Shopping 3.0 : Shopping, the Internet or Both?

Customers don''t come into a shop because they have to, because they have no choice; they enter voluntarily because it is practical, or attractive, or fun! Shops are not yet written off and retailers are not practising an ancient craft, but there is a lot that needs to be done. Drawing on extensive research, Cor Molenaar, one of Europe''s leading authors on the intersection of marketing and technology, explores what modern shopping customers are looking for and what retailers (online, bricks and mortar or hybrid) can do to attract them. It is a must-have guide for retailers, IT and marketing professionals, and advertising agencies.

Retailers are in difficult times. The recession, global competition, government regulation and the growth of the Internet mean that costs are rising but margins are increasingly squeezed. Cor Molenaar''s Shopping 3.0 offers an engaging, convincing and well-researched manifesto for the future of retailing; a manifesto which encourages retailers to switch their approach from a strategy that is based around transactions to one that is based around customers. Logic dictates that there is no one single strategy that will work for all retailers; some of them may indeed benefit from investing in e-retailing solutions and the Internet but for others, success will lie in developing a service based on customer experience or one with some apparently bespoke elements; a strategy to appeal to customers as individuals. Shopping 3.0 examines all these changes. It sketches the world of consumers; those who make their purchases from the comfort of their armchair and those who enjoy shopping with friends. Cor Molenaar explores the impact of changing consumer attitudes to shopping; the role of new technology in future retailing and the changing face of both city centre and out of town shops and malls. Shopping 3.0 offers a welcome helping hand for retailers, both physical and web-based shopkeepers; something to help you make sense of the ongoing revolution in shopping and to plan or adjust your business strategy to enable you not just to survive but to thrive in a world that will look very different in a few years time.