A big growth opportunity
Shopper marketing is a strong growth industry, with some studies estimating that investment in shopper marketing is increasing faster than investment in advertising online.
Many recent studies also claim that a high proportion of purchase decisions are made in-store at the point of purchase. Whilst the percentages vary, it is clear that in an environment of heightened competition, diminishing brand loyalty and an increasingly fragmented media market that a focus on traditional TV and print marketing alone is no longer sufficient. FMCGs must look to better understand their consumers as shoppers to stay ahead of the competition.
By understanding what influences consumers in-store as shoppers, you can better attract their attention and improve your sales conversion at the point of purchase.
Shopper vs. Consumer
So shopper marketing is all about how consumers behave as shoppers. Consumers become shoppers when they embark on their path to purchase - often when they enter the retail store. It is vital to recognise that shoppers have a different mindset to consumers; indeed shoppers need not necessarily be one in the same as consumers.
Consider the example of a father conducting a weekly trolley grocery shop for his family. His needs and concerns whilst deciding which soft drink to purchase for his children may be quite different to his children whom are actually the ones who will drink it. The housewife who purchases beer for her husband may also have different considerations. While she might seek the fastest solution at a good overall price, he might pick the premium beer he knows he likes more, or spend more time to decipher the value by pence per litre.
And whether the consumer and shopper actually differ in person or not, shoppers still typically care about different things to consumers. While consumers are more concerned about brand and aspiration, shoppers seek convenient solutions, value and differentiators in-store.
Traditional consumer marketing focuses on building brand awareness, whilst shopper marketing targets the consumer in a shopper mindset, aimed at their decision making processes in-store.
Shopper Insights
This consumer shopper model leads to a clear distinction between consumer and shopper insights. Shopper insights relate to behaviour along the path to purchase, typically in-store. They capture how people behave as shoppers as they search for these convenient solutions, value and differentiator’s in-store. Consumer insights in contrast capture the relationship between consumer and brand.
To understand the shopper, consider their mindset and the purpose (mission) of their trip. Which channel are they likely to use for this trip? What kind of shopping behaviour (modality) are they likely to adopt in-store? Do they typically use a shopping list with a focused mindset, or are they more open to impulse purchases? Does this vary by category?
At Evolution Insights these are just some examples of the kind of questions we ask to get underneath the skin of the consumer in shopping mode, to truly gain insight into how they behave in-store.
Shopper and consumer insights are in summary two complementary ends of the same spectrum. Marketing, brand and insight managers should seek both shopper insights and consumer insights to complete the picture, with consumer and shopper marketing initiatives aligned.
Not just in-store
With this in mind it is important also to consider that shopper marketing isn’t just about the final point of purchase, or even just about in-store. It is about informing and influencing shoppers along their entire path to purchase and maintaining awareness of your product or brand throughout this journey. This might begin with the aisle, the point where the shopper enters the store, the car park, the retailer loyalty scheme or even the website at home that targets the shopper with specific promotions.
Opportunities exist throughout the path to purchase for shopper marketers to build touch points with shoppers. Whether it is recipe cards or coupons online, sampling at the store front or promotions on gondola ends. The key is to understand what the best methods are for your product or brand, and how to build complementary consumer and shopper marketing so one reinforces the other.
Not a one size fits all
A final point to note is that different categories and products lend themselves to a different balance of marketing initiatives through the path to purchase. While some products are almost entirely defined by brands, consumer marketing and a pre-planned approach to purchase, others rely heavily upon shopper marketing in-store - where the number of alternatives and impulse nature of the product are the more important factors.
And with shoppers shopping by mission, not by category, FMCGs and retailers should also take care not to overlook how categories relate to each other in-store. Insights into shopper missions can help identify potential promotional partners and also opportunities to optimise your broader shopper marketing strategy to stand out from the crowd. This might be through adjacencies, considerations such as convenience, sustainability or well being, or even themes such as dining in and indulgence.
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