In today’s competitive world, businesses need to rely on various marketing strategies that can help them increase their sales as well as build a strong customer base. They need to ensure that their products and services are able to create an impact so that the customers do not lean towards their competitors. When it comes to retail business, organizations in this domain need to step up their game as the competition is fierce. Customers today have no dearth of options which is why it has become vital for businesses to understand the exact need of their customers and provide them with the right options. One of the best marketing strategies that businesses can use in order to increase their sales is to take advantage of shopper marketing.
Shopper marketing has been around for quite some time and is now gaining more and more momentum. In the majority of the cases, every shopper puts a lot of thought and process behind their purchase decisions, and this decision is becoming more vital at the point of purchase. This is where shopper marketing comes into the picture as it helps in improving the customers’ shopping experience, thus, driving better in-store as well as online sales at the point of purchase.
In this post, we will take a thorough look at what is shopper marketing, who leverages this marketing strategy the most, what are some of the popular shopper marketing tactics, how to develop a shopper marketing plan, and some popular shopper marketing examples, and more!
Table of Contents
What is Shopper Marketing?
Though there are several ways of describing what is shopper marketing, the simplest definition is that it is a marketing strategy that involves creating awareness about your products and services and improving your customers’ interaction with the new and existing products/services. The primary motive of shopper’s marketing is to have a positive impact on the customers’ shopping habits, especially when they are in the shopping mode. This helps in driving more sales at the point of purchase. With the help of shopper marketing, businesses can drive their growth as well as product/service consumption.
Some people may think that shopper marketing is similar to traditional advertising and sales promotion campaigns; however, that is not the case. The traditional forms of marketing like advertising and promotion primarily focus on creating an overall brand awareness whereas shopper marketing focuses on creating an influencing impact when the buyer is at the point of the purchase stage. In its initial stages, marketers believed this marketing strategy was more suitable for offline stores and shops; however, with e-commerce ruling everywhere, they have now started implementing this strategy for online stores as well.
Another difference between traditional marketing strategies and shopper marketing is that the traditional forms, such as radio, TV advertisements, print ads, etc., focus on creating a lasting impact on the customers whereas shopper marketing focuses on creating an immediate and direct impact on the customer’s decisions. There are different ways in which you can influence the customers at the last minute, for example, by offering free samples in grocery stores and creating attractive displays using the products to setting up the ambiance of the store in general.
This marketing strategy also works by nudging the customers towards other products based on what they have already purchased. So, in short, shopper marketing is all about influencing and convincing the buyers at the last minute in order to make a successful sale.
Importance of Shopper Marketing
Every business aims to boost their product/service consumption leading to higher sales and shopper marketing can help them achieve this result. However, there is a lot that you can do with this marketing discipline which is why it has become one of the preferred methods across all types and sizes of industries. One of the major reasons why shopper marketing trends and tactics are important is because it allows organizations to analyze their customer behavior and understand the various factors that influence their buying decision. This is why this strategy works best for both online as well as offline stores.
There is a lot of valuable data that you can gather using shopper marketing. Using this data, companies can conduct required research, gain deep insights, capture the various observations about their customers’ preferences, and then use all this information to create an impactful strategy. Here is an idea of how to use shopper marketing for an offline store – you need to monitor your customer’s behavior right from the time they enter the store to the time they exist. Take a note of which aisles they visit, where they linger the most, which are the products that have caught their attention, understand why they have selected a particular product and why they have kept something back on the shelf, etc.
You also need to analyze the high-selling and low-selling products, find out what it takes to convert the random visitor into a genuine buyer, etc. You can also interact with the customers to understand what makes them buy a certain product and what factors lead them to put a product. Another area to focus on is your merchandising techniques where you need to understand if those techniques are working in favor of you or not. All these details will give you a clear understanding of what your customer wants and their buying patterns. This in turn will allow you to make the required changes which will help you to improve your customers’ experience and increase sales.
There are several software also available, such as Point Of Sale (POS) software or Retail software that can further help you maximize your shopper marketing strategy.
Shopper Marketing vs Trade Marketing
People often get confused between shopper advertising and trade marketing. However, there is one major difference between them. Trade marketing focuses on increasing the demand for products/services among the specific group which consists of distributors, wholesalers, and retailers whereas shopper marketing, as explained above, focuses on the buyers and their last-minute buying decisions.
Who Uses Shopper Marketing?
There are two major groups that rely heavily on using shopper marketing for their success – manufacturers and retailers.
- As a manufacturer, your ideal goal is to ensure that the customers choose your product over the ones by your competitors when they see them both on the shelf. So, how can manufacturers use this marketing discipline to their advantage? Well, they can use the technique to create an impact on the buyer by focusing on the packaging of the product, pricing and discounts, special display arrangements with the retailers, etc.
- For retailers, the focus is on the entire store rather than just on a specific product. To ensure that the customers opt for their stores and become regular customers, retailers can use shopper marketing strategies to determine the likes and dislikes of their customers. Retailers can also focus on various factors, such as the store lighting, location, branding, signage, layout, display, etc., to enhance the customers’ shopping experience. By focusing on these key factors, retailers can ensure that the customers return to their stores, thus, increasing their sales.
Shopper Marketing Tactics
So, how do manufacturers, retailers, etc., leverage this marketing strategy? Well, they make use of various shopper marketing tactics. Here are some of the major tactics that they employ.
- Displays – Whether you are someone who loves shopping or someone who thinks of shopping just as a necessity, the wide range of products available today, it can definitely make your shopping experience stressful. One of the best ways that stores can relieve their customers of this stress is to set up beautiful, eye-catching, and engaging displays throughout the store. This makes it not only easier for the customers to navigate through the store but is also a great way for a brand to create an impact and influence the customer’s buying choice.
- Demos – Customers love the option to try something new before they purchase it, and organizing demos is one of the best ways to accomplish this. Several stores offer a demo of the product right next to the aisle where the products are placed. Having the opportunity to get a first-hand account of the product, makes it easier for the customers to go ahead with the purchase. Offering free samples of any new food/drinks is also another form of giving a demo. By giving them a sample to consume in the store, there is a greater chance of the customers buying the product. In fact, you can also use the opportunity to understand whether the product is a hit or a miss, the reason behind it being a hit or miss, etc.
- Ambiance – Though online stores have become the norm; many people still prefer going to offline stores mainly for the ambiance it exudes which is missing when it comes to the online shopping experience. According to a study, 90% of customers prefer revisiting a store that provides a good ambiance in terms of soothing music, scents, visuals, lighting, etc. These sensory experiences combined with shopper marketing can help you ensure that your customers keep returning back.
- Social Media Marketing – To say that social media is everywhere would be an understatement. Even when people are walking through offline stores, you will see many of them scrolling through their various social media platforms. You can leverage this digital shopper marketing strategy to your advantage by creating geo-targeted ads which can come upon the customer’s newsfeed.
Shopper Marketing Plan
Developing a shopper marketing strategy requires a carefully developed plan as this strategy involves several marketing channels and physical locations. The first step in the plan is to analyze all your products and your target customers. Different customers visit a store for different reasons; hence, you need to understand this need and group your customers into various segments like one-stop shoppers, brand-conscious shoppers, price-oriented shoppers, etc.
Once the plan is developed with the first step, the next step is where the marketers will design various marketing materials to target their customers. They will focus on the product packaging, placement of the product on the shelves, the surrounding products, etc.
The last step in the shopper marketing plan is to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy. It is important to identify and define clear metrics which will help businesses to understand whether they are able to reach their goals and also measure their success. You also need to ensure that you are evaluating the shopper marketing plan on a regular basis so that if there is any difficulty in meeting the targets, you can tweak the plan and implement some new strategies.
Shopper Marketing Examples
Here are some shopper marketing examples.
- Wal-Mart – The majority of the people when they fall sick, do not prefer to go to huge stores like Wal-Mart to buy their medicines. To encourage customers to visit their store and buy the medicines, Walmart came up with in-store ads which motivated the customers to stock up on their tissues and medicines prior to the flu season.
- Maxwell House – Another shopper marketing example is that of Maxwell House, coffeemaker. They came up with a huge shopper marketing campaign when they introduced a new brew. The campaign consisted of handing out more than 2 million cups of samples across more than 8,400 retail stores. They also offered coffee coupons and the redemption rate of the coupons was at an all-time high.
- Cravendale Milk – This diary introduced a slogan, “tastes so good, the cows want it back”. The manufacturers came up with unique ad designs that were placed in the front and within the stores. They also focused on their packaging so that by the time the consumer decided on buying milk, they opted for Cravendale.
Conclusion
Now, whether you have an offline store or an online one, there is no doubt that shopper marketing is here to stay. By allowing manufacturers, retailers, etc., to create an impact on their customers’ buying decisions, businesses can definitely ensure a boost in their sales along with a memorable shopping experience for their customers. It is vital that businesses adapt and employ these marketing strategies so that they can stay ahead of their competitors and also enjoy the benefits that come along with such successful campaigns.
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