What's New | HartBeat While the past 200 years have seen endless fads come and go, the world of health & wellness is here to stay. Check out our Road to Wellness infographic! Launch» September 1, From Eating Occasion to Store Shelf August 25, Oprah, Food and Us August 18, 3 Shopper Marketing Myths

home : hartbeat : 2008-03-26

03.26.2008

“HartBeat” is The Hartman Group's FREE online newsletter, providing insight, analysis, information and strategy to give business leaders the knowledge and vision to build sustainable brands.

RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY AND SAVE 10%» THE MANY FACES OF ORGANIC 2008 The organic consumer is changing. Keep pace with this changing marketplace and reserve your copy of The Many Faces of Organic today! Time is running out to save 10% off publication price! Pre-order your copy today and save!

READMORE...

---

For more Hartman Group articles on LOCAL, click here...

02.27.2008 Consumer Understanding of Buying Local

01.31.2007 The Death of 'Natural'

01.24.2007 What Makes 'Local' Special?

11.01.2006 Consumer Culture and the Future of Organic Usage

07.14.2005 Is Buying Local the Real Deal?

Archives »
Click here for an archive of past HartBeat articles

Searching the World for Local Products

Localized search has pushed its way to the forefront of Internet marketing circles primarily because it represents the next iteration of virtual solutions for consumers seeking out higher quality unique, distinctive goods and services from — you guessed it — local businesses.

Having grown accustomed to surfing a global Internet for a planet-sized range of products (and associated pricing and locations), consumers today are exercising greater control over their online experiences and expect the same from their search engines. If looking for a farmers market or plumber, for example, consumers hope to find one located in their community, rather than 100 (or 10,000) miles away.

We’re not talking a trumped up version of online yellow pages here. Niche Internet search engines that facilitate local search (like Craigslist, Oodle, Yodle, NearbyNow and Slifter) represent an important and helpful dimension for consumers who are historically more accustomed to surfing virtually for goods in foreign locales (e.g., Milan, Italy) but have, prior to today, been frustrated when trying to do the same for products and services located in their community.

Fulfilling an Unmet, Local Need — Online

The term “local” has diverse meanings, one of which extends far beyond meaning goods grown or produced in one’s hometown, community or state. Consumers view products from regions, such as the noted wine regions of California’s Napa Valley or France’s Bordeaux or Champagne, as “locales” producing the same types of authentic, unique and distinctive products as those found close to home.

With all the fervor today over localized search and the pursuit of local goods and services, it is perhaps even more interesting to examine why consumers (even those that say they are committed to buying locally) end up turning to the Internet to make purchases. Our conversations with consumers reinforce four key dimensions of consumption as motivation for shopping online: price, convenience, availability and authenticity.

Price. Localized search steers consumers to offline, local merchants for best value and low price. We hear consumers say, “I always shop around online and get the best deals!”

Convenience. Convenience means (particularly in urban areas) the opportunity for consumer use of online local, organic and fresh food delivery services such as those offered by Amazon Fresh, PeaPod and FreshDirect. We often hear weary mothers say, “It’s pretty amazing to be able to shop online from the comfort of my couch while my kids take a nap upstairs.”

Availability. Consumers say, “I can find things online that you just don’t find in the stores around here.” Because of the global nature of the Internet, consumers can now find and have delivered to their doorstep (virtually overnight) a wide variety of higher quality, unique and exotic products ranging from obscure spices to complete an authentic international dish, to vacation packages allowing the traveler to experience a real Montana cattle drive (and everything in between).

Authenticity. Turning toward the web for more authentic connections with consumers, food manufacturers are experimenting with turning small, diverse, blog-oriented communities into influential reviewers of new products. Forbes recently profiled the growing use of blog product reviewers as a more meaningful method of generating authentic, community-driven commentary on new products, with the idea being that many small markets of involved users can equal one large market.

Internet Shopping Provides Increased Access to “Local” Products

Local products garner their fair share of attention as authentic, hand-crafted goods. The Internet provides consumers the means to easily obtain unique, distinctive products from locales around the globe. The Internet levels the playing field, providing the means for the little guy (e.g., small farms, producer or artisan) to compete with the largest of corporations by selling direct to the consumer. There are numerous websites dedicated to marketing goods specific to a community, region, state, remote country or well-known individuals within these geographic areas, thus providing the opportunity for consumers to buy authentically from the source.

The hard-to-find becomes easy-to-find via the World Wide Web. The local game shop is out-of-stock on the hottest new board game? No problem. Hop online and have it shipped direct from the manufacturer in Germany.

The Internet also provides consumers with access to unique products that will set them apart from other consumers who might only be shopping locally in community shops or are not keyed into the latest, cool website. Such items of distinction could be of premium quality not widely available or one-of-a-kind products that will truly provide a consumer with a distinctive, authentic experience.

Consumers are inspired by the cultural belief that they are supremely individual and unique and deserve products and services that are customized to their individual tastes and preferences. One consumer recently described shopping online for shoes to “buy something of quality, fun and ‘me’ that none of my friends will be wearing.”

In addition to exclusive apparel, consumers are shopping online for creative gifts, décor for their homes and distinctive foods to serve to family and friends. Motivated by a desire to be different, to impress their friends, or to simply enhance the quality of their experiences, consumers are able to search the Web and find anything they can imagine.

Consumers Are Changing the Way They Shop

As a growing number of consumers seek out higher quality, authentic, unique and distinctive products and experiences, the Internet will increasingly play an important role in facilitating both local and global scale shopping. This is but one more example of the need for manufacturers and retailers to understand how consumers are changing the way they shop — not just in-store but online as well.

---