VF! Insights

SHOPPER INSIGHTS VS CONSUMER INSIGHTS

Client:
VF!
Industry:
Food & Beverage
Services:
About

With the rise of data and retail technology, it is more challenging now to fully understand what shoppers and consumers feel about the brands and the stores that they visit. 

This has led to the development of specialised Shopper Insight Teams and Consumer Insight Teams.

Both teams look at similar Retail Datasets (such as surveys, till data, loyalty programmes, etc) however they have very different goals in mind.

Why is Shopper Insight and Consumer Insight Important?

  • 68% of buying decisions are unplanned
  • 70% of brand chooses are made at stores
  • 5% are loyal to the brand of one product group

Many Brands spend 8% of total sales on in-store marketing (you have to get it right)

Merging Shopper and Consumer Insight is thus critical in helping influence the shopper and consumer decisions.

Is there a difference between shoppers and consumers?

Yes, a great, simple example is a person going into the retail store to buy baby nappies/diapers. The Shopper is the person purchasing the baby product and the Consumer is the Baby using the product. Naturally this can be blurred at times when purchasing certain products that are shared (such as soaps, toiletries and drinks.

What is the purpose of Shopper Insights? Think Sales

The purpose of Shopper insights is to influence store sales through Marketing efforts. They look at information around distribution, promotion, in store retail marketing, retail store dynamics to name a few. Shopper Insights tend to be retail focussed and try to answer certain questions.

Typical Shopper Insight Questions:

How do people purchase?
When do people purchase?
What do people buy?
What do people not buy?
What else did they buy?
How often did they buy the product?
What size product did they buy?

What is the purpose of Consumer Insights? Think Brand

The Consumer Insights look at emotions around the product and purchase. What is the mindset, motivation, desires, aspiration, mood that drives action. They analyse trends, category performance, brand health, consumer segmentation, perception data to assist with overall marketing (both in Below the Line and Above the Line).

Typical Consumer Insight Questions:

How do the consumers interact with the brand or product?
Who is the consumer of the brand (demographic, values, lifestyle, life stage)?
Why do consumers interact with the brand?
When are the consumers interacting with the brand (occasion)?
What needs of the consumer are being met?
What emotions are being felt when using the brand?
How and when should a brand most effectively reach its consumer?

Success in Combining Shopper Insight and Consumer Insight
It is critically important that both teams work together and not in isolation or different pillars in the organisation.
Both teams will have strong insight which could be opposing, however an effective Insights team uses information on both the consumer and shopper insight before offering recommendations to the Sales Team. Thus allowing you to win in store.

What type of Data is analysed in Consumer Insights?

Impact Assessment: This will help a business to predict how actions taken by the brand or retailer will affect their consumer behaviour.
Customers as Assets: Calculates the lifetime value of the customer base. It allows businesses to measure several factors such as the cost of acquisition and the rate of churn thus gathering customer intelligence more effectively, and manage the customer relationship much more profitably.
Propensity Modelling: This is a statistical approach that attempts to estimate the future behaviour of customers based on previous actions. It hopes to predict how a customer will react.
Cross-Sell Analysis: Looks for popular product relationships can then be used to cross-sell and up-sell in store.
Critical Lag: Helps a business to deliver specific customer communications based on an individual’s purchase patterns, thus increasing consumer loyalty and improve customer retention.

VF! Insights

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