Modern customer: who is he?

In 2013, a Russian consumer on average received 30 245 rubles a month, but he lived on a broader foot: the average size of his current loan was 43,5 thousand rubles. Of course, incomes have grown compared to previous years, for example, the average income already mentioned by us is 14% higher than in the 2012 year, and the layer of people with average income (from 45 thousand rubles per month) is steadily increasing. But the requests of the Russians have clearly increased, since in the second quarter of 2012, the volume of consumer loans was 5% less than in the same period of 2013, and the amount of mortgage loans received was already 26%. At the same time, it seems that there are less and less opportunities to repay debts to citizens, otherwise how can one explain the fact that overdue loans have grown by as much as 23%. However, there is a good trend: citizens began to save a little more - the growth in the number of savings deposits amounted to 5%. 

Costs 

On average, a Russian buyer spends 493 rubles for a trip to the grocery store, and a month gives about 9 375 rubles for food. This is by 5% more than two years ago, but inflation also played a role in this indicator. Expenses for transportation, in particular for the purchase and maintenance of a car, have also increased markedly: now the Russians are ready to spend 18% of the budget on their “iron horse”. But the importance of shoes and clothes is declining. Costs for this category of goods decreased by 9% compared to last year, amounting to just over 8% of the budget. It is interesting to note that as far back as 2010, the average Russian buyer allocated tithes of the budget to purchases of clothes and shoes. 

Value for money 

Most of the buyers surveyed consider the price to be the most important factor and the atmosphere of the store will prefer a discount system. 73,7% of respondents agreed with the statement “The price level is the most important for me when choosing a product”. This percentage is not only higher than the 2007 of the year, but in principle the highest in the last six years. It is noteworthy that as far back as 2012, only 65,5% of respondents agreed with this statement, which means that the significance of the price has dramatically increased in one year. Also this year, it turned out that 66% of respondents are willing to spend time searching for a better price, although this figure has decreased compared to the 2012 year. Researchers attribute this decline to the emergence of an increasing number of stores near the home and the development of shopping centers. 

Perception of quality and service 

The level of quality and service are very important for the Russian buyer. Most of the respondents (68%) are not ready to put up with low quality even with a low price guarantee, and more than half of the respondents (54%) think the same thing about the service, not wanting to face indifference even in stores with low prices. It is worth noting that such important parameters for marketers as the frequency of communications and the breadth of assortment do not matter much to buyers when they compare them with the price. 

Wishes for multichannel shopping 

Customers do not want to distinguish between purchases in a physical store, in an online store and through mobile devices. They believe that the assortment, discounts and prices of the distribution network should be the same regardless of the sales channels. But at the same time, their idea of ​​reality is different from the desired one: the majority of respondents believe that the price in a retail store may even be higher than on the Internet, the range is narrower, and the discounts are different. What conclusion can the seller draw from this? And such that it is not very difficult to surprise a modern buyer: you just need to provide him with a single choice, price and discounts in his physical and online store. Precisely in the eyes of the buyer you will also be raised by the use of additional technologies: 53% of respondents said that they would like to use the earned points in any of the sales channels at will, 45% would like points to be accumulated for purchases in the online store and in the retail store, and 43% dream of a single account for purchases in all three channels. 

Shopping style 

67% of consumers still love to shop and enjoy the shopping process, but their shelf is shrinking: compared to 2011, the year of shopaholics has decreased by 1%. Russians constantly make a choice between products unknown on the market and the brand, and mainly - with the exception of times of crisis - he prefers the brand. In 2013, 69% of respondents said that branded goods are better than products of unknown brands, although loyalty to branded goods has declined significantly since 2005: then 83% of respondents adhered to this opinion. As for the sources of influence, they vary depending on the type of product. For example, when choosing clothes and shoes, the sites and online stores of manufacturers, the demonstration of the product in the store, and last but not least, the recommendations of friends and relatives are important. On the whole, without gradation in the type of product, the opinion of relatives is still the most important influence factor for buyers - 86% of respondents are guided by it. Internet reviews, corporate websites and store information (sellers and storefronts) affect 70-73% of buyers, print ads and social media information play a role for no more than 65%, TV and radio advertising affects 56% of respondents, Search engine advertising can convince 54% of respondents, and social media banners only affect 42% of consumers. 

What disappoints 

Buyers have become very sensitive to brand promises: 83% of them are very disappointed in a company or brand without receiving the promise. There is nothing that could upset them more - even the incompetence of sellers (76% of answers), lack of multichannel (63%), the same sentences and slogans (58%), different product information in different sales channels and unwillingness to contact to the consumer personally in the presence of all personal data (47%).