• by Glenn Geller , Columnist, July 12, 2019

Shopping is far from the simple task it was in yesteryear. If you needed sneakers and had a handful of options, typically the cheapest brand won. Nowadays, customers want more — they want to connect with the brands and products they spend money on.

Value has a different meaning than it did decades ago. If you think of an old value model, it would look something like this: Value=Quality/Price.

The model has evolved. Think of Amazon, which sells good products often at cheap prices. And if you’re a Prime member, you’ll have your order in two days.

Today’s numerator is more complex:

Value=Quality+Convenience+Customization+Transparency+Authenticity+Purpose/Price

With so much variety today, customers are in control, not brands or retailers. Purchase decisions are based on the value the product or service brings to consumers. This aligns with consumers’ definition of value changing dramatically due to the advent of technology and instant access to information.

What consumers look for in the brands and companies they do business with has also changed, which begs the question: What should you do to acquire and keep consumers?

Define your value equation. Whether you are a brand or service, create and OWN your value equation. Leverage where you feel you have, or would be able to create, a sustainable differentiation among similar brands.

What can you leverage in a value equation that makes customers want to purchase your brand? What is your currency? To use Amazon again as an example, it’s price point and home delivery.

For other brands, it can be something as simple as clean labeling or convenience. Brands recognize the importance of saving time. It’s no coincidence that Stop and Shop, Target and Walmart, have a buy online and pick-up-at store option.

PwC and Kantar Retail’s report, “Retailing 2020,” found that: “More personalized and contextualized communication will change the nature of the retailer as expert. For instance, signage and service will be part of the equation, but unless retailers can apply that expertise to customized specifics about a particular shopper‘s life, they may lose the opportunity to build loyalty… Value will also become more personalized, where a retailer's pricing dialogue with its best shoppers will be centered on private conversations personally tailored to that customer's preferences.”

There are more opportunities than ever to present things to customers. Is your company doing it effectively? How do you express value to consumer? What is your branding value?