Retail guru identifies 'I' global biztrends

MANILA, Philippines - It’s all about the 3Cs — and what the consumers really, really want.

Today’s global business trends based on the consumer mindset can be summarized into 3 C’s — customized, convenient and concerned.

This was the heart of the speech of Samie Lim, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Retailers Association and president of the 60-year Automatic Centre, at the “Consumer Electronic Show Expo” held at the SMX Convention Center. Lim was the only invited speaker in the said occasion.

“Consumers are getting more difficult to satisfy and their mindset is getting more complicated as they are presented with so many options. But at the end of the day, we retailers make a sale because what we have satisfy the demanding “I” which represents our big boss, the consumer who only has one thing in mind, himself. It’s all about what he needs and what he wants,” said Lim.

He emphasized that the key in retail is still to have a good understanding of what the consumers really want and have the foresight to identify what they will want tomorrow, usually an innovation of what already exists.

Lim further explains what the “3Cs” is all about.

• Customized is when consumers say “I am unique” so they expect to be treated as a special individual and not just a nameless face in the mass market. Examples of these customized products flooding the market are personalized skins of cellphones, laptops and iPods.

“DNAs are now also being used in consumer products. There is such a thing as DNA portraits where the client’s DNA, fingerprint or kissmark, is turned into art, a wall décor. My DNA Fragrance is a company that gets a person’s DNA code by swabbing the cheek, on which they will be a personalized “biologically seductive” perfume,” Lim added.

• Convenient is when the customer is thinking “I want it now,” and the best concept to represent this is “Transumerism” which refers to the growing number of businesses created for a niche market composed of people in transit or in travel.

Lim noted: “People nowadays are very mobile and they want to experience and have as many things as they can in the shortest possible time. Transumerism encompasses the new shopping opportunities in airports, train stations, hotels and everything else that a traveler needs. The last two years have been the height of convenience and portability. Now we carry our movies, music, books, pictures, our entire life with us wherever we go. Everything is downloadable. We have here a convenience store chains that has this cellphone charging vendo, drop in a five peso coin then you can charge for 10 minutes!”

• Concerned is when the customer is thinking “I am one with the world.” The concerned consumer is eco-conscious and promotes an eco-lifestyle.

“Even consumer electronics and computer products are now being classified from being greener to greenest. Most of the time, it is a deciding factor in choosing among many similar brands. Greenpeace also have the Guide to Greener Electronics where they ranked the 18 top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TVs and games consoles according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change,” Lim added.

He also cited how some washing machine manufacturers have come up with machines that only require one cup of water for one load of washing. “Going green is the new status symbol indeed,” he said.