A Dollar for Your Thoughts

There are two kinds of trends in the retail marketing world: those discussed at conferences and those implemented in stores. Often, it takes years for the concepts discussed at industry events to become accepted practice. For instance, despite ample evidence that ethnic populations in the U.S. were growing in both size and buying power, it took nearly a decade of calls to action from industry speakers before mainstream marketers embraced ethnic marketing as a basic strategy.At The P-O-P Show/New York earlier this month, marketing professionals came in droves to attend presentations on Wal-Mart and Target. Discussions about working with these premier retailers have been a "hot topic" for seminars for a number of years -- and rightfully so, given their status in the retail world.In comparison, however, fewer professionals attended a session on dollar stores, a topic that has dotted numerous event agendas in the past year but hasn't yet reached "hot topic" status. Those with the foresight to attend are now armed with information about dollar store shoppers that the rest of the industry soon will require. (Members have access to the information. See Related Articles below.)Why will product marketers need to know more about dollar stores? Because 62% of U.S. consumers now shop the channel -- more than visit warehouse clubs and c-stores, and nearly as many as visit supercenters, according to ACNielsen data. Because the channel's largest retailer, Dollar General, opened more than 600 new stores in 2003, and will open even more than that in 2004. Because leading dollar store chains, having discovered that in-store marketing can increase sales, are looking to partner with product vendors. And because leading brand marketers, including bellwether Procter & Gamble, already are developing ways to do so. The In-Store Marketing Institute's mission is to improve the industry's learning process, to identify trends and provide the information retail marketers need to act upon them. We'd love to be able to shorten the time it takes for a "hot" seminar topic to become standard industry practice.As always, we welcome your support, and we encourage your feedback.Sincerely,Peter BreenManaging Director, Contentpeter_breen@instoremarketer.org

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