Paradigm of Shift in Consumer Behavior - Essay Example

The next phase of change has been the shift from the impulse to planned buying. Those days when the customers used to drive to the large shopping malls to carry goods on impulse are well gone.

This is again related to the economy. To be more specific, this is related to the steady rise in fuel prices. Rather than going to the shopping malls to buy products the consumers are looking to stay in-house and buy products through the online medium. The rise of smartphones and tablets actually acted as a catalyst in this case. Such trends are likely to continue and digital sales may actually surpass offline sales in the near future. Hence, as a result, major retailers like Wal-Mart, Tesco, Zara, etc are investing heavily to improve their digital presence.

Use of Social Media in the Retail Industry The economic recession has changed the phase of the global economy. It is pretty safe to say that the retail industry is among those that have been badly hurt by the recessions. The retail sales growth has been slow consistently over the last few years. One of the major impacts of the recession has been on consumer behavior which is believed to be one of the major reasons for the steady decline in sales. Consumers have shifted to planned shopping rather than impulse behavior.

Also gaining customer loyalty and customer retention has been one of the major challenges. Consumers are looking to stay in-house and shop online. All these factors have led to the use of social media platforms by retailers. Social Media was not created for business, but certain circumstances have made social media an extremely important part of the overall marketing strategy. The retailers are using social media platforms to engage their customers. This likely plays a rich dividend in retaining the customers; at this point in time, this is one of the major challenges for marketers.

Besides, this social media is also an excellent platform for customer service (Zarrella 89). Among all the social media platforms Facebook and Twitter have emerged as the most widely used ones. Social media also help retailers in making their offerings go viral. Almost all the major retailer in the USA including Wal-Mart has a strong social presence in order to increase the level of customer engagement, retention, and satisfaction. The entrepreneurial spirit of Latin America There is a good old saying that entrepreneurs are not made, they are born.

To some extent, it is true as entrepreneurs are born with certain inherent characteristics. Latin American Nations have over the years gone through a phase of economic change. These changes have been most visible in countries like Chile, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, and Panama. All these nations have been recognized for the power of entrepreneurialism and thus created an environment in which businesses can grow. According to a global entrepreneurialism monitor, the Latin American nations have a high degree of potential to generate competitiveness as well as well-being through the creation of new enterprises.

According to a report published by the World Bank, on average 1.31 new firms are registered in these countries every year per thousand people. Here, it needs to be said that the entrepreneurial spirit of these nations has been harnessed to develop an equitable and sustainable economic growth that has benefited the society, communities, and the nations as a whole. The results actually speak for themselves. In 2012, the poverty level in Latin America declined to a thirty-year low, and over the last decade, more than thirty million jobs have been created.