Shopper marketing has steadily gained popularity since 2007, especially in North America. The process of shopper marketing digs in deep to understand the consumer, how they shop and examine their entire path to purchase, including activities at home, in transit and in store. Understanding the consumer enables the brand to effectively market products to the right person at the right time. Ultimately, the goal is to increase sales and create a loyal customer and eventually a brand ambassador. Read more about shopper marketing here.
The role of the shopper marketing professional is relatively new but has come a long way in a short period of time. “Just a few years ago, it was a little-understood task driven by promotions or channel marketing and focused primarily on trade. Today, 77 percent of CPG companies and retailers have a dedicated shopper marketing function and there is an increasing view that shopper insights are strategically essential” (Sarah Gleason, 2014).
As the importance of shopper marketing continues to grow and morph, the industry can expect to see the following changes:
- Shopper marketing will be more strategic than tactical as professionals integrate insights that drive business at retail level.
- Shopper marketers will grow their roles by adding digital/online aspects and even channel marketing and innovation as needed.
- Shopper marketing will become more personalized as the ability to target offers to shoppers becomes more commonplace.
“From strategic thinking to advanced analytics to capturing cross-functional synergies, shopper marketers will need to expand their own knowledge and seek out expertise in others – IT pros, data visualization designers and folks from other disciplines they might never have worked with in the past” (Sarah Gleason, 2014).
Shopper marketing has become a valuable tool for businesses over the last eight years and it will continue to play an important role in the years ahead. Interested in learning how shopper marketing can help drive sales for your business? Call us. We’d love to help.
