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What 'Shopper Marketing' Means to Me

By Peter Breen

I may not be entirely sure of the ideal definition for "shopper marketing." But to borrow the famous words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, "I know it when I see it" in action.

Despite attempts by the Institute and other industry groups to define the role and parameters of "shopper marketing," the practice still has its skeptics (with the folks at Advertising Age sitting at the top of the list). Is this really a new discipline that transforms the way product manufacturers and retailers go to market? Or is it simply a fancier, trendier term for existing in-store marketing and trade promotion practices -- the latest industry buzzword -- under which companies aren't behaving much differently than they have in the past?

Attendees of the In-Store Marketing Summit held earlier this month should have no doubt about the answers to those questions. Because a number of the speakers at our annual conference provided evidence that retailers and product marketers alike really are changing the way they do business in an effort to better respond to the wants and needs of specific shoppers.

Among the more noteworthy examples:

  • Walgreens' Catherine Lindner outlined the drugstore chain's plan for a massive store redesign that encompasses product assortment, shelf sets, category adjacencies, signage and just about every other shopper touch point. The goal is to evolve from an "item-focused" retailer to a "solution-focused" resource for the health and wellness needs of its shoppers, Lindner explained.
  • While discussing her company's use of virtual-store simulations to develop more shopper-friendly environments, Walmart's Candace Adams praised the collaborative mindset of partner Kimberly-Clark. Going well beyond standard research for its own product categories, K-C "helped us sell car seats better" while working with Walmart to address the needs of shoppers with babies. "That showed me that they get it," said Adams.
  • PepsiCo's Sonja Mathews described the mission of the nascent Channel & Shopper Research Team that she leads as being an "advocate" for the needs of retailers and shoppers to the company's brands -- not the other way around.
  • Stop & Shop's Bob Anderson outlined the Ahold USA supermarket chain's efforts to engender loyalty by investing in "scan and bag" technology that addresses shopper needs both general (reducing time at checkout) and specific (savings based on the user's own purchase history).
  • In perhaps the most definitive example, Dr Pepper Snapple Group's Rob Colarossi presented a case study in which the category-reset recommendations it presented to a leading supermarket chain did not include Snapple at the majority of stores. "The sales guys were not too happy with us," said Colarossi.

But in the discipline of shopper marketing, "It's not about the brands. It's about truly understanding and looking at [the store] through the lens of the shopper," said Colarossi. That level of objectivity also leads key retail accounts to "really start to look at us as a strategic partner," he said.

If that kind of thinking isn't transformational, I don't know what is. It doesn't qualify as classic manufacturer-driven in-store marketing, because the brand isn't the focus. And it sure doesn't match the "drive sales at all costs" mentality of trade promotion.

So even if "shopper marketing" can't be defined as something entirely new, it certainly makes the old way of doing things seem a lot less enlightened.

Peter Breen
Managing Director, Content
In-Store Marketing Institute

Published: April 2009

Source: In-Store Marketing Institute

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