INSIGHT | ANALYSIS | INFORMATION | TRENDS | REVIEWS | KNOWLEDGE | STATISTICS
Multichannel Revisited ISSUE 17
Permanently plugged into our smartphones and ready to shop Tablets vs. smartphones: from researching to checkout The over 55s: technophobes or simply more considered? The future of m-commerce: is it bright? Plus Thought Pieces, The Gossip... and all the usual regular features and revealing interviews
ISSUE seventeen
june2013
ISSUE seventeen
june2013
www.shoppercentric.com
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JUNE 2013
This edition of WindowOn... is based on quantitative and qualitative research, conducted among adult shoppers who own a smartphone and/or a tablet: 1000 quantitative interviews online 12 depth interviews In both phases our samples were nationally representative on geography, but age, gender and social grade were allowed to fall out randomly.
ISSUE seventeen
june2013
ISSUE seventeen
june2013
PUBLISHED BY: Shoppercentric EDITOR: Alice Synge DESIGN: Mike Higgs
e: mikehiggs@mac.com
We welcome ideas for future articles and reports. Guidelines on our preferred format and style are available from Alice Synge e: alice.synge@shoppercentric.com
Š Shoppercentric 2013 All copyright is vested in Shoppercentric unless expressly stated otherwise. No permission is granted for reproduction, use or adaptation of the material, save as to provide for under Statute, and any such use must be accompanied by the appropriate accreditation.
We are proud to lead the way in Shopper Insight in the UK. We are continually conducting our own trends research on current industry related issues and are very happy to be able to share our findings and opinions.
Welcome... Trends Research... Life in My Pocket Danielle Pinnington,
Founder & Owner, Shoppercentric
Welcome to another edition of WindowOn... In previous editions of our WindowOn... reports we have touched on m-commerce whilst investigating social media and multichannel retail, but with smartphone ownership passing the 50% mark in the UK we felt it was time to turn our attention properly to m-commerce. This is a hugely exciting area for retail, and one that is changing rapidly. In a lot of respects shoppers are ahead of the game, so we wanted to explore the role of smartphones in their purchase journeys and how business can better meet their needs and expectations. I hope you enjoy the articles here, and more importantly that they add to your understanding of how you can flex m-commerce to the benefit of your brand, and your shoppers.
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We are all mildly addicted to our smartphones, so what impact is this having on our shopping habits?
Horses for Courses or All in the Same Race
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Smartphones, tablets, laptops and pcs: We look at the different roles these different devices play.
6 Poor Eyesight & Stiff Fingers? Older Shoppers and M-commerce Are the over 55s clumsy and afraid, or are they just after something different?
What Does the Future Look Like?
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We discuss what’s next in this rapidly moving shopping environment.
THOUGHT PIECE
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Thought Piece One 11 Rewarding Loyalty From Green Shield Stamps to the Clubcard: We take a look at how shoppers and businesses feel about loyalty schemes.
Thought Piece Two 12 Digital Media In-store We’ve come a long way in ten years, but are we getting in store screens right yet?
Regular Features... Shopper Talk... The BIG Picture... The Gossip An Experts Own View... From the High Street... Meet the Team
www.shoppercentric.com
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FEATURE
Life in My Pocket We all know that smartphone penetration is on the up, and more people than ever are shopping on the move, but what’s the big appeal to shoppers and why are retailers and brands so keen to not only capture that spend but drive it? By Susie Spencer
In talking to shoppers, it appears that at the heart of the rise of m-commerce, is the hugely personal and dependent relationship we have with our smartphone. As one shopper told us “My whole life is on my phone, it goes everywhere with me”. A sense of paranoia and even paralysis comes over us if we so much as envisage life without it. Undoubtedly the smartphone is greater than the sum of its parts – no one we spoke to said any individual aspect of it was irreplaceable, but the fact that everything is ’bundled‘ together really makes it a device for life. The idea that your smartphone can do almost everything is of course the very thing that drives its appeal as a shopping tool. You can make lists, check store opening times, take product shots, check your diary for deliveries, and of course you can browse and buy online. “I’ll order something from Argos and find the nearest store that has it available.”
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Fundamentally what this allows shoppers to do is be as efficient as possible when it comes to managing their busy lives. It’s about filling the dead time and making the most of your down time. “I’ve a 40 minute commute each way on the train and it’s a great time to browse.” Those moments when you’re waiting at the school gates, travelling on the bus, or in a queue can all be now used to shop, courtesy of your smartphone! “I can wait at the nursery gates and look at three pairs of jeans and decide which one to put in my basket.” There’s no delay, no waiting until you get home to buy. And of course when time is critical as it can be with eBay, your mobility needn’t be restricted. “You can bid right up until the last minute.” So to really maximise the m-commerce opportunity, retailers and brands need to be empathetic to this mind-set: providing time saving solutions, not just products; and making smartphone shopping easy and above all convenient to use.
64% On Your Mobile: On the Move? Don’t assume all this shopping activity on mobile phones is in fact mobile. From our recent study we found that two thirds of those interviewed primarily shopped on their smartphone at home, and only one in ten used it in a store.
19% At Home
On the Move
9% 8% In Shop
At Work
Location Where People Use Smartphones Most Often for Shopping
So why is that? Connectivity and access to free Wi-Fi is no doubt a factor behind smartphone usage at home over using it on the move, but why a phone, why not a laptop or even a tablet? Talking to shoppers it seems a major driver of in home shopping on a smartphone is immediacy. Because people literally have their phone with them all the time, even at home. It’s always to hand, it’s always charged, and it’s always on.
“ It sounds terrible, but if I have to get up and find the iPad, I’d rather tug my phone out of my pocket.” Being able to reach for your smartphone instantly has big appeal, but so does immediacy in terms of remembering you need something and buying it wherever you are.
“ I’ll suddenly remember there’s a kids’ party coming up. So I have a quick look on Argos, reserve what I need and dash to the store to pick it up.”
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FEATURE
Horses for Courses or All in the Same Race As use of the smartphone for shopping gets more prolific, what role do tablets now play? Is there a merging of devices or do they fulfil distinct roles? By Iona Carter
When we conducted our study on digital shopping this time last year there were notable differences in the usage of tablets versus smartphones. Shopping on a smartphone predominately involved comparing prices and finding stores. In contrast to tablets which had broader usage across the shopping journey, particularly at the browsing and buying phase. Just 12 months on and it seems we’re more likely to be using our smartphones at any and all stages of the journey, even to purchase products. So increasingly we’re using our smartphones at the back end of the shopping process not just the beginning. Shoppers are becoming more comfortable transacting on their smartphone, especially when it comes to websites visited frequently and where an account has been set
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up taking the hassle out of entering payment details on a small device. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean shoppers complete the journey from start to finish on their phone. Talking to shoppers, the smartphone seems to be increasingly used to buy repeat purchases, rather than a new product where exploration or research is done upfront. When shoppers know exactly what they want the smartphone feels the ideal device to buy from: it’s hassle free, low involvement and above all high speed. That said the smartphone is equally suitable for the front end of the journey, particularly when it comes to shortlisting products or websites. Many of the shoppers we spoke to were making mental lists of products to revisit
The Degree to Which Tablets are Used More Than Smartphones 8%
TRIGGER
Gather ideas
2% 8%
Research options
3% BROWSE CONSIDER
8%
Get advice
0% 10%
9% 3% BUY
Check stock
2%
FIND
Get discount vouchers 20%
1% 2012 Difference
when they were at home on a larger screen. Some shoppers were even putting items in the basket as a way of bookmarking for review, before completing a final transaction at a later time. Predominantly this was done as a way of saving or filling time whilst out and about.
Buy
2013 Difference
So it’s important for retailers and brands to acknowledge that while the shopping activities between tablets and smartphones may be increasingly similar, the requirements and needs of shoppers while carrying out those activities remains quite different.
Of course, all of this feels quite a functional approach to shopping, less about enjoying downtime and more about filling it. Ultimately could this remain the key difference between tablets and smartphones? Whilst there is undoubtedly a convergence when it comes to the different stages of the shopping journey, the mind-set of shopping on a tablet versus a smartphone still feels distinct. Tablets remain the ultimate browsing experience when shopping is about pleasure and curiosity rather than providing time saving solutions.
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FEATURE
Poor Eyesight & Stiff Fingers? Older Shoppers & M-commerce As we mentioned before, the rise in smartphone ownership has been staggering. This of course means that these marvellously clever devices are no longer the preserve of the young or most technically savvy. By Sharon Hodgson
As a result some shoppers can feel, by their own admission, that their smartphones are in fact smarter than they are – limiting their ability to make full use of the potential they promise. Older shoppers in particular appear more constrained in their use of mobile technology to aid their browsing and buying. Among the 55+ age group that we interviewed (all mobile device owners), 81% own a smartphone yet only 19% use it for purchasing: a significantly lower proportion than their younger counterparts. Smartphone ownership and use for ordering / purchasing goods – by age Own a smartphone 97%
96%
89%
Use a smartphone to order / buy 81%
37%
18-24 25-34 35-54
55+
18-24
BASE: ALL MOBILE DEVICE OWNERS
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38%
27%
25-34 35-54
19%
55+
It is tempting then to jump to the conclusion that screen size and functionality form the greatest barriers for this older generation. However, while these are undoubtedly major obstacles to smartphone shopping for many, they are issues shared by all age groups. And in fact, it is on a far more fundamental level that older shoppers appear distinct: They are much less likely to recognise a need to shop on the move in this way and one in four just ‘don’t see the point’. These older shoppers simply don’t view smartphone shopping as a readily accessible solution to ease the burden of a busy life – rather for many it seems to be a complication they can happily live without. For older shoppers to become a sizeable and lucrative m-commerce target a clear benefit will need to be conveyed to provide a sense of purpose for smartphone shopping. So how about the lure of discounts: we all love a deal don’t we? And in fact older shoppers are most likely to use their smartphones to take photos of particularly good offers in shops, as a reminder for later. Maybe surprising then that shoppers aged 55+ are much less likely than their younger counterparts to price
Shopper Talk... compare on their phone – and relatively few share in the delights of voucher / coupon hunting online to secure savings on a variety of goods and services. Surely the chance to save could be capitalised upon to provide an attractive hook for these instinctive bargainhunters to join the m-commerce fold? Bargain hunting using smartphones - by age Own a smartphone to compare / check 51%
46%
Use a smartphone for discounts / offers / vouchers
53%
18-24 25-34 35-54
31%
36%
55+
18-24
30%
28%
25-34 35-54
25%
55+
BASE: ALL USING SMARTPHONES FOR SHOPPING
Smartphones aside, what is certainly clear from our research is that tablets seem to really appeal to this older generation of shopper. Within our sample of mobile device owners it is shoppers aged 55+ who are the most likely to own a tablet (at 59%, ten percentage points more than any other age group): 60% have used them as part of the shopping process and 34% to buy. And this seems to be a trend that is set to grow as 10% have only started shopping in this way in the last month. With their larger screens and ease of touch functionality, tablets appear the most likely gateway for older shoppers to discover the possibilities of wireless shopping – even if this may be most likely in the comfort of their own home next to a cup of tea! So brand owners would do well to consider this lucrative target in their tablet-based strategies. Communication and functionality must hit the right buttons with this age group, to build their confidence, capture their imagination and encourage them to take full advantage of the ease and convenience afforded by shopping this way.
Real words from the high street. Brought to you from the keen ears of the Shoppercentric team... It’s those ridiculous Swedish names Ikea have for everything. You get to the till, the bill comes to far more than you’re expecting, but you’ve no way of checking what the heck you’ve bought! Online delivery services can be rubbish with out of dates. They send you stuff that has to be used that day so you’ve got to completely change your meal plan. My grocery delivery once substituted 2 chicken breasts with 2 sirloin steaks! How is that a substitute? I love Ocado. You get free things to try and the bill tells you all the sell-by dates
2013 Diary JUNE
Dates...
Marketing Week Live 26 – 27 June 2013 Grand Hall, Olympia, London
After exhibiting for the first time in 2012, we’re excited to be getting much more involved at this year’s Marketing Week Live. We have been invited to host a series of round table, interactive sessions discussing ‘Changing Shopper Behaviour’. We’ll be in the Retail Zone discussing how changes in shopper expectation is driving the market ahead of the pace of change within retailers. There will be five of these sessions on each of the two show days. Places are limited so keep an eye on the Marketing Week Live website www.marketingweeklive.co.uk/ content/retail-therapy to book your space.
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thebigpicture Burberry: Regent Street By Danielle Pinnington
Burberry has recently opened a beautifully designed store on Regent Street, where it is clear no expense has been spared. The light, bright interior has been worked to create almost a cathedral feel, with the domed ceiling as a centre piece, and the various stairs sweeping around the curves. But it is the relationship between bricks & mortar and digital that is the most inspiring element. Floor to ceiling digital walls are used in backdrop, creating a sense of modernity and vibrancy, and allowing film reels to build the brand personality. The merchandising of the clothes, shoes and bags is minimalist – with iPads used alongside mannequins to share the details of specific items and any alternatives. And the staff are using their iPads to ‘order up’ any size or option the customer wants to see, touch, or even try on. This isn’t a store designed to let customers browse for themselves, it is about driving interaction between customers and staff, and that might not suit everyone. But it’s most definitely a store worth visiting to see how engaging a mix of traditional and new retailing can be. www.burberry.com
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FEATURE
What Does the Future Look Like? By Claire Pearson
M-commerce is undoubtedly transforming the retail landscape at an unprecedented rate and smartphone usage is at the heart of this change. It’s becoming the new norm, and smartphone shoppers are keen to spread the word. For the users we spoke to, there was real pleasure in sharing tips and shopping habits – almost like smartphone shopping ambassadors: “Do you know you can now click through from the Grazia link to the Topshop site?” …a great example of the ultimate in impulse shopping on your phone. However, it’s important to acknowledge that shopping on a smartphone is still in its infancy. Over half of the people we spoke to had only just started to use their smartphone to shop in the last year. While barriers still exist for many, it’s interesting to note these are mainly around ease of usage rather than security concerns or connectivity. Existing smartphone shoppers see opportunities to take the mobile shopping world further, and it’s all about simplicity and ease of use: l Making sure mobile optimised sites really
are manageable on smartphones - providing edited choice not restricted choice l Delivering on functionality (ability to click
and activate buttons, ease of scrolling and comparing products etc.) l Above all reducing the steps in the
purchase process
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Reasons for not using smartphone for shopping Difficult to see products on phone
38%
mobile websites too difficult to navigate
32%
too fiddly putting in payment details worry about security of buying on-line connection never fast enough when on the move
28% 23% 18%
It’s also about tools that deliver an end benefit to shoppers – for example, being clear why you’d use an app over an m-site and what a QR code can be used for. Around one in four of the people we spoke to had used a QR code while shopping, and many can see their potential, particularly around easing the stress points in the shopping journey (stock availability, delivery, product details, identifying other variants available in store etc.) but this needs to be communicated. Some of the best developments we’ve seen involve integrating smartphones into the wider digital marketing opportunity. For example Adidas Neo used a digital window display to allow shoppers to browse the range and put items they liked into a ‘shopping basket’ on their smartphones. Shoppers are using smartphones to become more savvy and above all empowered. Smart brands and retailers are adapting their integrated marketing plans to ensure m-commerce is a strong touchpoint in the purchase process, in order to capitalise on this growing shopper behaviour.
THOUGHT PIECE ONE Written by Danielle Pinnington
Rewarding Loyalty One trend we’ve noticed over the last couple of years has been the increasing interest in loyalty schemes among shoppers. Only last month we watched a focus group sharing their thoughts on the old Green Shield Stamp scheme - admittedly we were showing them some loyalty scheme ideas, but it was the fondness with which they spoke about those little green stamp books that surprised us. If we had covered the same subject five years ago the stamp scheme would have been given short shrift by shoppers who expected immediate returns, and who would rather spend than save. The discussion at our focus group was particularly interesting because it only briefly touched on nostalgia, with most comments relating to the sense of reward generated by the scheme – the excitement of hitting the required number of stamps, or choosing from the catalogue once a number of pages had been completed. This is another sign of how things have changed for shoppers and businesses alike. In fact, how many of you have found your own purses or wallets increasingly bulging with coffee shop stamp cards? Yet what does this actually mean from a business perspective? What can you do with the knowledge that shoppers are more open to initiatives that reward them for their loyalty over time?
But more importantly, a well-run and motivating loyalty scheme can give you the chance to get closer to your shoppers. In the days of Green Shield Stamps the possible interactions between the scheme and the shopper were limited – mail, telephone, or face to face when the shopper cashed in stamps. Nowadays with email, mobiles, and social media there are many more chances to communicate directly with shoppers, and to tailor your message specifically to that individual, making the interaction so much more meaningful. Admittedly these schemes take time and investment to set up and run, but there are three shopper-based reasons why we think they are worth considering:
l Shoppers are increasingly looking for rewards and are prepared to wait for them
l They are looking for solutions that make life easier l They are becoming cynical about promotions, believing that price cuts are achieved by hiking prices first, or by reducing pack size. They see rewards-based offers as more trustworthy So, next time you claim that ‘free’ coffee after filling up your loyalty card, mull on how much nicer it tastes compared to the nine or so coffees you actually paid for… Wouldn’t it be great if you could get that same sense of reward across to your shoppers?
Well for a start it gives you as a manufacturer an alternative to promotions, and one that could impact on your sales in a different way to most offers. Quite possibly a more sustainable increase in sales rather than the spikes so often associated with many promotions.
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THOUGHT PIECE TWO Written by Danielle Pinnington
Digital Media In-store Shoppercentric was launched in 2004, which coincided with the launch of in-store TV screens in both Tesco and Asda. This in-store innovation gave us a rich subject for articles and conference papers, because amongst all the noise about this wonderful new media we could see shoppers scratching their heads and asking what all the fuss was about. And unfortunately, because shoppers didn’t ‘get it’ the screens didn’t last long in Tesco and Asda. Well, times have changed. No self-respecting flagship store opens these days without a digital screen or two, and it really does feel as if screens have come of age. The clients and agencies working in this area now have a much better understanding of the core issue – that screens have to add value to the purchase journey. And to make sure they are value adding touch points, shopper needs are increasingly at the heart of the planning process. So we can pat ourselves on the back for doing our small bit to promote the shopper perspective in the early days of in-store screens. Of course there is the small issue of technology coming of age, so touch and gesture screens, whisper windows, augmented reality to name a few are creating far more engaging screen experiences than those in-store TVs of 2004. At the same time shoppers are more screen savvy themselves, with smartphones and tablets making them more adventurous, and more demanding. In fact, there is now almost a danger of screen overload. So, it is just as important for retailers and design agencies to ensure their screen planning process has the shopper at the heart of it, asking these key questions:
l Are there barriers in the purchase journey that a screen could resolve?
l The use of digital media in windows is a real breakthrough, enabling retailers to properly engage with passersby and drive footfall into store, or offer transactions from the pavement when the store is closed.
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l Product information which can be so hard to condense for paper POS can be more easily shared in full via screens or QR codes.
l Products that only really come to life out of the box (think of Lego or make up!) find a real sense of personality in-store via AR.
l Is the store engaging enough for shoppers to want to visit?
l The use of digital screens in Burberry on Regent Street is all about creating the wow factor – and they do that in spades!
l Can digital media improve the shopping experience? l Online retail is has delivered real ease of shop, through the search tools, and recommendations – and retailers are starting to look at how these elements can be introduced into bricks & mortar. Apple does a great job of this, with shoppers in their stores able to buy a product from any member of staff anywhere in-store because staff don’t need a till to run a transaction through
l The sports brands such as Adidas and Nike are using digital media to deliver tailored products to shoppers – the fun of building your own trainer via an interactive screen and the ease of ordering it there and then. The digital world offers huge opportunities for the traditional retail environments – and if shoppers are at the heart of the planning process then they will be given every reason to continue to visit bricks & mortar stores.
Compiled, conjured up & cobbled together by Alice Synge
A Cracker of a Year
Shoppercentric Cymru Rocks the Night
Here at Shoppercentric we have just tied up all the loose ends on our financial year and we are pleased to report that it has been a cracker (that is an official financial term). Growth was 30%, which is absolutely fantastic. We really do have you, our clients, to thank for this growth. We genuinely love what we do and are thrilled that we are able to continue at such a pace, with such interesting and engaging companies. Here’s to working just as hard in 2013-14!
There’s nothing like the day starting with an email from one of your colleagues titled ‘we’ve had an earthquake here…’ The big excitement was for the Spencer family when Grandma woke the house at 4am demanding everyone outside as the whole house was shaking. Was the cliff about to give way? Was it a landslide? No, just an earthquake of 3.8 magnitude, everyone back to bed please.
Wear Your Dancing Shoes
Iona has recently joined Danielle on the Shoppercentric BBC Live Media Team (for two makes it a team doesn’t it?!) This means that thankfully for Danielle her adrenaline levels have decreased a little, but Iona’s have been increasing to compensate. Iona particularly likes to ramp those adrenaline levels by setting her alarm to an alternative time zone prior to a breakfast interview just to ensure being woken up by the producer just minutes before she is scheduled to talk… go Iona! And, no, I don’t think she is planning to do that again.
Sometimes we don’t do as we are told, but when it is Penny that’s doing the telling, then usually we toe the line. And so we wore our dancing shoes (as instructed) and most of us danced (this was optional). Those that didn’t dance probably didn’t because they were afraid of taking out the eyes of innocent by-standers. Those that did dance came close. Anyhow, happy birthday Penny… what a great bash! We Love the Little Shops Just as Much We’re pleased to announce that we are getting behind independent retailers again this year by sponsoring ‘Support for Independent Retail’. The Support for Independent Retail campaign provides year-round support, advice, ideas and inspiration to help independent retailers, and those who serve consumers, to get, and stay, open for business. From Russia with Love There is something going on at Shoppercentric and it has a distinctly Russian flavour. With a sudden influx of Russian projects we are hotfooting it between London and Moscow like Bond girls (minus the bikinis and helicopters) and gaining a great insight into how Russians approach shopping. It’s been hugely interesting to research such a unique market, and covering categories from vacuum cleaners to pet care we’ve had some brilliant golden nuggets to share at our team meetings.
BBC Adrenaline Junkies
Kerb Appeal vs. Curb Appeal One of our directors was lucky enough to spend Easter in Florida (the rest of us were quite cross about that, and the tan that she returned with, but that’s another story), and whilst there she made some interesting observations about Clarks the shoe shop. The US stores felt markedly different to the UK ones: there was an emphasis on wooden shelving and improved ambience; the lighting was muted; the windows were really simple with great lifestyle photos for backdrops. Overall, the stores had much better kerb appeal and felt generally more upmarket.
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An Experts Own View Name: Shelley Davies Job Title: Business Development Director Company: The Big Kick Consumers’ shopping habits and behaviours are ever changing. A savvy shopper marketing client will place major emphasis on shopper insight and develop action plans across all channels and paths to purchase. They will explore each channel in consideration of the newly emerging world of shopping, and how each channel integrates with another – and then overlay this with the profile and interests of individual retailers’ shoppers. Shoppers are expecting greater value from their shop in terms of price, experience and inspiration. Clients are looking for standout and a greater SOV for their products. This increased presence and impact should both raise awareness and start the shopper on an engagement journey that leads to sales and brand loyalty. Shopper marketing activity should ensure shoppers respond to products based on more than just price – achieving sales via a less deep-discount pricing. It can be a challenge to persuade retailers to support any initiative other than price discounting. Concrete examples must show the benefit of added value campaigns rather than price discounts. A free DVD offer on Stella Artois, featured on exactly the same aisle end, with an identical price point, achieved 83% uplift over the previous year which had no added value feature. Evidence like this paves the way for further campaigns which add value to the brand whilst also driving the category. Kelloggs ‘Adults go Free’ campaign is a fantastic example of great shopper marketing. The insight is wonderful; usually a ‘kids go free’ offer will attract parents but the fact that adults are more expensive means an even bigger saving. It has gained great feature and display across both major multiples and the convenience sector through pallets and FSDU’s at front of store. Brand owners also recognise the need to plan a channel strategy which differs by shopper occasion. Within this m-commerce is developing. With frictionless path to purchase being created via technological solutions and the growth of
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mobile, shoppers can now go from advert to sale in 2 clicks. Although this is not yet big scale for FMCG brands, the potential is game changing. The challenge with multiple path to purchase routes is to convey the brand in a single consistent way. Velvet’s online marketing campaign ‘Make Winter Wonderful’ demonstrated the huge potential for click to basket from social networking sites. The campaign generated over 19,000 entries in one day on the Asda Facebook page. A key evolution over the last year is greater collaboration between FMCG brand owners and their retail customers. Brand owners need to work harder to drive insightful communications that change shopper behaviour - and to do this they are relying much more on retailer insights as well as their own brand insights. FMCG clients are looking to shopper marketing to raise their profile and relationships with their retail colleagues. They are looking to change shopper behaviour whether that is by driving awareness and trial for new brands, or driving loyalty in established brands. Clients are also committed to driving category growth via sales. Brand switching is no longer a strong enough argument for driving value into categories. Campaigns for FMCG brands must drive category value and volume. Compliance at a retail level still poses the biggest challenge for clients. With the numerous day to day demands on retailers, it is no surprise that certain elements within the plans do not get sited – and therefore expensive campaigns can show little movement on the sales dial. However with greater focus on defining ‘what good looks like’ for the retailers and working with them to understand the barriers and processes to 100% compliance, we’re hoping to see a step change.
www.thebigkick.com
An Independent Retailer Perspective
A View from the High Street Penny Ericson visits Busbys, the independent carpet shop that is fighting to stay on the high street.
Stripes in carpets are making a come-back but are they enough to help Busbys Carpets & Flooring, a longestablished independent retailer on Ruislip High Street, make a come-back? Maria Busby, Director, is struggling to see a future for her store in its current location on the high street. “The key benefit of having a presence on a busy high street is to be seen and remembered, but local and national government policy combined with reduced consumer spending is hurting our business.” Rates are high so the high street is losing many independent retailers to be replaced by coffee shops, charity shops and betting shops none of which are bringing potential flooring customers past the shop front. Parking is limited and expensive, so Maria feels that many of her customers prefer to shop in out of town locations with plenty of free and easy parking. And this is where she feels her business will also end up unless something drastic happens to help small high street retailers.
The good news is that carpet is back in fashion with a fall in sales of laminates. Engineered woods and luxury vinyl tiling are also on the increase. Colours are making a come-back, replacing the beige neutral tones of the last few years and stripes are most definitely the next big trend. But the long term buying trends that used to predict the sales highs and lows have disappeared making staffing levels a challenge. The seasonality that could be relied upon has flattened out and the plethora of inspirational home decorating programmes has disappeared from the TV. Now, homes programmes focus on selling property rather than revamping it with a new style – and that’s a miss in the way of a trigger for potential customers. But with customers having to decide between spending money on a carpet versus going on holiday, it’s going to be a long haul back to the buoyant business of old and the quirky window dressings featuring Sidney the Sheep that Busbys are known for will be a sad loss for Ruislip. www.busbyscarpets.co.uk
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meet the team... We are a small group of highly experienced shopper research experts and aim to lead the way in shopper insight. Between us we bring years (over 150!) of industry experience, gained both client side and within leading research agencies. We focus only on shopper research and are method neutral, using a bank of tools and techniques to uncover insights that are real and lead to tangible actions. Iona Carter
Director e: iona.carter@shoppercentric.com Iona has over twenty years of experience in shopper and retail research. She joined Shoppercentric in 2006 following several years leading shopper insight with Research International, most recently as Head of Retail and Shopper.
Sharon Hodgson
Director e: sharon.hodgson@shoppercentric.com Sharon’s career started at Ipsos where she was instrumental in establishing the agency’s first Retail division. She led the Retail & Shopper specialism there for 10 years, also heading Ipsos’s Shopper Centre of Excellence for Western Europe. She left her role as Managing Director of Retail & Shopper Research in 2009 to join Shoppercentric.
Kristen Davis
Director e: kristen.davis@shoppercentric.com Following several years as one of our Associates, Kristen joined us a permanent team member in 2010. She has significant experience in consumer trends and future thinking, including previous roles as a Trends Forecaster for Initiative Media and a Qualitative Director for Hall & Partners.
Alice Synge
Marketing & Operations e: alice.synge@shoppercentric.com Alice is the oil that keeps Shoppercentric moving! Her years of experience in support roles are invaluable to us, and her particular focus is on driving our industry presence and our focus on current hot topics.
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Penny Ericson
Director e: penny.ericson@shoppercentric.com Penny has extensive experience in brand & consumer, sports marketing /sponsorship and media research (agency & client). Previously Head of Retail at IPSOS, she is a full member of the Market Research Society and ESOMAR.
Danielle Pinnington
Founder & Owner e: danielle.pinnington@shoppercentric.com Danielle spent her first 12 years as a researcher specialising in the world of NPD, branding and sales volume estimation. She rose to the position of Deputy MD at Research International before joining Incite Marketing Planning as a Board Director. Here her specialisim in shopper began to develop. In 2004 she took the decision to break out of the generalist agency world and set up Shoppercentric – and she hasn’t looked back since.
Susie Spencer
Director e: susie.spencer@shoppercentric.com
Prior to joining Shoppercentric, Susie was Head of Research at Marks and Spencer and has over ten years of experience in shopper insight. She also has significant experience in brand and advertising research.
Claire Pearson
Director e: claire.pearson@shoppercentric.com Claire has 10 years insight experience gained at Tesco, Cadbury and Sainsbury’s. It was during her time at Cadbury that she became a shopper insight specialist. Claire returned to retail in 2010, heading up a Sainsbury’s insight team guiding business and property strategy.
We lead the way in shopper research Shopper Insight... We work with the widest range of methodologies available; qualitative and quantitative, traditional and technological, pre-store and in-store. It’s our experience that allows us to pick the most appropriate methodologies to answer each brief. We work as interactively as possible with our clients, so regularly workshop our results with a wide client team to turn our insights into action streams. Whether the brief is about shopper behaviour or promotions strategies, fixture layout or range evaluations – our ambition is always to help our clients deliver bottom line growth.
Client Training... We design tailor made, interactive training sessions to deepen understanding of shopper insight. We use a variety of theory and practical exercises to really engage clients in how shoppers think right through the shopper journey. We explore a full breadth of key research techniques, where and how they are best used and how to best apply real shopper insight within the business.
Trends Research... We are proud to lead the way in Shopper Insight in the UK. We are continually conducting our own trends research on current industry related issues and are very happy to be able to share our findings and opinions at www.shoppercentric.com. We are also invited to speak at a number of leading industry conferences each year. If you have recently seen us at an event, you can download our speaker charts from the website too.
Please visit shoppercentric.com for the full story
thelastword... We thought we’d let our clients have the last word by telling you what they think of us... I just wanted to drop you a note, to say thank you for today. It was a challenging session and you did a great job. Service Development Manager, Forecourt Retailer
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I attended the CEE Research Forum in Prague and - as I did not have a chance to do it in person - would like to say a big thank you for your very helpful and inspiring presentation. Independent Research Consultant, ESOMAR Member
We have definitely been implementing changes based on the learnings from the recent Shopper Research that you conducted. Brand Manager, Manufacturer
The team agreed that the presentation was really useful, so thanks for all your efforts on the project. Senior Insight Manager, Telecommunications
You did work for my last company and it always went down incredibly well, so that’s why I thought of you for this brief. Research Manager, Frozen Food Manufacturer
PO Box 435 Harpenden Hertfordshire AL5 2WX
01582 468047 info@shoppercentric.com www.shoppercentric.com