By comparing our “State of Shopper” survey responses of those who self-identified as ‘excellent’ in Shopper to those identifying as ‘not so good/poor,’ a picture of Best Practices in Shopper begins to emerge.
Five-Plus Years Experience: Not surprisingly, in shopper marketing one gets better with experience. Eighty-six percent of those self-identifying as ‘excellent’ in shopper marketing have five-plus years of experience, compared to only 31 percent of those identifying as ‘not-so-good/poor.’
However, it is important to understand that longevity alone does not translate to excellence: Fifty-four percent of respondents have 5+ years of experience, yet of these, only five percent rate themselves as ‘excellent.’
20+ Headcount: Sixty-four percent of those who rate themselves as ‘excellent’ have shopper- marketing department headcounts of 20 or more people versus only seven percent for those who rate themselves as ‘not-so-good’ or ‘poor.’ Again, having a big department does not equate to excellence. It is a result, rather than a driver, of excellence.
Training: Sixty-four percent of ‘excellents’ report that they received their shopper-marketing training through formal company training programs, while only 22 percent of the ‘not-so-good/poor’ group did. Even more important is the quality of training: Only 3.6 percent of the ‘not-so-good/poor’ respondents rate the training they did get as excellent, compared to 50 percent of the ‘excellents.’