Consumer and Shopper Insights
Knowing your Customer is Essential
Everything Total Retail does is well-planned.
In retail, knowing your customer is essential. Who are they? What is the consumer’s path to purchase, and what drives him/her to make a purchase decision? Is your product answering a need? Which products and/or features will be most successful on shelves — and why? What challenges does a customer face when using a particular product? How likely are consumers to buy that new product under development?
Consumer insights data is a critical, yet often missing, element to formulating a winning retail strategy. Your product may be better than the competition’s product, but consumer perception — and their actions (e.g., purchase decisions) — may not reflect well upon your product’s superior features. You may have a game-changing product innovation, but a merchant/buyer may require data that demonstrates a consumer’s likelihood to buy before taking the risk to add it into their assortment.
We have seen this over and over again in our retail practice. The new vendor has a cool innovation or a new twist on an old, tired category. But the retail buyer is risk-averse, and without any data to support customer preference, the merchant will often stick with the tried and true from the incumbent versus taking on risk with the new and different. Consumer insights can change the balance of power in that decision.
Consumers may be willing to pay more for your brand, but a merchant/buyer may choose to assort a lower-cost brand without the data to justify your brand selling at a premium price.
When do you need Consumer Insights?
- To support merchandising strategy in a Product Line Review or Business review
- To create a marketing plan
- To support new product development efforts
- To support visual merchandising decisions (packaging, store POP, etc.)
- To identify features, benefits, and price points as inputs for creating an optimal line structure
- To answer questions about your customers
Insights on Consumer Journey
Uncover the path to purchase from consideration through purchase and use. Understand and compare consumer shopping behavior across channels. Include customers’ experience in-store, online, and in their own personal lives.
Insights used for Product Optimization
What are consumers’ needs and preferences as it relates to a product category? What features and benefits are consumers willing to pay for? How does in-store and online pricing, placement, and promotion impact consumer behavior? What are key market trends? Answering these questions will help you optimize your assortment, innovate new products, and drive sales.
