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Education

Understanding changing shopper behaviors and using them to guide product strategy

[x] mins read
Education

Understanding changing shopper behaviors and using them to guide product strategy

[x] mins read
Manufacturing
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Manufacturing CPG & FMCG Consumer Behavior Market Research Product Innovation
  • The retail landscape is constantly changing and evolving, and so are shopper behaviors. To stay ahead of the curve, retailers need to understand these changing behaviors and use them to guide strategic development.
  • The competition for shopper’s attention and dollars is increasing. To stay relevant, brands must focus on customer-centric decision-making to create a seamless experience that meets shoppers’ needs and expectations.
  • This insight aims to provide actionable strategies to synthesize shopper behavior and use those strategies to drive an effective retail strategy.

Recognize the barrier between consumers and brands

Participation and communication are at the forefront of brand success. The more consumers feel like a part of the company or brand, the more likely the consumers are to become promoters of that brand.

If brands fail to develop a connection with customers, these same brands will find it difficult to create loyalty and repeat business. Instead, customers will likely move to another brand that aligns with their values. To bridge the gap, companies need to understand what customers want and how customers want to communicate.

So, how can the average company do that?

How to get to the heart of what shoppers want

Let’s take a look at a few of the exciting ways that brands are tapping into changing shopper attitudes and behaviors and leveraging the insights to improve shopper marketing strategy in-store and online.

  • VR testing

    One modern technique is utilizing virtual reality (VR) testing to understand how consumers select items in-store. This type of research puts shoppers in a simulated shopping experience so FMCG brands can see how the person reacts to the product and engages with it.

    This is useful for understanding how customers interact with new products and what behaviors lead to a selection. The technology records where customers go, where customer eyes land, and other critical metrics in real-time that can ultimately help improve store displays, planograms, shelf layouts, and more.

    For example, Bayer recently used NielsenIQ Smart Store for guidance on how to support the launch of a new drug, Bepanthenol. Bayer needed to understand how to best position the product and activate shoppers in supermarkets.

    Using Smart Store, Bayer was able to test future shelf layouts in a simulated 3D supermarket with over 100 personal care products. Bepanthol was placed in different locations and scenarios, with and without shelf strips.

    Ultimately, this resulted in a sales uplift of up to 40% in one year when the winning scenario was implemented in-store.

  • Consumption tracking

    Another great option to understand how, when, and with whom consumers are consuming food and beverage products is through consumption tracking.

    This data-driven approach provides a 360-degree view of the consumer, understanding how consumers interact and make decisions about the products being consumed.

    With new consumption tracking methods, participants use an app on a mobile device to log the consumption of a certain food or drink item and the occasion. Is it at dinner? Is it during a football game? Is it a midnight snack?

    These insights can help inform how to position and market products, ultimately improving market penetration and sales.

    For instance, NielsenIQ Consumption Moments recently worked with a North American snack brand to better understand how, why, and when shoppers were consuming its products so the brand could improve underperforming marketing promotions.

    The actionable insights provided via Consumption Moments provided the basis for more targeted positioning and a focus on in-home consumption occasions, where the product was primarily consumed.

    As a result, the snack brand achieved a stronger market performance, escalating brand sales, and improved ROI for advertising and promotions.

  • Brand growth analysis

    A brand growth analysis is a great way to understand how brands are performing relative to the competition and in the marketplace. This approach can be used to track top-line metrics like market share as well as bottom-line metrics like profitability.

    It’s particularly useful for brands that are facing declining markets or ineffective promotions. Through brand analysis, companies can understand how to optimize current marketing efforts or make recommendations for more effective ones.

    Brand analysis is often done through various measurements and exercises that collectively encompass brand research and review analysis. It includes measuring indicators that genuinely matter to a brand’s target consumers, so that the brand can react quickly and effectively.

    For example, a carbonated soft drink manufacturer recently worked with NielsenIQ Winning Brands® to evaluate the root cause behind declining cola sales for one of the company’s top performers.

    Through a number of brand analysis measurements, a recourse strategy was devised to target calorie-conscious sugar cola drinkers, change advertising and packaging to avoid confusion, and communicate a message that resonated with the brand’s target consumers.

    As a result, the new variant became the top new launch performer in the brand’s carbonated soft drink portfolio with a 154% increase in volume sales.

Stay ahead of the competition

Ready to take the next step? Download Consumer Insights’ new ebook, The Right Way Towards Data-Driven Decision Making, to dive deeper into building a marketing strategy that uses insights to provide a way forward.

Download our eBook

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NielsenIQ Consumer Insights: The right data + a confident path forward

When it comes to understanding what shoppers want and how to connect with them, it’s critical to have access to accurate, timely data. But the right data is only half the battle; the other half lies in taking action with that data that drives results for business.

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