Lessons from Obvious State U

The folks at BIG Research have pulled together mounds of survey data, quantitative calculations and their greater intelligence to create demographic profiles of who they expect to be the “big spenders” (those who will spend more this year) and who will be the “penny pinchers” (those who will spend less) this upcoming holiday season.


So with the objective of helping you quickly identify which customers you want to spend time helping and which ones you can let stand, confusingly staring at the discount rack, for hours on end, we have poured over the BIG Research findings and cross-referenced them with the latest visual search and face recognition technology to create these full-color images that physically depict what BIG Research uncovered. Below are compiled renderings representing the demographic profiles first of BIG’s “big spenders” and second of BIG’s “penny pinchers.”

Don't say we've never helped ya.

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(Male, age 37.3, income: $63,000)

(Female, age 46, income: $54,000)

Plug and Play

Good news for those hoping for a greener world: Harris Interactive recently completed a poll of around 10,000 American consumers and found that as much as 27 percent of U.S. vehicle owners say they are likely, very likely or extremely likely to include plug-in hybrid engine technology in their next vehicle purchase.

Now, a quarter of respondents may not sound like enough to get all excited about, but consider that plug-in hybrids, designed to run entirely on electricity, at least for short trips at lower velocities, have never been available in the U.S. market in notable volume, except for General Motors' brief experiment with its late 1990s EV1 car.

History also has shown that consumers tend to underestimate their usage and adoption of products and technologies that they haven’t seen or know little about, and the same survey found that only a similar 23 percent of respondents said they were either extremely (3 percent), very (6 percent) or just familiar (14 percent) with the nuts and bolts of plug-in hybrid power.

"Once we explained the technology, 52 percent said that they would be much more likely to include it on their next vehicle,” says Stephen Lovett, Harris director. Likelihood dropped a bit, however, once people were told there would be a premium price for a clean mobile.

And the enthusiasm around plug-ins may be more self-centered than driven by concerns for a healthier planet. In other words, saving money on gas may be more important than saving the planet, as the strongest interest came from respondents who own a compact SUV, of whom 45 percent said they were likely to purchase a plug-in hybrid for their next vehicle, versus 31 percent of owners of more fuel-efficient compact cars.

But hey, whatever works, right? Also encouraging, among those who say there were least likely to include plug-in hybrid vehicles on their shopping lists, 84 percent did say they would prefer plugging in to filling up at the gas station, says Harris.

Inventory Risk Shifting to Vendors

Historically, retailers put in purchase orders with their vendors and were contractual committed to the delivery of a set amount of merchandise at a specific time. But nearly all big chains now are giving their suppliers “forecasts” of their estimated requirements that carry no obligation for the retailer to purchase the goods once they are ready, says Stevan Buxbaum, of consultant firm Buxbaum Group.

"With nothing but a forecast in place, it's not uncommon for a retailer to buy only a fraction of what the manufacture produced or to stretch out deliveries over a much longer period of time, and the manufacturer doesn't have a leg to stand on," said Buxbaum.

The problem is especially acute in apparel. "In many cases, those goods carry the retailer's private label, and the chain is not going to want them in circulation," Buxbaum says. "That creates issues.”

The move to the forecast approach also puts some stress on the manufacturers’ secured lenders. "They are lending against this merchandise, but there is no guarantee that the purchaser will take it.”

So far, the practice is limited to the major retail chains, and few outdoor dealers carry the kind of clout required to get forecast terms from their vendors. But the report from Buxbaum is a reminder that “merchandise” and “inventory” do not equal “asset,” at least not until one is able to sell it.

It also reignites the question of who ultimately has the clout. Or better yet, who owns the customer. The retailer who faces the customer or the brand/SKU they came to the store to buy?