A shift in how retailers promote themselves and survive will continue to be fueled by emerging technology and shifting consumer perspectives.

Technology.

There are more outlets for more people to communicate thoughts, ideas, and opinions today and new technologies are creating larger groups of consumer communities every day. The evolution of our society has always been rooted in social networking and communication. The network has changed rapidly due to technology. Today communication occurs all day, every day in places traditional marketing has never known.

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Consumer Perspective.

Consumers of today have access to more information. As a retailer, much of the dialogue about your products and services is out of your control, and quite often occurring outside of your traditional area of influence. Opinions are being formed about your company by consumers who may have never had a direct experience with you. The new face of the consumer is one with an expectation of access and transparency to the products and services they choose to engage with.

The bottom line.

The ability and opportunity for consumers to choose where and how they do business has created an opt-in mentality. While providing information is critical for retailers and product manufactures, how and where it is provided is changing. Retailers and product manufacturers can no longer rely on telling their story in traditional ways. Retailers must begin to participate in the dialogue with consumers and understand that these consumers are making the choice to allow you into their social network – you no longer own the stage.

It is an age of the opt-in consumer. With the abundance of information available, consumers are naturally filtering what they want to listen to and where they want to participate.

Keep an eye on the social revolution… it is impacting us all personally and professionally.