So did you do it? – The Small Step That Will Create A Giant Leap in Understanding Shoppers

Firstly, may I wish you a very healthy and happy 2014.

A fresh sense of optimism is quietly gathering momentum in the travel market and green shoots appear to emerging around the world. Of course, there is also a sense of cautiousness but 2014 promises to be an interesting year.

As the title of this post suggests, I have one key question. So did you do it?

In 2013, I posted an article about taking a small step to deliver a giant leap in understanding the shopper. I talked about adapting the EPOS system to capture Gender. When a sales assistant goes to process a transaction, they entry screen should have a Male or Female symbol. This symbol could just as easily be A and B or X and Y if you would rather be more discreet about the capture of this information.

So what can capturing Gender do for your business? This information can help you start and tailor your offer. You can evaluate gender differences in terms of:

•   Brand preferences
•   Average Transaction Values
•   Average Basket Size
•   Degree of Premiumisation
•   Category Preferences
•   and much more…

Capturing the gender of purchasers is a step forward in terms of unlocking sales growth potential and driving profitability. Such a small change in how you process transactions in store will make a significant change on how you design your stores of the future. Our research in 2013 identified some key opportunities for Landlords, Retailers and Brands. We found that the current formats were note aligned with how shoppers expected to shop when in store.

So. Did you do it? Did you tweak your systems to capture this data? Are you about to maximise on a new emerging super trend that is gaining momentum?

If you haven’t, what is stopping you?

Thanks for reading.

Kevin