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Demographics vs Buy American: Check Out Which Matters More

Posted by Tom Lombardo | Wed, Dec 17, 2014 @ 10:11 AM

buy americanMost of the retailers we serve sell merchandise targeting their customer’s desire to craft their own identity, so the new phenomenon of “post-demographic consumerism” may be worth pondering in advance of the holiday rush – especially since it may impact this year’s customer service and sales in new ways.

While “demographics” divides people into groups, theoretically making it easier to understand society, actual people think of themselves as the unique product of their own free will – a belief that social media reinforces dramatically. As wired individuals continuously and publicly re-invent themselves, receiving constant input throughout the process, they collectively re-invent culture and status in ways that directly impact retail.

Categories Are Soooo Twentieth-Century

And people have decided that demographics mean nothing. A person’s age, for example, used to indicate something to a marketer. Not any more – in fact, if you list the most popular bands amongst 13-year-olds and compare it to the bands 60-year-olds like best, there’s a 40% overlap. Are video gamers mostly boys or girls? Neither – most are women. Do only the young and adventurous use Airbnb to rent from a stranger half way around the world? Nope – a fifth of its users are over 55.

The list goes on. They call it “cross-demographic fertilization,” and it may have something to do with how successfully Baby Boomers and Generation X raised their kids, most of whom really like their parents and want to share their lives with people older and younger and different from themselves. Today anything that rises in the collective consciousness, be it revolutionary or innovative or simply compelling, will almost instantly reshape the expectations of any and all “demographics.”

And status symbols, in particular, have morphed because of this, placing new expectations upon retailers. They used to be easy to flaunt and identify: the right shoes, the right fragrance, the right car, the right address. That’s no longer the case; new status symbols center on authentic experiences and ethical and sustainable lifestyle choices. There’s even a trend to consider not consuming a status symbol unto itself.

Whether or not that one catches on remains to be seen, but from a business point of view the fact that it’s just as likely to impact a teenager’s behavior as it is her grandmother’s is new and groundbreaking.

How To Author a Status Story

needs wantsCache on social media today arises from “status stories,” which may or may not be associated with a physical thing. Individuals construct their own identities with near total freedom, and the only universal requirement is “authenticity,” a word whose meaning is expanding to mean deep integrity in the moment, a sort of unification of self-consciousness and self-presentation. Possessions may contribute (especially fashion), but what really matters is who you are and what you’ve done.

And if a status story is to confer status in this way, it must be told, and that’s the aspect upon which retailers can capitalize. Understanding your customer’s product desires remains critical, but helping him create a status story around his shopping experience may be the key to stellar sales and word-of-mouth marketing this season.

Independent Retailer says that about a third of your customers are already “Experience-Seekers,” and if you can delight them, their storytelling may drive others to your door.

There’s no short cut to this because “authentic” stories are the only ones that matter – and they’re impossible to fake. In the wired world this takes on a whole new dimension, as the audience will collectively determine if something is authentic or not.

For example, one YouTube analyst suggested that the number one viral video of all time, posted by Yosemitebear in 2010 and viewed over forty million times since, went viral precisely because it was so authentic. Mountain Bear filmed a double rainbow arcing across the entire sky, and he expressed such wholesomely open aesthetic joy that sharing his experience became an experience unto itself.

That’s the level of integrity people respond to today, and providing it may be the surest way to make sure that the shopping experience you provide has the potential to “go viral” in your community.

International Goes Local

One way to navigate from the heady heights of the global collective consciousness to closing sales in your showroom may be to make sure you’re ready to be as transparent as possible regarding the merchandise you sell.

And the most important aspect of this integrity may be to know where your merchandise was manufactured and by whom. One study found that more than two-thirds of consumers want sellers to “communicate openly and transparently about how products are sourced and made,” but that they feel this happens only 15% of the time.

The invisible aspects of your wares are now just as important as the visible ones. A Deloitte study of over 5,000 shoppers found that 68% plan to shop local this season, and that 62% of them will do it specifically to support the local economy. More than half will shop locally to find something that can’t be bought anywhere else.

Depending on where your products come from you have two ways to handle this.

For items manufactured outside the U.S. by international corporations, transparency may still be the surest path to a sale. First show that you’re on top of it – you know that 95% of American voters have a favorable opinion of American manufactures. You know that two-thirds of what Wal-Mart calls “American Made Manufactures” are actually groceries and not manufactured at all. You know a lot of manufacturing, such as Apple’s, is moving to the U.S. to meet this demand.

But you also know that the products you sell either aren’t manufactured in the U.S. at all, or at least that comparable products at a similar price aren’t. You’ll carry U.S. products when you can, but right now you can’t.

Then switch the topic to your business. If your customer supports your store, she’s supporting a local entrepreneur who creates local jobs and pays local taxes and caters to local clientele. Manufacturing jobs are important, but so are local stores. Much better for the community to buy from you than from a business located elsewhere that may be more interested in its stock price than in your town. Tell them a little about your store, or the building it’s in, or the street it’s on – again, anything that might spark that “status story” phenomenon in your prospect’s mind.

If you’re already selling mostly “Made in America” or “Fair Trade” goods, then you’re flush. Know the town where each item came from, know how old the manufacturer is, and find one other interesting factoid to add spice to a casual conversation over the item. One of those three things may trigger something familiar in your customer’s memory, and the moment that connection is made you’re half way done with the status story you’re trying to author. Once you’ve got that story in play it may well close the sale for you.

And above all else, remember that “post-demographic consumerism” means that you’re not talking to just one person. You’re trying to close an entire network of people, and in order to get in front of them, you need to offer a shopping experience worthy of a good status story.

Have a happy ending ready, too. Demographic categories have collapsed around payment preferences as well. One out of five people, from Millennials to Baby Boomers, increased their use of checks over the course of the recession, so when you’re selling the same item to a grandma or a granddaughter, don’t be surprised if either one pulls out their checkbook to pay. Just be sure you don’t have to worry about the check being returned. Find out how to do that with Check Guarantee.

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Written by Tom Lombardo