Retail in transition: (communication) concepts for the future of city centres

Retail is currently facing many challenges: frequency in city centres continues to decline, fierce competition with online retail has intensified due to the Corona pandemic, and since many commercial spaces have index leases, rental expenses continue to rise in line with inflation, putting additional pressure on retailers.

In our JOM IMPULSE event on 25 May 2023, Florian Treiß (Founder and Editor-in-Chief of locationinsider.de and mobilbranche.de) Markus Weber (Director Media Consulting at JOM Group) and Timo Sander (Head of Vertical Videos at JUSTADDSUGAR) addressed the challenges facing German city centres and discussed impulses for the future of stationary retail.

JOM IMPULSE in a Nutshell

Florian Treiß: What retail can do to make city centres more attractive again.

The infrastructure of German city centres is often a fundamental problem: In the past, these were often designed in such a way that the centre was conceived as a mono-functional shopping area with little “life” outside the opening hours.

At the same time, city districts should be designed in such a way that they not only serve for shopping, but become a place where people meet and enjoy spending time. This could be achieved through sufficient offers in the areas of leisure, gastronomy and shopping, but also through the expansion of green spaces and water facilities. In principle, consumers no longer just want to satisfy their needs – they can do this better online nowadays anyway – but also to experience something.

But what can retail do to become attractive for people again?

Shops should also offer their customers experiences. They can create these through their own courses, workshops or events. But tasteful or particularly “Instagrammable” furnishing styles can also attract visitors to the shops. Furthermore, special offers in the shops, such as the option to have goods personalised, can lead to more consumers buying on site.

According to surveys, many Germans would like to see a larger selection of regional and owner-operated shops in city centres. Shops that allow a look behind the scenes, such as glass workshops, are also very popular.

For the younger generation, seamless transitions when changing channels are an attractive shopping experience. After all, the smartphone is not only their constant companion, but also a digital shopping aid. No wonder, then, that they want digital services such as free customer WLAN. Current trends, exclusive drops and releases, as is often the case with new sneakers, also make stationary retail very exciting for them.

Markus Weber: How media can be used in a targeted way to ensure more footfall in the shops.

In the past, people were mainly attracted to the stationary trade by brochures. Today, some retailers no longer use brochures at all. This development is mainly thanks to the internet, which also offers exciting advantages for media planning: A multitude of data can now be collected and also used.

These five impulses, among others, can provide ideas on how to use data to increase frequency in the shops:

Use the radiant power of TV: TV has been under discussion for some time. Mainly because the costs keep rising and at the same time the reach – especially in the younger target group – is decreasing. In fact, TV still generates the most attention of all moving image channels. For retailers, the ATV (Addressable TV) and CTV (Connected TV) formats in particular offer interesting possibilities for addressing target groups. This is because they combine the big screen with the options of data-driven targeting. Even though ATV and CTV differ in terms of advertising format and environment, both offer a variety of different options that enable an individual and targeted approach at the regional level. For example, regional dealer addresses can also be integrated into a TV spot.
Show presence where the target group is out and about: Even if it was suspected that the Corona pandemic had the opposite effect, the ROPO effect (Research Online, Purchase Offline) is still visible in many product categories and attracts people to the retail trade. So city centres remain fundamentally relevant. And it is precisely there that potential customers can now be reached via a variety of digital advertising spaces, such as info screens or public videos in the mall. Here, too, data targeting can be used for targeted advertising, e.g. depending on the weather or as a real-time reaction to product availability in shops.

Harnessing the power of audio: Radio continues to be highly relevant. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that many potential customers can be addressed in the shortest possible time and at relevant times, such as on the way to work or shopping. In addition, a regional address is possible and listeners still have a positive trust in radio as a channel. Current developments in the audio sector show that while radio has the highest usage, music streaming and podcasting have seen the greatest growth, especially among young target groups. Both also offer some advantages for media planning, as different target groups can be defined and addressed. Another plus point: streaming providers offer not only audio but also audiovisual measures.
Measure the success of campaigns: How successful individual campaigns are can be measured very precisely today. Measurement is not only important to prove the success of a campaign, but also to generate learnings for future ones. Footfall measurement can be used as a basis. By comparing the movement profiles of individual users, it is possible to see whether recipients of a campaign have been to the store or not – even without clicking on the ad. This method works not only for mobile devices, but also for DOOH, CTV and ATV campaigns.
Knowing your customers: However, data can provide much more information about customers. For example, the data can show how often individual customers come into the store, when they go shopping and via which digital channels they found their way into the shop. If retailers also have other data, for example from external providers, they are even in a position to make statements about whether customers are particularly fond of travelling, for example. This information can then be used as a basis for target group clusters and for targeting campaigns, for example to specifically address weekend shoppers on their way to the shops on Saturday.
Timo Sander: How retailers can achieve a sales uplift with vertical videos.

Since the pandemic at the latest, TikTok has been enjoying ever greater popularity – as the following figures also prove. The platform already has 20 million monthly users in Germany and each user has an average usage time of 90 minutes and an average session duration of 9 minutes. For 55 percent of users, the reason for using the app is to discover new trends, brands and products.

The special feature of the app is its algorithm: the primary goal is not to reach an existing community, but to constantly reach new and different users.

And TikTok can also offer opportunities for retailers if a few factors are taken into account:

On the one hand, clear goals and a complete set-up for measuring success should be defined in advance to ensure that all actions are measured so that it can be evaluated afterwards how which measures have performed.

In addition, advertisers should first engage with the platform and its users in order to understand them. Only when brands engage with the format can they produce creative and successful content. The content does not necessarily have to be complicated. It is much more important that brands offer added value instead of messages. The young generation in particular has grown up with advertising and recognises it when they see it. Companies should therefore present themselves as authentically and approachably as possible.

Interaction with the community is also important. TikTok is not a platform for one-way communication; users want to feel heard and understood. In addition, TikTok should be filled with content at a high frequency and tried out as much as possible. Only if advertisers are open to Test, Learn and Adapt can they learn more about the language and needs of the target group on TikTok.

There are already some examples that show how retail brands can succeed in bridging the gap between online and offline if they recognise a trend in social media in time and take it up at the point of sale: for example, booksellers present the books that users have recommended on TikTok under the #Booktook in the shop under the category Booktook and thus succeed in addressing the newly created community of the social network in real life.

Conclusion

Even though city centres face many challenges, there is a need among people to visit them. If retailers address certain basic needs of people and offer them experiential opportunities, for example, new incentives can be created to increase footfall in cities again. Media planning can also help to increase frequency in shops. Whether via CTV and ATV on the big screen, via the regional radio station or with DOOH where people are out and about – there are now a variety of options available for addressing regional target groups, which can also be targeted specifically and individually via data-driven targeting.

The young generation in particular can be picked up by networking the online and offline worlds. Through the authentic implementation of trends, e.g. from the popular platform TikTok at the PoS, retailers can attract the attention of the young generation in particular.

Retail is currently facing many challenges: frequency in city centres continues to decline, fierce competition with online retail has intensified due to the Corona pandemic, and since many commercial spaces have index leases, rental expenses continue to rise in line with inflation, putting additional pressure on retailers.

In our JOM IMPULSE event on 25 May 2023, Florian Treiß (Founder and Editor-in-Chief of locationinsider.de and mobilbranche.de) Markus Weber (Director Media Consulting at JOM Group) and Timo Sander (Head of Vertical Videos at JUSTADDSUGAR) addressed the challenges facing German city centres and discussed impulses for the future of stationary retail.

JOM IMPULSE in a Nutshell

Florian Treiß: What retail can do to make city centres more attractive again.

The infrastructure of German city centres is often a fundamental problem: In the past, these were often designed in such a way that the centre was conceived as a mono-functional shopping area with little “life” outside the opening hours.

At the same time, city districts should be designed in such a way that they not only serve for shopping, but become a place where people meet and enjoy spending time. This could be achieved through sufficient offers in the areas of leisure, gastronomy and shopping, but also through the expansion of green spaces and water facilities. In principle, consumers no longer just want to satisfy their needs – they can do this better online nowadays anyway – but also to experience something.

But what can retail do to become attractive for people again?

Shops should also offer their customers experiences. They can create these through their own courses, workshops or events. But tasteful or particularly “Instagrammable” furnishing styles can also attract visitors to the shops. Furthermore, special offers in the shops, such as the option to have goods personalised, can lead to more consumers buying on site.

According to surveys, many Germans would like to see a larger selection of regional and owner-operated shops in city centres. Shops that allow a look behind the scenes, such as glass workshops, are also very popular.

For the younger generation, seamless transitions when changing channels are an attractive shopping experience. After all, the smartphone is not only their constant companion, but also a digital shopping aid. No wonder, then, that they want digital services such as free customer WLAN. Current trends, exclusive drops and releases, as is often the case with new sneakers, also make stationary retail very exciting for them.

Markus Weber: How media can be used specifically to ensure more footfall in the shops.

n the past, people were mainly lured into stationary trade by brochures. Today, some retailers no longer use brochures at all. This development is mainly thanks to the internet, which also offers exciting advantages for media planning: A multitude of data can now be collected and also used.

These five impulses, among others, can provide ideas on how to use data to increase frequency in the shops:

Use the radiant power of TV: TV has been under discussion for some time. Mainly because the costs keep rising and at the same time the reach – especially in the younger target group – is decreasing. In fact, TV still generates the most attention of all moving image channels. For retailers, the ATV (Addressable TV) and CTV (Connected TV) formats in particular offer interesting possibilities for addressing target groups. This is because they combine the big screen with the options of data-driven targeting. Even though ATV and CTV differ in terms of advertising format and environment, both offer a variety of different options that enable an individual and targeted approach at the regional level. For example, regional dealer addresses can also be integrated into a TV spot.
Show presence where the target group is out and about: Even if it was suspected that the Corona pandemic had the opposite effect, the ROPO effect (Research Online, Purchase Offline) is still visible in many product categories and attracts people to the retail trade. So city centres remain fundamentally relevant. And it is precisely there that potential customers can now be reached via a variety of digital advertising spaces, such as info screens or public videos in the mall. Here, too, data targeting can be used for targeted advertising, e.g. depending on the weather or as a real-time reaction to product availability in shops.
Harnessing the power of audio: Radio continues to be highly relevant. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that many potential customers can be addressed in the shortest possible time and at relevant times, such as on the way to work or shopping. In addition, a regional address is possible and listeners still have a positive trust in radio as a channel. Current developments in the audio sector show that while radio has the highest usage, music streaming and podcasting have seen the greatest growth, especially among young target groups. Both also offer some advantages for media planning, as different target groups can be defined and addressed. Another plus point: streaming providers offer not only audio but also audiovisual measures.

Measure the success of campaigns: How successful individual campaigns are can be measured very precisely today. Measurement is not only important to prove the success of a campaign, but also to generate learning for future campaigns. Footfall measurement can be used as a basis. By comparing the movement profiles of individual users, it is possible to see whether recipients of a campaign have been to the store or not – even without clicking on the ad. This method works not only for mobile devices, but also for DOOH, CTV and ATV campaigns.
Knowing your customers: However, data can provide much more information about customers. For example, the data can show how often individual customers come into the store, when they go shopping and via which digital channels they found their way into the shop. If retailers also have other data, for example from external providers, they are even in a position to make statements about whether customers are particularly fond of travelling, for example. This information can then be used as a basis for target group clusters and for targeting campaigns, for example to specifically address weekend shoppers on their way to the shops on Saturday.
Timo Sander: How retailers can achieve a sales uplift with vertical videos.

Since the pandemic at the latest, TikTok has been enjoying ever greater popularity – as the following figures also prove. The platform already has 20 million monthly users in Germany and each user has an average usage time of 90 minutes and an average session duration of 9 minutes. For 55 percent of users, the reason for using the app is to discover new trends, brands and products.

The special feature of the app is its algorithm: the primary goal is not to reach an existing community, but to constantly reach new and different users.

And TikTok can also offer opportunities for retailers if a few factors are taken into account:

On the one hand, clear goals and a complete set-up for measuring success should be defined in advance to ensure that all actions are measured so that it can be evaluated afterwards how which measures have performed.

In addition, advertisers should first engage with the platform and its users in order to understand them. Only when brands engage with the format can they produce creative and successful content. The content does not necessarily have to be complicated. It is much more important that brands offer added value instead of messages. The young generation in particular has grown up with advertising and recognises it when they see it. Companies should therefore present themselves as authentically and approachably as possible.

Interaction with the community is also important. TikTok is not a platform for one-way communication; users want to feel heard and understood. In addition, TikTok should be populated with content at a high frequency and tried out as much as possible. Only if advertisers are open to Test, Learn and Adapt can they learn more about the language and needs of the target group on TikTok.

There are already some examples that show how retail brands can succeed in bridging the gap between online and offline if they recognise a trend in social media in time and take it up at the point of sale: for example, booksellers present the books that users have recommended on TikTok under the #Booktook in the shop under the category Booktook and thus succeed in addressing the newly created community of the social network in real life.

Conclusion

Even though city centres face many challenges, there is a need among people to visit them. If retailers address certain basic needs of people and offer them experiential opportunities, for example, new incentives can be created to increase footfall in cities again. Media planning can also help to increase frequency in shops. Whether via CTV and ATV on the big screen, via the regional radio station or with DOOH where people are out and about – there are now a variety of options available for addressing regional target groups, which can also be targeted specifically and individually via data-driven targeting.

The young generation in particular can be picked up by networking the online and offline worlds. By authentically implementing trends, e.g. from the popular platform TikTok at the PoS, retailers can attract the attention of the young generation in particular.