The Smarter Retailer Project is a joint endeavor from Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University and University of Hertfordshire, UK. Today consumers are more enlightened and empowered than ever. Placing ever-greater demands on retailers to "get it right" or lose their loyalty and business.

Driving consumer behavior today – in large part – are new technologies that allow access to huge amounts of information about retailers, brands, offers and product recommendations from peers. Consumers now know more about what they want, how they want it and who they want it from.

Plus, they are willing to explore new interfaces with their retailers/brands of choice. For example 78 percent of our respondents want to be involved in the creation of product offerings with their favoured retailers and brands. Increasingly consumers are ready to use internet, digital television and mobile phones to get key information and make instance purchases.

Shoppers – especially younger Generation Y consumers (ages 20-30 years) – are also increasingly using social media and alternative channels to communicate with and about their retailers.

Keeping pace with today's empowered consumers is essential for the retailer hoping for long-term prosperity. Consumers expect anytime access to the information, products and services they want. And those retailers that deliver what they demand will thrive. Smarter consumers will produce smarter retailers, retailers that are better equipped to win a bigger share of the minds, hearts and wallets of the consumers they delight.

The Texas Tech MBA team will study the market behavior in the US and the University of Hertfordshire MBA team will study the UK market. The study result will be combined and be presented to IBM.

From: http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/html/ibv-the-smarter-consumer.html