What’s the hardest thing to understand about today’s shoppers?
Laura Gordon: The hardest thing to understand about today’s shoppers is how we can help make their shopping decision easier. As people’s lives have become so busy, trip assurance plays a giant role in their decision-making. If there is a purchase you have decided to make, knowing that the item is available in your store is very important. That your time is valued is essential.
#1: The Triple Win. The misperception is that Shopper is a blunt instrument. In fact, Shopper sits, with agility, at the intersection of the brand, the retailer and the shopper. Big retailers have incredible information about, and insights into, how people shop, which provides powerful tools to brand marketers.
For example, Shopper has data that helps brands talk to the mother of a child under one, understanding that she’s in survival mode and needs simple sustenance, not complex recipes. Shopper is equipped to talk to a wide variety of consumers, across multiple dimensions of their needs under any number of occasions.
David VanderWaal: Mobile’s effect on shopping behavior is not overstated, but it’s not really understood. All the data show shoppers are using smartphones actively while they are in the store and in transit. Almost 50 percent of those who have smartphones are using them actively.
Despite the industry noise level of how shopper marketing-focused companies are taking advantage of digital, the results of this survey indicate that for most companies, digital is either non-existent or in very primitive stages. To date, digital is largely defined as the sales department getting retailers to feature their brands on websites or in pre-store coupons.
There are few indications among respondents that their digital efforts are based on a true path-to-purchase strategy and are coordinated among the various departments and agencies responsible for executing in a way that interacts with their target consumers at key decision points along the path.