By way of introduction, I’m Jeff Seacrist, VP of marketing here at Aisle7.   Part of what my team and I do here is to keep tabs on the industry to understand shifts in shopper preferences, and in retailer approaches.  Shopper marketing is one area we watch pretty closely, and it’s seen a fascinating shift over the past few years.  Those of us with DVRs of any kind likely know exactly what’s been driving the shift.

Since there’s nobody watching commercials anymore, both retailers and manufacturers have increased their spending inside the store — what’s known as shopper marketing.  One of the most interesting studies on this space was done for the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) by Deloitte. It’s available for free download here

According to the study, shopper marketing is even far outpacing internet advertising when it comes to retail and manufacturer dollars. Everything from traditional shelf talkers, to free-standing displays to floor minders to digital signage are all the rage. And the manufacturers are now putting their best brand marketers, and a big chunk of their budget, behind these initiatives.

But what does this mean for retailers and the shopping environment?

On the surface, it’s appealing to retailers to have manufacturers throwing more money at shopper marketing – after all, most of it passes straight to the retailer in the form of slotting fees, trade dollars, or revenue share from new media sources. But it’s important for retailers to keep in mind that at the end of the day, the manufacturer doesn’t really care about the shopping experience, or shopper loyalty to your store. They care about selling their product.

To keep things balanced, I suggest that any initiative consider the following:

1. Complement the shopping process.   Are you showing movie trailers, TV programs, or plastering your store with other things irrelevant to the shopping experience just in the hopes that it will attract eyeballs and potential advertising revenue?   Be careful that you’re not delivering just a distraction.

2. Help shoppers make decisions.  Plant the seed of an idea, encourage up-sell or cross-sell, and educate.

3. Make it fun.   Shoppers want to have fun. They want to be inspired. They want new ideas. And they reward the stores that deliver.

Long term, I think the stores that take this approach will discover great ways to connect with shoppers and build loyalty.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Shopper Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.