TNS Blog

WHO WILL REPLACE THE AMERICAN CONSUMER?

January 4th, 2010

Vacancy for the top slot Robert Zoellick the president of the World Bank is leading a global search for the replacement of the American consumer. The American consumer served the world well over the past decade. They bought in large quantities, extravagantly and indiscriminately. They bought regardless of where the product came from, what it did for them and whether they had place in the house to keep it - which led to their having to buy larger and larger houses to keep the things that they bought.   The workers in far off lands of China, India and Africa toiled away in [...]

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE TRADITIONAL TRADE OF EMERGING MARKETS

December 10th, 2009

December 6, 2009 - by Arnaud Frade, TNS Retail and Shopper E-Mail: arnaud.frade@tns-global.com Four billion people live on less than two dollars a day in the developing world. These people represent a huge and growing market for goods and services. For those of us who are familiar with the sophistication of modern retailing, it is easy to forget that the vast majority of people around the world still shop in far simpler stores. These simpler "stores" are collectively referred to as the traditional trade, to distinguish them from the modern trade, common in the [...]

CHINESE CONSUMERS' TIGHT FISTS

December 2nd, 2009

The magic eight Eight is a lucky number in China. The opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics commenced on the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008 at 8.08.08 pm. The car number plates with a few eights go for thousands of dollars in auctions and the consumer will willingly cough up a significant premium to acquire a mobile phone number which is festooned with a couple of eights. Eight is also the percentage by which, the economists believe, the Chinese economy must grow to provide jobs to the millions of students graduating from Universities, or the rural folks migrating to the [...]

THE AMAZONIAN GHOST

October 22nd, 2009

July 31, 2009 - by Herb Sorensen, Ph.D., Global Scientific Director, TNS Retail and ShopperE-Mail: herb.sorensen@tns-sorensen.com In the movie Ghost, with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, we see the spectral Swayze trying to reach his real world lover, by the power of the mind. He had some instruction on this matter by another cranky ghost, in the subway. This is not totally unlike the problem that the modern self-service retailer faces. First, just like the Swayze ghost and his love, Moore, the retailer (the ghost) effectively inhabits a different world than his beloved, the [...]

NEW TYPE OF SHOPPER RESEARCH STUDIES NON-PURCHASERS

October 12th, 2009

October 12, 2009 - by Siemon Scamell-Katz, Founder TNS Magasin E-Mail: siemon.scamell-katz@tns-global.com TNS Magasin has launched a new service which promises to deliver additional sales by answering the age old question: when shoppers don't buy, why don't they? Because these non-purchasers are a huge potential source of extra business - in the store, in the aisle and at the category - understanding what goes wrong here, and putting it right, is set to deliver unprecedented rewards.   Magasin starts by identifying attrition amongst shoppers at every stage of the shopping process, from the whole retail [...]