The Concept of Shopper Marketing and How It is Growing?


Businesses today live in a world of cutthroat competition. The market is flooded with identical and similar product offerings. For them, the competition is not so much the neighborhood or the immediate market that they live in as it is the entire globe. In this red ocean market, consumers have to take the extra step to understand their consumers and serve them in the best possible manner. Consumers are no longer the kind of people on the market; they are God, and pleasing them, consciously or subconsciously, is the goal of every business.

To combat this challenge, in this article we will be diving deep into the understanding of the concept of the shoppers market and how it is growing day by day.

The concept of shopper marketing and how it works

Shopper marketing is a simple process in which retail store owners or companies invest in knowing about their consumers and what factors can influence them while making the purchase decision and then design their marketing campaign accordingly. It is a very effective form because according to a survey, it was found out that around 70% to 80% of the purchase decisions are made by consumers while they are in the market or inside the store. Consumers are influenced a lot by brands and their products while they are shopping and hence companies are mixing data with creative campaigns to sell their products and this is known as effective shopper marketing. What could be the reason that consumers get influenced while they are at the market or in the store? Some of the reasons are −

  • Consumers get influenced by the display ads inside the store.

  • Consumers get influenced by the product's placement on the shelf. It is found that the maximum attention goes to the product that is at eye level and is in the range between the chest and the waist of an individual. Many shopping markets also charge extra for the brand to be displayed at eye level.

  • Consumers get influenced when the product is placed in the golden arc. So basically, in shopping malls, when the customer is standing in line to get their products billed, you will see that the range has many products on display. These are generally low-priced items and are highly discounted. These products are placed there so that consumers can buy them in haste without much thought.

  • The space that is left between two aisles. If the store wants the turnover time to be high, they will ensure that aisles are kept at a distance so that consumers can shop in luxury, while at the same time, a company will place the aisles near each other when they want the customer to make a quick purchase and leave.

  • The music that is being played also plays an important role in the purchase that a consumer makes.

  • Store managers also apply the trick of putting complementary products like bread and butter in two different corners of the store to ensure that the shopper is roaming the entire market before leaving and purchasing between.

Growth of Shopper Marketing

Now we will be discussing how shopper marketing is growing and the examples of various renowned brands that are using these tips and tricks to gain an edge over their competitors. Some fascinating examples are −

  • Pampers and P&G − companies are capturing data and, at the same time, using that to boost their sales. An amazing example could be the Pamper products by P&G. P&G observed the lack of a bay center in the Walmart stores and also observed that customers are lucrative here with good displays and ideas. So it placed all its baby products, which were earlier spread across various parts of the store, in one aisle known as the baby center, and the sales of Pampers increased by huge margins.

  • P&G and cosmetics − P&G noticed the trend of smokey eyes among teenagers and female customers. It leveraged that trend with huge billboards in the Walmart store and aligned with this to start the Smoky Eyes campaign on Facebook and other social media platforms. The display ad was a huge hit.

  • Introduction of Smart Shopping Cards − The store owners understood that consumers were facing a lot of difficulties in locating products from different brands at the store, and at the same time, they wanted information to be readily available instead of having to search for it on the package of the product. Hence, it came up with smart shopping cards. The customers would have to pay extra for the service, and the store owners can also earn from the data captured in the smart shopping cards. It is also available on mobile phones for consumers.

  • Kraft Foods Spinoff Mondelez − It installed smart shelf technology. These smart shelves were situated at the exit gate, and the device used the censor to determine the age and gender of the individual passing by and then used that information to showcase advertisements on what a consumer can eat after shopping. For example, if it was a kid passing by then there would be an ad for a burger or fries and some sweets on the other hand it was a male in his late twenties and early thirties they might show some chilled beer and fried snacks from Kraft foods.

Companies are coming up with mind-blowing ideas to promote their products or services to the customer. But all this is only possible because of the huge amount of data and technology on their end. Companies today are collecting data as minute as

  • How many minutes did the consumer spend looking at the product before holding it in hand?

  • If the consumer was holding the product, what was the chance of them purchasing it or adding it to the cart?

  • For how long was the consumer looking at different products?

  • What was the customer's journey throughout their purchase?

  • How often does the customer go grocery shopping?

  • What specials does he buy, and is there a pattern between them?

  • What different products they are comparing?

  • Goggles camera is also using its camera to see what customers are seeing throughout their shopping journey and what they are paying attention to, among other things.

Shopper marketing is an interesting concept, and with data and AI, companies can do wonders. Companies now have the chance to observe their customer's every movement and develop patterns. They are using this pattern to decide which nerve to pinch while selling the product. Customers today are overloaded with ads. On a good day, a customer can recall only 200 of the 800 advertisements he sees on a daily basis.No companies want to ensure that they are helping customers make instant purchase decisions. They cannot rely on the customer decision-making process for every good. FMCG companies especially have to work hard on their marketing strategies for selling the products because the consumer switches without blinking an eyelid, and in most developing countries, customers are price sensitive.

Updated on: 07-Apr-2023

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