I’m a man. Here’s how I shop: I go to a store, walk around, talk to a salesperson, maybe another shopper and I buy. If the store doesn’t have what I want, I either go home or visit another store. More often than not, it’s a one store and buy experience. Price is important, but usually only when comparing choices in the store. Convenience.
As technology wends its way more and more into the shopping process and the best price on a skew (product number) is only a click away, (#bestpricesamsungTV) many of the shopping choices we make will be made for us. And price variation will be minimized.
There will be Amazon for eshoppers and for those who want instant gratification there will be SuperRetailStoreCo or something. Variability will be minimized in marketing. All that will be left, variability-wise, will be the brands. But marketers who spend too much on branding, will have reduced margins and will likely fall off. Will it be a brand new marketing world in 2050? Oh yeah. Should be exciting. Peace!