The survey found 33 percent of respondents subscribed to receive emails/recipes/coupons directly from food manufacturers/companies, a six percent increase from 2008.

"Today’s consumers are using the Internet to not just find nutritional and safety information about the foods they eat, but to find the best value for their dollar," said Pat Conroy, Deloitte’s vice chairman and consumer products practice leader in the United States.

"If this recession has taught us anything, it’s that we don’t necessarily have to sacrifice quality for value — and consumers have figured that out by uncovering the wealth of product promotions and other marketing messages available on the Internet."

Nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents said they have visited a food company’s website to find out product information and 23 percent also made a food purchase because of something they read online.

Mobile devices are beginning to play a key role for shoppers as they make decisions on what to buy, especially when it comes to price.  Seven percent of people who took the survey have used their mobile/smart phone while in a store for a variety of reasons including to: compare prices (53 percent), get/redeem coupons/discounts (44 percent) and obtain nutritional information (28 percent). 

When it comes to bargain hunting, men are more aggressive and, use their mobile devices more than women, to compare prices (59 percent to 49 percent) and obtain/redeem coupons/discounts (53 percent to 38 percent).  Women, on the other hand, are more focused on using their mobile devices for receiving further nutritional information (36 percent to 18 percent).

"In today’s economy, consumers believe that they can get quality products without paying higher prices, whether that’s from store brands or national brands," said Conroy.

"Consumers realize their shopping choices have expanded giving them the ability to be more selective about their purchases based on a variety of criteria, including but not limited to, quality, quantity, taste, and of course, value.  The question companies are asking now is, ‘Will this more critical eye towards purchasing be the new norm or just a passing result of the economic downturn?’"
 

Social media is gaining traction with 17 percent of consumers planning to use social media during their holiday shopping, and 60 percent plan to use it to find discounts, coupons and sales information, More than half (53%) plans to use social media to research gift ideas, while 52 percent plan to check the gift wish lists of friends and family.

Consumers in all age groups plan to embrace social media over the holidays. While more than half (52%) of those who expect to use social media during the shopping process are in the 18-29 years old age group, 33 percent are in the 30-44 years old age group and 12 percent are in the 45-60 years old age group.

The mobile phone is another digital tool for the holidays that is on track to be used by 19 percent of consumers to help with their holiday shopping. Those consumers plan to find store locations (55%), research prices (45%), find product information (40%), get discounts and coupons (32%) and read reviews (31%). A quarter plan to make a holiday purchase with their phone.

The Internet ranks as a top shopping destination and continues to see steady growth. Nearly a quarter (22%) of consumers indicate they will shop primarily online this year and many are using the Internet to find special offers, with 44 percent of shoppers expecting to use a coupon they get online.

Reviews have become another key online source of information, with 39 percent of consumers indicating they often read consumer-generated reviews of stores or products online, and one-quarter (25 percent) saying they will likely purchase a product this holiday season based on an online recommendation. More than a third (34 percent) say that online consumer reviews and ratings influence their buying decisions more than advertising.

"Consumers are turning to mobile, online and social media during their entire holiday shopping experience," said Stacy Janiak, vice chairman and Deloitte’s U.S. Retail leader. "Retailers should consider harnessing this activity to turn browsers into buyers with one-click access to coupons, promotions and purchasing tools."

"This year’s leaner in-store inventories may also open the door for retailers to lure customers to their online channels where it is easier to access inventory, no matter where it is located."

The Internet is also changing the traditional store-based purchase process. Almost half of consumers (48%) say they like the convenience of shopping with multi-channel retailers, and 78 percent indicate they have purchased an item in a retailer’s store after viewing or researching the product online. In addition 65 percent have done the opposite and purchased an item on retailer’s website after viewing it in the store or catalog.

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Specifically, 94% of the respondents indicated that they plan to maintain or increase investment in their communities. Only 6% intend to decrease investment. Even still, the report says companies are continuing to struggle with harnessing the full potential of social media, even though they are using the tools to engage with customers, partners, and employees for brand discussion and idea generation.

"Despite risks associated with participating in online communities, the internal costs of community formation and management and the fact that we are in the midst of a profound recession, organizations’ continued and enhanced investment in online communities underscores the perceived potential for the value that they may provide to the enterprise," said Ed Moran, director of product innovation, Deloitte Services LP.

"Social media and communities are expected to continue to play a significant role in the way in which companies are interacting with employees, customers, partners and the larger business ecosystem, thereby redefining the very edge of the corporation," added Moran.

The top business objectives for social media as cited by respondents are as follows:

- word-of-mouth – 38%
- customer loyalty – 34%
- brand awareness – 30%
- idea generation – 29%
- improved customer support quality (23%)

According to the report, for most companies, marketing is the primary driver of social media use, and this results in a big gap between goals and organizations’ "capability to fully leverage" the communities on an enterprise-wide basis.

"While we are seeing signs of maturation in this year’s study, there are still plenty of companies who do not realize the power of communities, and others who have not yet figured out the proper approach for leveraging communities as part of their business," said Francois Gossieaux, partner with Beeline Labs and a senior fellow with the Society of New Communications Research. "Businesses are truly become social again, and companies should look to leverage the collective wisdom of their employees, customers and partners in order to innovate faster, reduce costs, and bolster their bottom lines."

The report suggests that there is an evolution taking place in how enterprises are tracking and engaging with both active and inactive members of their communities. Over 32% of respondents capture data on how people are getting value from the community.

20% have formal "ambassador" programs, giving outsiders preferential treatment in return for being more active in the community. About 40% said that more full-time people were being deployed to manage communities.

Additional findings from the study can be found here. One section of the report discusses obstacles of successful community creation and the gaps between goals and measurement.

We chatted with Deloitte & Touche Principal and Lead Interactive Advertising executive Tim Davis about the Facebook phenomenon. While it’s far too early to tell what kind of impact Facebook’s ads will have on marketing, Davis called it an “appealing move,” one that takes ads to a conversational place.

The move shifts the delivery of that advertising, with Davis noting such ads represent a pull model. In the first few years of online advertising, that model was a push, Davis said, as advertisers put as much in front of consumers online as possible.

Early advertisers honed their push models in those early years, and they wielded ads like a club. Naturally, few people want to be beaten with advertising, although considering the nature of the Internet, there are probably one or two fetish sites for that sort of thing.

Now, the consumer is more like the king when it comes to the advertising model. Push has its uses, but the pull proves more welcome for ads. It’s been a positive development.

The negative side, as Davis readily acknowledged, means the conversations people have about brands won’t be relentlessly positive. There will be negativity, but that’s something brands will have to engage.

“Transparency is an inevitable consequence of push advertising,” said Davis. “Marketers need to put themselves into conversations; they need to be brutally honest.”

We know what they need to do, but in the world of advertising, the question of who will fulfill this need is open to debate. Should it be the brand doing so? Its marketers? The ad agency managing a campaign?

There are more people at the table, Davis said, and someone there will have to manage the conversation. Going forward, brands and their partners need to decide who that will be.

We see this push movement and the need for conversational interaction as one that may drive a newer segment of the market. Our recent discussion of Buzzlogic suggested the kinds of tools the conversationalists will need to interact in the world of push advertising.

Deloitte’s Consumer Products group found 62 percent of people read consumer -written product reviews online. Out of those who read product reviews online 82 percent said their purchase decisions had been influenced by reviews causing them to buy a different product than originally intended or causing them to stay with their original choice.

Sixty-eight percent of Gen Y rely online reviews the highest of any age category, while 42 percent of those age 75 and over use online reviews, the lowest in any age category. The reach of consumer reviews is also offline with 69 percent of consumers who read reviews sharing them with friends, family or people they work with.

"This increasing market transparency can adversely impact the margins, market share and brand equity of consumer products companies," said Pat Conroy, vice-chairman and US consumer products group leader at Deloitte & Touche USA LLP.

"In the past, clever marketers and advertisers shaped brands, but now consumers are increasingly empowered, everyone has a voice, and information and opinions are instantly dispersed."

Conroy said that consumer product companies should learn to use reviews to their advantage or else deal with the outcome.

"As knowledge proliferates, there is a tendency for products to commoditize," said Conroy. "In order to successfully compete, it’s imperative for consumer brands to build and maintain their images, create differentiation, and enhance loyalty."

"For example, consumer product companies with exemplary supply chains can achieve differentiation by making their processes more transparent. Embracing higher-than-required quality and safety standards can reassure customers and built trust. And co-opting customers to create value with the company can create not only loyal customers, but also brand emissaries."

1. How did you get involved with Oracle Applications?

My original profession was that of an Accountant and Auditor with Deloitte & Touche in Zimbabwe. I then got involved in developing Executive Information Systems (EIS) with the Microsoft Office Suite of Products with the Business Development Services (BDS) side of Deloittes. After Deloittes I moved to PricewaterhouseCoopers where I joined them as a BaaN consultant. With the collapse of BaaN, PwC decided to turn all BaaN consultants into Oracle consultants and I got sent on an Oracle Bootcamp at RPC Data in Botswana. I did pretty well on the Bootcamp and six months later ended up getting a job offer by the company that trained us. I’ve been implementing Oracle E-Business Suite ever since April 2001, 5 years now.

2. How are you involved with the applications now?

I’m implementing internally for Thales, a large defence company where I head up the Financials Team. We’re rolling out across the group and trying to come up with a standard implementation methodology as well configuration for all companies within the organisation.

3. What applications or functionality have you implemented recently?

All of the Financials modules really and I’m getting the chance to make use of some of the more advanced features which is pretty much why I came to the UK in the first place.

4. What is your favorite application or feature?

Probably Oracle Financial Analyzer which I haven’t touched in some time. It’s being replaced by Enterprise Planning and Budgeting (EPB) but I haven’t had the chance to implement EPB yet or play with it that much.

5. If you could change one thing about the applications, what would it be?

I think it would be standardisation between how the different modules work. When you use the different modules you get the feeling they were all developed by different people who weren’t talking to each other (which is probably the case anyway). For example, lets say your are running the interface to General Ledger in Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable, or maintaining a Customer or Supplier in these modules, they are both done in completely different ways and the interface for performing these operations is different. I think there’s a lot more room to give various components of the application a consistent look and feel. I guess this will happen over time but considering all the acquisitions that Oracle is going through as well as what’s happening with Project Fusion it does make the whole exercise a little difficult.

6. What inspired you to start blogging about Oracle Applications?

Originally I started up RichardByrom.com to share tips and tricks about Oracle as well as just get more exposure as at that time I was working in Africa and considering a move to the United Kingdom or United States. I soon found that my site wasn’t getting as much traffic as expected and through trial and error discovered the secret to having a really good web site and getting more visitors was to have good content that changed on a frequent basis. I discovered Mark Rittman’s blog and realised that this would be a good way to build up some really good content and at the same time document solutions to problems encountered at work. The thing about having a blog is that the site administration side is a lot easier. With my first site I found that I spent more time administering all the pages and trying to optimise it for searches than actually getting around to building content. After investigating all the options of what I could use to blog and trying out a lot of different software and service providers I eventually decided to use ExpressionEngine, which I believe is the best blogging software about.

Blogging has enabled me to share what I am learning through implementation experience with a global audience as well as given me the ability to publicly document these learnings. I try as much as possible to use my blog as a knowledge management tool.

7. What are some of your favorite blogs (Oracle or otherwise)?

I read a couple of the main stream blogs and also have an Oracle Blogroll and Personal Blogroll that I read using FeedDemon, another excellent software product. The main blogs I read, apart from yours are:

• Deal Architect by Vinnie Mirchandani – my top ranked blog right now, followed by Steven Chans Blog.
• OraBlogs
• Oracle E-Business Suite Technology by Steven Chan
• Scobleizer – Microsoft Geek Blogger by Robert Scoble
• NevilleHobson.com
• Micropersuasion by Steve Rubel
• LifeHacker

8. Are there any special topics or issues that you enjoy covering?

I like to blog about things I’m learning at work or how I solved a particular problem at work. I also like keeping track of any new products coming out so that I can understand the potential impact this will have on our customers and learn the new product as soon as possible.

9. How does blogging fit into your job or your business?

It’s helped me to connect with more people that I can obtain advice from or ask questions as well as provided an effective way of documenting everything I’m doing.

10. Where do see business blogging in three years from now? How will the Web 2.0 infiltrate the enterprise?

I think we’ll see more internal blogs by large software and IT companies such as Oracle, SAP and Microsoft as a means of documenting employee conversations as well as more blogs aimed at enhancing relationships with customers i.e. bringing in that element of a two way conversation with customers. Essentially organisations are going to have to be more open and engage with customers at earlier stages of product development.

From a consulting point of view they provide a very effective mechanism for sharing knowledge with customers as well as showing them that you have the knowledge in the first place. I’m sure we’re going to see more consultants using these as a medium for demonstrating, managing and sharing their knowledge.

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Richard Byrom is the founder and author of OracleAppsBlog, which documents the daily experiences and learnings of Oracle Applications Consultants and Implementors. He is also an Oracle Applications Consultant, Speaker and Author.

According to a press release, as a condition of the Adelphia settlement, Deloitte & Touche will pay a $25 million penalty, plus a $25 million contribution to a fund to compensate Adelphia shareholders and debt holders. Deloitte & Touche also has agreed on steps for enhancing audit quality for its clients.

As part of the settlement on Just For Feet, there will be a payment of $375,000 to the U.S. Treasury. Neither of the settlements restricts Deloitte & Touche’s ability to provide services to new or existing clients.

In both cases, the primary basis of the SEC’s claim is that the audits were deficient and failed to uncover fraud committed by the companies and certain members of their management in the face of identified risks.

“Deloitte & Touche LLP shares with the SEC a mutual interest in strengthening investor confidence in the capital markets through the ongoing enhancement of higher quality audits. A key component of this entails continuously developing and applying audit procedures to help in the timely detection of fraud,” said Deloitte & Touche USA CEO James Quigley. “These cases raise a larger issue facing the auditing profession. Among our most significant challenges is the early detection of fraud, particularly when the client, its management and others collude specifically to deceive a company’s external auditors.”

In the case of Adelphia, certain executives were found guilty of fraud, while in the case of Just For Feet, certain executives and third party vendor employees agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.