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November 2006 - Strategy Magazine
Where Next

Cosying up to shoppers
To really get the consumer's POV - and gain a competitive edge - talk face-to-face

by Lisa D'Innocenzo
page 32

Just because your consumer says he'll go out of his way to buy Ruffles doesn't mean he will. And as more companies realize this disconnect between thought and deed, many are now going beyond traditional research methods in an effort to truly get into the shopper headspace.

The likes of Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola and HP are implementing in-store research programs that bring marketers and other employees up close and personal with shoppers. The benefit? Along with sales increases, they're finding they can gain leverage with retailers and build stronger relationships with consumers.

Marc Guay, president of Mississauga, Ont.-based Frito-Lay Canada, believes in-store research is crucial because "the point of purchase is very complicated. There's the consumer, and then there's the shopper. What consumers tell you when you conduct surveys isn't necessarily what you observe in the store."

Along with regular in-store intercepts, a couple of years ago the firm placed GPS devices on grocery carts to determine shopping patterns and hot spots. Frito-Lay then "translated that information into actionable game plans to go to our retail partners and implement merchandising tactics that responded to those findings," he says.

One of the learnings was that consumers spend a lot less time in the store than they used to, and a lot less time in the aisles. "So being on the perimeter of the store is certainly something we strive for," says Guay, who points to in-store promos such as an annual Superbowl campaign wherein Frito-Lay and Pepsi team up to create an attention-getting experience involving carpets that resemble a football field and goal posts. Retailers like it, says Guay, because January is slow and they want to add excitement.

According to Luke Sklar, partner of Toronto-based marketing consultancy Sklar, Wilton & Associates, the dramatically consolidated retail environment is a big factor in the decision to cosy up to consumers. Sklar, who counts Heinz, Maple Leaf and Smuckers as clients, says studying shopper behaviour is critical not only to gain a true understanding of the consumer, but also to help strengthen relationships with customers (a.k.a. retailers.) "Loblaws doesn't really care about Heinz ketchup. The only way we can make them care is to give them smart thinking that makes them more money. [You need to] go to them and say: 'You know, if you actually put the display here or if you put a double posting there, you will raise your basket by x dollars.'"

The main way to deliver smart thinking is through observing shoppers in their habitat. "Retail is a visual, sensory business that you cannot understand unless you see people feel, touch and view," says Sklar. "You need to get into the moment of truth because that is where the decision to spend money is made and people can't [articulate the decision-making process.]"

Observational methods, he adds, can either be quantitative or qualitative. So time-lapse photography studying traffic flow can help determine shopping patterns. Qualitative research, on the other hand, involves walking people through the store to see if key focal points actually evoke the responses desired.

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