Shopper Culture

The Growing Currency of "Ugly" in Shopper Marketing

Mutant carrot or a coveted part of your next meal? Ugly isn't supposed to be cool. It's not very marketable. And only when ugly takes off its glasses and everyone realizes it was beautiful all along does ugly really become a great story. Well today, ugly is taking center stage and is culturally ripe for success. Pun intended, as fruits and vegetables are the place ugly is starting it's rise. 

Over the last several months, ugly fruit fever is spreading. Efforts by Ralph's and WholeFoods have provided cosmetically challenged fruits and vegetables to shoppers at discount prices. Food service companies, such as Bon Appetit Management Co., have also started programs designed to buy up uglies and use them in meals across the country. Even America's largest grocer, Walmart, this week will pilot discount sales of weather-dented  apples in 300 of its Florida stores. 

 

Augmented Reality is Coming to a Store Near You

Generation X may be less distinct from other generations, but the recent influx of 80's and 90's entertainment experiences that shaped Gen X are back, remixed, and impossible to ignore. These updated entertainment experiences mean new generations are experiencing the original story for the first time, and other generations are feeling the nostalgia of their youth. In any case, Americans seem to be eating it up. 

To examples of Gen X remixes are Ghostbusters with an all female last, and Pokémon GO using Augmented Reality (or AR). 

Contextually Relevant Advertising Get a New High

If you’ve been driving around Denver over the past month, you may have noticed a series of billboards that advertise Totino’s Pizza Rolls. With lines like “Better When Baked,” “420 Is Better on Pizza Rolls,” “Stock Up B4/20,” and “Legal in Every State. Better in Colorado” these ads are particularly memorable due to their playful reference to marijuana and the 420 holiday. The brand supported these tactics with pedicabs and food trucks in downtown Denver that handed out hot pizza rolls to city dwellers during the cannabis celebration.

This is a great example of contextually relevant advertising done right. Totino’s and its parent company, General Mills, took a risk by targeting a subculture and succeeded by activating it in an authentic way. The ads only make sense in Colorado, during a specific time period, and for a specific mindset. Based on tweets about the ads, both marijuana fans and local Coloradoans felt like they were part of an inside joke with the brand. The smart and contextual relevance of these ads in turn created brand affinity and buzz.

Contextual relevance can play a big role inside retail as well. Clever and relevant tactics can break shoppers out of autopilot and get them to consider a purchase. What are some ways that brands can bring contextually relevant activations into the store?

Image Source: Hightimes.com

New Checkout Study: Channel Insights

When it comes to understanding why shoppers do things, it is often difficult to get the real truth as shoppers are known to say one thing and do another. They can't always articulate the "why" behind the behavior, especially when it comes to some of their decisions, behaviors, and habits. The retail landscape is ever evolving and, as it changes, shoppers’ habits change with it. Their shopping lists can include everything from snacks to household goods to alcohol, and they have priorities in how they like to shop, where they like to shop, and how much they are willing to spend. 

How does this behavior vary across top retail channels? How do shoppers make decisions when it comes to where they go and what they buy there? And why? This study of the Checkout set out to explore questions like these and find out some answers to better understand shopper behavior across channels.  For example, did you know that 14% of shoppers have chosen a retail channel because there was a retailer loyalty program offered? Or that 31.4% of shoppers visit the dollar channel when it's a last minute trip? 

Click here to learn more channel insights and how shoppers are shopping across different retail channels in the latest edition of The Checkout.

Mainstream Retailers Embrace 'Ugly' Food

Whole Foods recently announced a partnership with Imperfect Produce to test-run sales of 'ugly' produce in a few of its Northern California stores, which is set to begin next month. This announcement comes after increasing consumer demands for the food industry and retailers to help eliminate food waste—a petition on change.org specifically called out Whole Foods, as well as Walmart, to take steps towards becoming more inclusive with their produce selections by including more imperfect fruits and vegetables. Giant Eagle has also announced this month that the grocery chain will incorporate 'ugly' produce in 5 Pittsburgh store locations as part of a "Produce with Personality" pilot program.

New Checkout Study: Private Label

Shoppers' migration to private label goods following the 2008 recession wasn't much of a surprise: they offered a cost-cutting option for commonly bought goods where there wasn't a perceived difference in quality (e.g., milk, paper products, OTC's). The prevailing wisdom was that when shoppers started spending more freely, they would switch back to name brands. Instead, retailers started expanding their private label offerings—new categories, product variety, tiered offerings—and shoppers' perception of name brand superiority declined. It now seems as though there is a new normal when it comes to CPG that involves more private label goods in the basket. In fact, 32% of shoppers say they are currently buying more private label brands than before—and only 6.5% (a new low) say they are currently buy more but plan to switch back to name brands in the future.

In this edition of The Checkout, we'll explore the realities of this new private label reality and what it means for name brands. Topics covered include: the core equities that contribute to the private label vs. name brand decision (and how they differ across consumer demographics); how perceptions of name brands have shifted; private label/name brand purchase behavior across income brackets. 

Click here to learn more about private label's new normal in the latest edition of The Checkout. 

Retailers Continue To "Borrow" National Brands' Equities

Walking through an Aldi last week, I saw two oddly-familiar products. 

You'd be forgiven if, at first glance, you also thought these were name brands. 

These are, in fact, Aldi products. They use the Millville brand name for their cereals and Savoritz for their crackers. And these are just two of the many brands Aldi has created, each one playing on the familiar cues of each category.

 

Redefining Moment-Based Promotional Occasions: The Blue Monday Example

We all have a friend who (or we), when asked the question, “What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?”, will roll their eyes and reply with the most colorless tone, “I don’t buy into this marketing celebration of consumerism” or something to that effect.

Black Friday, Valentine’s Day, Dry January, Back to School, Halloween… There are now so many occasions created by retailers and marketers in order to price discount, run competitions, and ultimately boost sales. No wonder consumers can be skeptical and dismissive. The wide variety of tools and shopping evolutions (e.g., price comparators, shopping apps, forums, rise of convenience and "locally produced" stores) has evolved consumers’ purchase influencers. Therefore, the relationship between the retailer and its consumers has to change and adapt.

Grocery Shoppers Are as Unique as Snowflakes

Photo Source: The Integer Group

Zero.

That's how many homes in the US buy exactly the same groceries as any other home.

It's an amazing statistic that was uncovered in an analysis by Catalina Marketing of their massive POS shopper database.

32 million shoppers were included in the analysis, each of which shopped at least once a month over the year. The 10,000 stores in the study had on average about 35,000 UPCs to choose from.

Is French Toast The Best Defense?

We have long known that shoppers are predictably irrational. Sometimes shoppers say and do different things and then can’t explain why they behaved that way. However, few examples make this shopper truth more undeniably obvious than when the weathermen call for inclement weather.

There’s hurricanes, severe storms, or lots of snow and suddenly, the grocery stores are essentially battle zones with shoppers fighting to get their carts down the aisles or fill their baskets as fast as possible. Most notably, the bread, milk, and egg aisles are mad houses of irrational behavior. The sense of urgency and fear of running out drives shoppers into frenzies. But why? It can't be that those are coincidentally the ingredients to make french toast. 

In-Store Digital: How Much is Too Much?

Over the past year Whole Foods has made its Atlanta Flagship store a digital playground. Their view of retail "tech-tainment" has now expanded to include a plethora of digital solutions designed to enhance and complement the shopping experience. They've introduced a virtual concierge and several digital screens that share stories about their commitment to local farmers and sustainability. The beer, wine, and cheese sections now include digital displays that include product education, recipes and pairing ideas. They even have a digital mirror that encourages shoppers to strike different poses, which trigger images of recommended health products like vitamins and protein shakes. 

The Stock-Up Trip and Center-Store Items Make a Comeback as E-Commerce Grocery Shopping Becomes Mainstream

The Path to Purchase Institute recently released a summary of presentations on e-commerce strategies from its one-day symposium that was held on November 19, 2015. One important topic covered was the massive growth anticipated in grocery e-commerce.

According to William Bishop Consulting, currently only 2.3% of core brick-and-mortar grocery shoppers are also shopping for groceries online. However, that figure is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.1% from 2013 through 2018, according to Business Insider Intelligence Research.

William Bishop Consulting also reported some interesting initial findings on how early-adopters are using online grocery shopping. Its eCommerce SuperStudy revealed the early impact of e-commerce on traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Survey findings challenge conventional thinking of e-commerce eroding in-store sales.

Future Forward: Are You Shopping the Aisle...From Your Couch?

More and more shoppers are opting to use their laptop, tablet or mobile to do their grocery shopping these days. While it is convenient, it takes a bit of prep and knowledge about what you, which leaves little room for browsing or impulse. This does not bode well for many brands trying to constantly capture sales from today's shoppers who are at best "promiscuous loyals," according to Byron Sharp's book, How Brands Grow.

The current online grocery shopping environment omits many of the real store experiences that many shoppers rely on. Or it did until now. The introduction of virtual reality devices like Oculus Rift and companies like Retale are making it possible for shoppers to stay on the couch and still shop the aisle.

Branding at Retail: Now More Than Ever

This Thursday POPAI is hosting its West Coast Show, the only event that takes place on the West Coast to honor point-of-purchase activity. The event features The West Coast POP Show Awards, which includes a competition, showcase and awards ceremony featuring the most creative and dynamic POP and packaging executions sold, produced or marketed on the West Coast. 

The show also includes a panel conversation, titled "Branding at Retail: Now more than ever", moderated by Roberta Perry (Fresh Juice Global and Edwards Technologies, Inc.). Integer's Craig Elston will one of the panelists taking part, along side Stephen Bosch (Brand Truth, LLC), Pete Beck (IDL Worldwide) and Giovanna Dottore (Mattel Inc.). The panel promises to be a lively conversation on the role and effectiveness of branding in-store. 

If you cannot make the show, or to whet your appetite, here are a few recent posts on this topic from ShopperCulture.

Turning Limited Edition into Scarcity

Experiences Prosper Within The Digital Age

Experiences in Urban Retail

Food Delivery Needs More Innovative Ideas to Grow

A big question in home delivery has been, when are groceries going to catch up with online books, clothes, and shoes? For a long time, the costs and logistics has kept the perishable food and beverage deliveries lagging other e-commerce efforts. Others have said, shoppers haven't gotten over the perceived hurdle that fresh groceries shouldn't be delivered. 

According to a recent Business Insider Intelligence report, only about 1% of all U.S. consumers do their grocery shopping online. 

Despite that, many start-ups have ignored the barriers, and have innovated their way onto shoppers tables -- By offering a service that brick and mortar is not. Companies like Plated, Blue Apron, and Sun Basket deliver all the pre-proportioned fresh ingredients for shoppers to cook chef-inspired meals in their kitchens.