRating average an80 percent response rate on questions
asked, made possible by asking a singlerotating question directly on the POS
pinpad, making it a seamless part ofthe shopper's checkout experience.

(00:48):
TruRating also works with theirretail partners to develop consumer
insights reports by running questionson an industry topic or theme.
These anonymous responses are linked tometrics such as basket size and repeat
visits to produce industry changinginsights like the ones Georgina will share
with us today and raise our data blades.
I'm your host, Ricardo Belmar.

(01:09):
And I'm your cohost, Casey Golden.
Welcome Georgina.
Thank you so much for having me.
So today's Retail Razor Data Bladesegment is how aligning with customer
values still plays a critical role.
So yeah, to that point, we wantedto really find out what was
driving consumers loyalty behavior.

(01:31):
As, as a time when... Retailers arefeeling the, the pinch of inflation
as are their shoppers, we can oftenget to this race to the bottom where
prices are slashed in desperation to,to try and win that customer loyalty.
And so we, we asked somesimple questions as to what was
driving that loyal behavior.

(01:53):
Interestingly, we found justover a smidgen over 50%, so 51
percent of consumers said theywere influenced by their loyalty
card and by money off vouchers.
But a staggering 77 percent saidwhat actually drives their behavior
and their loyalty is whether theirretailers values resonate with

(02:15):
them and they affiliated with it.
And so I think in this modern timeof loyalty, that sends a really clear
message for retailers to understand what,what values do their customers really
affiliate with and how can they marketthose to them and ensure that that's
understood and really build that, buildthat bond with their consumer base.

(02:39):
Yeah.
It really backs up the, communicateyour brand and your values.
Stop talking about price.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And even just recently, we'vestill seen that over 75 percent
of US consumers, they do want tobuy ecologically sound products.
They do want to buy organic whenthose choices are available.

(03:01):
And so it's really to retailers,don't squimp on these initiatives
just because times might be toughbecause consumers are still looking
for those and looking for that stanceand values to make their choices.
Georgina, it seems like for thisto really be beneficial for the
retailers that are going to like,are suggesting that they need to lean

(03:24):
into this and not stop investing.
They'd have to really understand how tocommunicate that to their customers to, to
make it really worthwhile and beneficial.
Yeah, I, I think strategies need to be.
It's not like a blanket, one,one email, one shot in the dark,
we really need to have a nuancedunderstanding of the customer

(03:47):
base and what drives that loyalty.
And then that needs to be communicatedacross a website, across product
placements, across brand messaging.
And I think what's important isthat, all customers are not alike.
There's going to be a mix.
And what we see is that mix is more,it's obviously very prevalent at a

(04:08):
store level in terms of each store isa snowflake with different customer
segmentation and really beginning tounderstand that at a store level, how,
and testing and asking customers, howhave your, have they understood the
green initiatives, which you are pushing.
Do they understand thedrive on organic produce?

(04:30):
And, understanding that awarenessand then being able to tailor
better comms and better marketing isabsolutely key and, and we recommend
doing that at a granular store level.
I couldn't agree more.
Well that does it for anotheredition of Retail Razor Blades.
Does this mean I get to keep the segmentintro music every time I'm on the show?

(04:54):
I think we can arrange that.
Thank you so much both.
absolute pleasure.
If you enjoyed our show, please considergiving us a five star rating and
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Remember to smash that subscribe buttonin your favorite podcast player and tune
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(05:16):
I'm your cohost, Casey Golden.
Please share your feedback withus on Twitter at Casey C Golden,
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I'm your host, Ricardo Belmar.

(05:37):
Thanks for joining us.
Until next time, keep cuttingthrough the clutter and stay sharp.
This is the Retail Razor Data Blades.