An overwhelming majority of 78% says Shopper has no established career path within their organizations. A plurality of 44% rate their Shopper training as only “average,” with 30% evaluating it as “very good” and just 5% as “excellent.” Twenty percent rate their training as “not so good” or “poor.”
Most respondents to our survey indicate they are self taught, and get most of their information about Shopper from industry conferences/workshops (57%); and articles/white papers (57%). The remainder cite internal workshops (41%); company training guides (16%); a boss (15%); or internal online programs (11%).
What does a career in Shopper look like?
Having the “right people” certainly is imperative to success in Shopper — as it is in any enterprise. Achieving success in terms of integration, insights and measurement depends on a comprehensive Human Resources strategy and plan. Those in Shopper also need to have a clear career path, just like everyone else within the organization.
Few, if any, actively choose to work in Shopper, but rather tend to land there for any number of unplanned reasons. That it is a relatively new discipline (arising over the past 10-12 years) means that Shopper also may suffer from a lack of awareness that may make it a less likely career choice.
Building competency in Shopper clearly is critical to its future within any organization. This, of course, requires training programs for those within the Shopper function and educational programs for those outside it. This must be supported by analytics and insights that demonstrate Shopper’s contribution, and disciplined test-and-learn initiatives that help institutionalize what is learned. Further, organizations need “Shopper Champions” to promote a changing view of Shopper from within.
Shopper’s “split-screen” between Sales and Marketing affects how (and from where) it sources talent, as well as the question of where training fits in. Does it belong in in Marketing or Sales? In terms of career, what is the path to Shopper, and then from it?
Can Shopper concepts be applied to good effect within the organization itself? One of our Confab members, who works in the health and wellness category, saw an opportunity to extend Shopper’s work “not just to customers, consumers and patients, but to our own employees to pay off our commitment of becoming the healthiest workforce in the world. We in the healthcare field tirelessly provide care to others. We want to help support and inspire our people be better able to take care of themselves and their loved ones.”
Several Confab members identified “a lack of fundamentals” as a critical problem, with one member citing “the basics of brief writing” as an essential skill. “We have to prove we are marketers and our fundamentals are better” and “the problem starts with the brief.” Without a clear brief, can any result truly be measured?
What should be taught? Dr. Dan Flint of The University of Tennessee sums it up as a combination of both skills and traits, including: “empathy; data interpretation; collaboration; a passion for shopper understanding; risk-taking and knowing how to be a marketer.”