At Evolution Insights we find that FMCGs are actually by and large on top of their game in this respect when it comes to their own brands and categories. However they are often less au fait with how their category interacts with others in the context of the shopper’s overall shopping trip, with the shoppers’ motivations for visiting the actual store and with their associated behaviours.
Yet fundamental to truly successful shopper marketing in-store is the recognition and understanding that shoppers shop the store by mission, not by category. Shoppers visit the store with a specific purpose (mission) in mind, be it to purchase a specific item, meal for tonight, to top-up fresh food for the week or to stock-up their cupboards with food and groceries. Increasingly we see shoppers tending towards such a diversity of trips, each driven by more specific needs. Shopper missions essentially capture these needs through the purpose of the shoppers’ shopping trip.
And it is through understanding the shopper’s mission - why the shopper is in the store – that FMCGs and indeed retailers can gain a better understanding of the key categories shoppers are likely to shop, their susceptibility to price and promotional activity, openness to impulse purchases, and their likely route around the store. These insights can in turn help fine tune their product and merchandising by category adjacency, different store formats, location of display in store and promotional partners.
By understanding shopper missions, manufacturers are able to identify which categories and store formats drive different shopper motivations and behaviours, and focus on how their categories fit in and interact with others.
So with shopper mission know-how, both FMCGs and retailers can identify shopper motivations and behaviours, and ultimately influence the shopper journey and experience more directly.
At Evolution Insights we believe that shopper mission insight is key to any successful shopper strategy. We classify shopper missions broadly into four main categories.
Source: Evolution Insights
For each category Evolution Insights identifies a number of different missions. In our recent publication, The UK Top-up Shopper Mission 2010, we consider top-up missions that relate to a need for specific items, specific meals, fresh food replenishment and specific occasions respectively. Each has a quite different context, with shoppers’ motivations and associated behaviours differing notably. By researching and analysing shopper motivations and behaviours across these different missions, Evolution presents valuable shopper insight for both retailers and FMCGs.
In its forthcoming publication, The UK On The Go Mission 2010, Evolution Insights identifies a further three key missions – breakfast, lunchtime and snacking. Here we present detailed and actionable shopper insight for both manufacturers and retailers. The report is due for publication in March 2010.
If you would like to understand more about shopper missions and how they can help you develop your shopper strategy, please take a look at our Shopper Insight Series reports and do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance.
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