Have you ever wondered what drives consumers to make a purchase? Or what drives them to purchase online, instore, or through a 3rd party? Or how brands and retailers can influence consumer behavior while meeting their needs? Look no further than shopper marketing, an insights-driven, omnichannel marketing discipline that bridges the gap between trade promotion and brand marketing with a focus on influencing and driving purchase.

In this ultimate guide to shopper marketing, we'll explore the basics of shopper marketing, the types of shopper marketing, its benefits, how it differs from brand marketing, and much more. By the end of this article, you'll have a comprehensive understanding of how shopper marketing can drive sales, build brand loyalty, and impact the consumer journey.

 

Shopper Marketing 101

Shopper Marketing is a marketing practice that drives both short- and long-term sales, strengthens shopper engagement, drives trial, and builds brand loyalty. At its core, it's all about understanding shopper behavior and influencing purchase behavior while meeting the needs of receptive shoppers wherever they are. It's a bridge between trade promotion and brand marketing, bringing the brand message to life throughout the purchase journey and injecting brand value into the trade deal.

 

Types of Shopper Marketing:

There are many types of shopper marketing, including in-store activations, digital promotions, rewards and loyalty programs, direct mail, and more 

In-store activations can include anything from displays and sampling to events and interactive experiences that drive engagement and encourage purchase. Digital promotions, on the other hand, leverage online and mobile channels to reach shoppers, drive engagement, and increase sales. Direct mail can be an effective way to target specific audiences and promote special offers. 

Each of these are influenced by shopper insights, an essential component of shopper marketing, that provides a deeper understanding of shopper behavior to inform and improve future marketing activity.

 

Shopper Marketing Benefits:

Shopper marketing can provide portfolio-level growth for brands, category-wide growth for retailers, and business-building relationships with retail partners. It can also offer a deeper understanding of shopper behavior that can inform and improve future marketing activity. For example, if brand X wanted to increase sales of its new product, it could use shopper marketing to create in-store displays and promotions that showcase the product's features and benefits to encourage trial. Retailers can also benefit from shopper marketing by using external funding to achieve internal objectives for sales and profit, gaining additional support for internal promotions, and increasing category sales, basket size, store traffic, and trip frequency.

 

Trade Marketing vs. Shopper Marketing vs. Brand Marketing:

It's important to understand the difference between trade marketing, shopper marketing, and brand marketing.

Trade marketing focuses on building relationships with retailers and increasing sales within the retail environment, shopper marketing focuses on influencing the behavior of individual consumers while they are in-store, and brand marketing focuses on building and promoting the overall brand identity of a company and its products.

 

Shopper Marketing vs. E-commerce:

Shopper marketing and e-commerce are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. E-commerce refers to the online sale of goods and services, while shopper marketing is all about influencing purchase behavior across all channels, including brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce sites, and third party shopping assistant. While e-commerce is a critical component of shopper marketing, it's just one piece of the puzzle.

 

Shopper Marketing Examples:

Shopper marketing examples include in-store displays, sampling, digital promotions, direct mail, reward and loyalty programs, and more. For example, Coca-Cola used in-store displays and promotions to drive sales of its new line of beverages, while Procter & Gamble used shopper insights to create a targeted digital promotion that increased sales of its laundry products. Another  example is Target's use of direct mail to promote its "Baby Box" program, which offers a free box of baby products to expectant and new parents.

 

Creating a shopper marketing strategy:

To create a successful shopper marketing strategy, it's essential to start with the core shopper marketing objectives: attract, engage, convert, and retain. These objectives are not intended to serve as a linear, step-by-step “path to purchase”; in fact, all activity intended to attract, engage, or retain are typically expected to convert as well. Dividing the shopper journey into these four objectives can help determine what shopper marketing tactics make the most sense for a particular shopper marketing program.

ATTRACT- Gaining the attention of consumers through various marketing vehicles such as mass media or retailer-owned media; awareness; reach. 

ENGAGE- Inspiring shopper action through meaningful brand interaction that can drive consideration and, ultimately, purchase; inspiration; desired action other than a sale. 

CONVERT- Inspiring a shopper to make the purchase; closing the sale; driving trial; driving repeat purchase; conversion; transaction. 

RETAIN- Extending the shopper engagement post- purchase through activity that drives repeat purchase, builds brand loyalty and, ideally, inspires brand advocacy.

 

Shopper marketing in a digital world

With the rise of digital technology, the possibilities for reaching consumers at every touchpoint are endless. That's why we're excited to offer you the free version of activaze™, the ultimate omnichannel planning tool. With activaze, you can create effective shopper marketing strategies that drive sales, build brand loyalty, and impact the consumer journey. Sign up for activaze for free today and start exploring the endless possibilities of omnichannel planning!