Shopper marketing is "understanding how one's target consumers behave as shoppers, in

different channels and formats, and leveraging this intelligence to the benefit of all stakeholders,

defined as brands, consumers, retailers and shoppers."

According to Chris Hoyt "Shopper marketing [is] brand marketing in retail environment." Since it

includes category management, displays, sales, packaging, promotion, research and marketing

"Shopper marketing is the elephant in the room that nobody sees the same way." ([Shopper

Marketing book],[1] Kogan Page 2009)

Shopper marketing is not limited to in-store marketing activities, a common and highly inaccurate

assumption that impairs the spread of any industry definition. Shopper marketing must be part of

an overall integrated marketing approach that considers the opportunities to drive consumption

and identifies the shopper that would need to purchase a brand to enable that consumption.

These shoppers need to be understood in terms of how well they interpret the needs of the

consumer, what their own needs as a shopper are, where they are likely to shop, in which stores

they can be influenced in, and what in-store activity influences them.

Unilever defines a shopper insight, an insight upon which shopper marketing is based - as a

"focus on the process that takes place between that first thought the consumer has about

purchasing an item, all the way through the selection of that item."[2] -

Shopper marketing challenges the assumption that the shopper and the consumer are the same.

Despite the fact that this is not always true (consider the consumer and shopper of pet food for a

moment) it is clear that the industry still gets confused.

Shopper marketing is important for many reasons, but it is clearly of importance to manufacturers

if for no other reason that they spend vast amounts of money on it, and that these amounts are

increasing. Many organizations spend over 8% of total sales on in-store marketing; when total

trade spend is added up it can often top 40% of total revenue.[citation needed]

In shopper marketing, manufacturers target portions of their marketing investment at specific

retailers or retail environments. Such targeting is dependent on congruency of objectives, targets

and strategies between the manufacturer and a given retailer or a given type of retail

environment.

A significant factor in the rise of shopper marketing is the availability of high quality data from

which insights may be gleaned to help shape strategic plans. According to recent industry

studies, manufacturer investment in shopper marketing is growing more than 21% annually.[3]

For instance, Procter & Gamble, according to the company’s financial statements, invests at

least 500 million dollars in shopper marketing each year.[4] Procter & Gamble's Wal-

Mart Customer Team as well as ThompsonMurray (now Saatchi & Saatchi), are considered by

many as the original pioneers in true Shopper Marketing in the US.[citation needed]Shopper marketing is

also practiced by the leading European companies such as Unilever and Beiersdorf and the

discipline is developed further by the likes of Phenomena Group, Europe's first shopper

marketing agency.[1]

The following statistics have caused the reapportionment of marketing investment from

consumer marketing to shopper marketing. What follows is ultimately very misleading; each

brand performs differently based on shopper need states, shopper trip types, retailer formats,

brand importance, brand relevance and a host of other factors:

70% of brand selections are made at stores[3]

68% of buying decisions are unplanned[5]

5% are loyal to the brand of one product group

Practitioners believe that effective shopper marketing is increasingly important to achieve

success in the marketplace[6]

Today's stores set the stage for a carefully refined shopping experience, designed to stimulate parts of a customer's brain to purchase goods or services.Some stores use special scents to create a calm, relaxing environment, while others use in-store soundtracks to set the mood for shopping. Even the lighting in a store can have a powerful effect on how much a customer buys while inside. All of these subtle factors combine to influence the customer at the moment they reach for their wallet.Shopper Marketing Guide

In this article... What is Shopper Marketing? Who Employs Shopper Marketing? Examples of Shopper Marketing How is a Shopper Marketing Plan Developed and Implemented? Careers in Shopper Marketing How Can a Degree in Marketing Help You Find a Job in Shopper Marketing?

Related... Find schools offering marketing programs

According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association, as many as 70% of a customer's purchasing decisions are made in the store. This is a powerful statistic when one considers all the money spent on advertising outside the store. Billions of dollars are spent on marketing messages that might be completely disregarded by customers as soon as they actually see a product on a shelf. Today's marketers must consider their advertising efforts from the moment a customer is introduced to a product to the moment they actually pay for it.What is Shopper Marketing?

Shopper marketing focuses on the customer at the point of purchase. It tries to make last minute appeals to customers at the moment when they are actually prepared to buy something (See also Point-of-Sale Marketing). Unlike print, radio, or TV ads which can linger in the minds of customers for months, shopper marketing tries to make an immediate impact and directly influence behavior.Marketing Stimuli

Shopper marketing uses a variety of techniques to make an impression on customers. The main factors and

sub-factors are listed below. Any successful shopper marketing effort has to consider the overall effect of all

factors on the minds of impressionable customers.

Product Size

Color

Packaging

Language

Price Coupon Dispenser

Circular advertisements

Personal check-out coupons

Place Music

Lighting

Display

Personal check-out coupons

Circular advertisements

Promotion Sampling demo

Floor advertisements

In-store TVs

Cart/basket advertising

Shelf signs

This kind of last minute appeal to the customer takes many forms depending on the product and the retailer. Grocery stores have long offered free samples, hoping to whet a customer's appetite at the very moment when it is easiest for them to buy food. Beer and chip makers construct elaborate display ads inside stores at the start of football season. High end stores use careful calibrations of light, space, music, and ambiance to put customers in the mood to shop.While it was once assumed that shopper marketing only took place in brick and mortar stores, the rise of e-commerce has required marketers to reconsider how they influence shoppers online (See also E-Commerce Marketing).One common technique is to point customers toward other products they may like based on what they've bought. If they are buying a DVD, the online store will recommend other films with the starring actor. This is a simple but effective way to encourage customers to spend more than they had intended.Who Employs Shopper Marketing?

There are two groups that will be most invested in shopper marketing. Manufacturers want to maximize the chances that customers will pick their product over another when presented with both on a shelf. To help persuade shoppers, manufacturers will consider the price, packaging, and special arrangements with retailers to make their product stand out.Retailers are the other group interested in shopper marketing. Unlike manufacturers, they are trying to emphasize a store rather than a product. Retailers want customers to choose their store over another, spend as much money as possible, and return for repeat business. They consider location, signage, store layout, lighting, and a range of other factors when trying to refine the shopping experience.Examples of Shopper Marketing

Maxwell House – After the coffeemaker introduced a new brew, they initiated a massive shopper marketing campaign. They handed out over 2 million sample cups along with a coupon for the coffee in over 8,400 retail outlets. The redemption rate for the coupons was the highest the company had ever seen.

Wal-Mart - Wal-Mart sells more cold/flu medicine than any other retailer. But they discovered that when people are sick, they often don’t want to navigate a gigantic store to buy medicine. The retailer worked with manufacturers to design in store ads encouraging customers to “stock up” on medicine and tissues before the flu season hit.

Target – When Target was looking to increase sales of baby clothes, they started to reconsider the layout of their stores. Analysis showed that mothers place a lot of weight on the transition from diapers to training pants. It is seen as a major transition for both mother and child. Traditionally, diapers and training pants had been stocked

next to each other. When Target moved training pants to their own dedicated aisle they were able to emphasize the feeling of transition in consumers with young kids.

Cravendale Milk – The UK dairy came up with the slogan “Tastes so good, the cows want it back.” When customers entered a store, they saw ads designed to look like ransom notes featuring the slogan. The ads appeared at the front of the store and in the dairy aisle. The milk maker also redesigned their packaging to make it distinct from other brands. By the time the customer was ready to buy milk, they were thinking about Cravendale and able to pick it easily off the shelves.