Shopper marketing, one of the original forms of marketing in retail stores, is the idea of creating consumer awareness and interaction with new or existing products. It focuses on the customer in and at the point of purchase, effectively compelling them to purchase goods based on a variety of factors.
How do they do this? Take a moment to think back to your last grocery store trip. Did you see an extraordinary beer case display with your NFL team’s logo on the packaging and feel compelled to buy a case for Sunday’s game? Or did you stop at the sample station to try a new snack in between aisles and end up adding the products to your cart? These are some basic examples of how grocery stores attempt to influence shopper behavior. According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association, as many as 70 percent of a customer’s purchasing decisions are made in store.
Shopper marketing doesn’t stop there—it focuses on the customer experience from the moment they step into the store. The lighting, the music, and the atmosphere are all carefully considered to ensure an enjoyable customer experience. The idea is to put the consumer at ease the moment they walk through the door, prompting shoppers to spend more time and more money in store.
Grocery Store Shopper Marketing Programs
Whether you’re launching your CPG brand in Kroger, Whole Foods, or Market Basket, every retailer has different shopper marketing programs in place. Navigating the costs and annual changes can be tricky without the help of a food broker.
A food broker with a robust marketing agency like Alliance understands the intricacies of each program and has established relationships with each retailer. Basically, each retailer has a menu of services that you can choose from—ranging from end cap displays to website banners. Services are priced differently depending on the number of consumers reached, where the promotion takes place (online or in store), and the duration of the program.
To avoid spending a lot of money without seeing a substantial lift in sales, it’s necessary to pair the proper shopper marketing tactic with your goals.
Shopper Marketing and E-Commerce
In the recent past, the introduction of online retail and free delivery services has revolutionized retail, offering customers unparalleled convenience. Amazon Prime pushes the boundaries of e-commerce by continually evolving their processes to better serve their consumers. They are offering subscribers in some areas free, two-hour delivery on products from Whole Foods.
Think about the last time you were shopping online. Were you notified that you were only $5 from free shipping and then prompted with some recommendations on what to add to your cart? And didn’t you find it helpful that the brand offered products that pair well with what’s already in your basket? These are ways that online retailers are getting their consumers to purchase more than what they intended.
Another powerful shopper marketing tactic is sending abandoned cart emails to shoppers who didn’t complete the check-out process online. Companies are able to recover a substantial amount of lost sales by triggering automated emails reminding shoppers that they left something behind.
The Future of Shopper Marketing
As consumer preferences and technology continues to evolve, innovations in shopper marketing will follow. The future for CPG companies can be extremely favorable if they continue to take notice of consumer shifts to better align their brand and products to match.
Within the past decade, the American population had shifted. Today, Hispanics account for over 50 percent of the nation’s growth. CPG brands need to take note of this shift and learn how to better target their shopper marketing efforts to cater to their multicultural audiences.
Millennials have also emerged as a key audience to target as they are utilizing more online and convenient shopping options yet looking for more better-for-you products. CPG companies will undoubtedly see a spike in sales, engagement, and brand growth if they develop strong shopper marketing tactics around this health trend and demographic cohort.
Make sure your shopper marketing plan is robust enough to dominate other CPG brands! Chat with our team today to see how we can help.
