BrainTrust Query: In Pursuit of Shopper Relevance, A-List Merchants Shine as 'Curators'
The theme at this year's Global Retailing Conference was "Inspiring Innovation," and while the speakers addressed this from various perspectives, one striking parallel emerged in their remarks: the modern merchant's role as curator who delivers added value to shoppers.
"Curating great product is certainly something we are all about," Michael George, CEO of QVC, told the gathering of 400 retail leaders in Tucson, AZ. "We view ourselves as a trusted editor of product assortment."
Susan Lyne, chairman of flash-sale fashion website Gilt Groupe, added, "We sell coveted goods and experiences that are simple, fast, fun." Her firm's interactions with shoppers are highly personalized, she said, beginning with careful item selection and manifest through the daily emails that deliver a unique mix of offers to each member.
"It is curation -- we're not about selling everything; we're about selling great things," Ms. Lyne said.
Curation in merchandising is a provocative notion, borrowed (I think) from web culture and blog-aggregators like the Huffington Post and Drudge Report. It refers to the value-added service provided when professionals take on the responsibility of selecting content for the benefit of the visitor.'
Various dictionaries boil down the definition of curator to "one who cares," but we most often associate the term with the person in charge of a museum or a collection. But why not a store -- or a blog -- or a product design studio?
Martha Stewart described her firm, which employs some 500 people at its New York headquarters, workshops and design center, as "a creative think tank for living," where the team identifies lifestyle artifacts, interprets them, and reproduces them for the broad group of shoppers at Macy's and Home Depot.
"We [the team at Martha Stewart Living] really are our best customers and our best editors," she said. "We are always looking and trying to really center on our interests. So the products that we have at the Home Depot -- those are all products that we need and want."
Crate & Barrel is perhaps a bit less inward-focused in editing its assortment but it too takes its role as a lifestyle guide seriously, according to Barbara Turf, CEO and president. "We are relevant at Crate & Barrel when we become one of the top two emotional choices for customers who are shopping our categories."
Here's further evidence that the mechanisms of online retailing and the web have penetrated and influenced merchandising. Walmart.com uses a healthy dose of technology to present a personalized mix of product to online shoppers, said Raul Vasquez, its EVP global e-commerce development. Could we consider this methodology to be a form of automated curation?
Editing, relevance, curation -- not to mention a bit of personalization and targeting -- listening to these talented retail executives convinced me that these code words have become central to the modern merchandiser's vernacular. They define a discipline that transforms mere quality into superlative value. Curation, you might say, is king.