I recently read an article on The Wise Marketer from Information Resources, Inc. that mentioned low income shoppers as providing a future growth opportunity if retailers could capture loyalty from that segment in the right way. I’m having trouble with this concept. Here’s my take… I think that existing retailers for the most part all have core customer demographics. I just don’t see Nordstrom or GAP changing strategies to cater to low income shoppers. The study referenced on The Wise Marketer mentions how these consumers have different needs. The funny thing is that the list they provide contains many things I think wealthy shoppers would want as well. Presently, retailers compete for share of this low-income market with price breaks, but many retailers are learning that deep discounts are not the good solution. According to the article, low-income shoppers are looking for:
