SHOPPER MARKETING

TRENDS

2016

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LIFE IN THE MAINSTREAM FOR DISCOUNTERS

REACH SHOPPERS ALONG THE MO’TA’WAY

THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH FOR PROSPERITY

SEEKING SUPER SPECIALISTS

FIRST THEY CAME TWO-BY-TWO

ROCKSTAR SHOPPERS WANT BRAND GROUPIES

RETAILER FRAGMENTATION NEEDS RENEWED FOCUS

WLTM... THE REAL YOU

GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES IN A LOCAL WORLD

MEANINGFUL CARE DEFINES A BRAND’S PURPOSE

SHOPPER MARKETING

TRENDS

2016

Attitudes continue to change towards the likes of Lidl and Aldi who between them now have a combined greater UK market share than Morrisions, proven further by the ever-increasing number of families that include them in their regular shopping repertoire.

Their confident and purposeful repositioning realigns shoppers’ perceptions of them from simply being a low cost, inferior alternative to moving to a primary player among regular main shop missions. Perhaps it’s now time to re-categorise this super sub-set of retailer challengers from Discounters to Price Champions.

This closer paralleling to the established grocery retailer landscape creates more ubiquity, not less, which will forcefully encourage retailers, supported by their brand suppliers, to find a broader range of differentiating reasons to visit, centred around quality, format, pricing (of course) and experiences to lure already spoilt for choice shoppers. In turn, this also creates new headroom for the Pound & Euro Store players.

realigns shoppers’ perceptions of them from simply being a low cost, inferior alternative to a primary player

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LIFE IN THE MAINSTREAM FOR DISCOUNTERS

In 2015 contactless tap-and-go purchases grew by 600% driving billions of everyday transactions. The comfort with the mechanics of this technology has now embedded a trust foundation and rendered it normal behaviour across most shopper groups.

However beyond the excitement in technique, the reality is this new transaction habit has made little impact on the decision of WHAT is being purchased.

As shoppers welcomingly step-change their payment behaviour in 2016 and begin Mo’Ta’ring (mobile tapping) with Android and Apple payment platforms, the experiences that will emerge immediately before and after the clinical transaction will be infinite and a major force in influencing decision as location and recognition systems open the potential for instantaneous messaging, incentives and rewards.

experiences that will emerge immediately before and after the clinical transaction will become infinite

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REACH SHOPPERS ALONG THE MO’TA’WAY

Back in 2008, few mere mortals could have envisaged the severity of the biggest global turndown in a century. Whist the ‘R’ word echoes less across news and social media, there remains nervousness on a global economic basis about what is actually going to happen next.

Whilst these unpredictable grey clouds serve as a cautious reminder to political and business leaders, human nature is driving the common man to reprise his you’re-a-long-term-dead instinct coupled with the ever-present desire for betterment. This will lead to taking the plunge 7 years on from self-imposed thrifty behaviours, even in light of amassing more debt.

This mild caution to the wind attitude can be leveraged by brands to up-sell and premiumise regular shopper behaviours and attract new buyers to more hard-to-reach luxuries.

shoppers take the plunge seven years on from self-imposed thrifty behaviours

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THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH FOR PROSPERITY

The refocusing – and in several cases returning to core offer – of the many large scale retailers is testament to the both ever-aggressive competitive landscape and the decreasing demand by shoppers for the need to find everything all under one roof. And this phenomenon is not restricted to bricks and mortar stores.

Shoppers are now expecting and actively seeking out retail experiences, across all commodities, that give them the optimised solutions they require, which in turn is reframing the value equation away from a price-only differential.

Driven by extreme category know-how, brands will need to identify and prioritise how to support both the likes of Amazon and Walmart as they create distinct sub-sets to prove their fields of expertise as well as the smaller specialists that shoppers naturally gravitate to.

shoppers are actively seeking out retail experiences that give them the optimised solutions they require

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SEEKING SUPER SPECIALISTS

The looming global wave delivering The Internet of Things is undeniably unstoppable but within the momentum there’s a reality surrounding the gap between the passive or connectable and the truly OmniConnected. Only a small number of devout (and deep-pocketed) early adopters will one-stop refresh their tech room-by-room.

In 2016 however there will be a movement towards future-proofing, as new appliances, systems and gadgets are scheduled for replacement. The resulting buying behaviour will initially see tech-pairing between important systems such as internet connectivity and domestic utilities and security, later followed by the duelling of mobiles and life-engaging platforms delivering convenience, efficiency and entertainment.

This will allow brands to explore and early-test alliances in this space without the unrealistic investments required for all-in engagement from the get-go.

there’s a reality surrounding the gap between the passive or connectable and the truly OmniConnected

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FIRST THEY CAME TWO-BY-TWO

Whilst direct-to-consumer and personalisation have been coveted buzz strategies over the past three years, the reality of applying these to practical execution for most mass market brands has been difficult to achieve.

There is an increasing number of like-minded social, lifestyle or attitudinal groups that are looking for products and services that have been considerately developed and adapted, not personalised, for people like them.

This re-focus will increasingly allow brands to shape credible brand extensions and bespoke product solutions, marketed by heavily colloquial communication, to micro-segment shoppers without the implausible effort of delivering absolute individualism at scale.

shoppers are looking for products that have been considerately developed and adapted for people like them

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ROCKSTAR SHOPPERS WANT BRAND GROUPIES

The increasing number of smaller retail operators emerging online, in niche high streets and within the movement for pop-ups has led to the accelerated splintering of where and when shoppers can chose to find the products they want. This is further exaggerated by the complex feel-good desire by shoppers to sometimes buy from a less corporate facia.

The challenge this represents for brands is how best to deploy their customer and channel marketing efforts in gaining the best chance for exposure on everyone’s shelves, not just the big retail players’.

The opportunity now exists for brands to take evolutionary steps against the traditional via-wholesaler model and create direct brand hubs specifically for small sized retailers to gain the tailored, format-specific insight and selling support for the benefit of their shoppers.

the opportunity now exists for brands to take evolutionary steps against the traditional via-wholesaler model

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RETAILER FRAGMENTATION NEEDS RENEWED FOCUS

After a decade in the omni-channel space race, all serious brands and retailers that want to be present in their respective multi-channels are there (albeit for many a work in progress) OR have learnt that being everywhere is not the necessity to trade successfully, returning to marketing 101’s go where your shoppers are, not where they’re not.

The preoccupation of WHERE my shopper sees my brand has, for many, understandably taken precedent to HOW shoppers see their brand and, in 2016, being differentiated will be more important than ever in the competitive stakes.

In 2016, shoppers will be seeking brands and retail experiences that explicitly empathise and match up to the complexities of their own lives and will again be basing their purchase decisions beyond multi-channel availability – A facet now considered a hygiene factor – as shoppers Would Like To Meet brands that see the world as they do.

in 2016, being differentiated will be more important than ever in the competitive stakes

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WLTM... THE REAL YOU

It is now common convention that the internet has provided shoppers everywhere with access to global goods and services, but the reality of how this has changed shoppers’ buying behaviour is largely driven by localised scarcity or price competitiveness in other geographies.

Shoppers ultimately have used the practicality of web-based purchasing to garner brands that they already have affinity with. Driven by an established cycle of over-familiarity, the thrill of regularly shopping online has now become the norm for most people.

In 2016 shoppers across the world will begin to further explore the net and seek new solutions from both established and developing global cultures, meaning brands need to properly focus an element of their channel strategy on fulfilling geographically-new consumers’ desire for their brands.

shoppers ultimately have used the practicality of web-based purchasing to garner brands that they already have affinity with

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GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES IN A LOCAL WORLD

The closer-to-home nature of humanitarian responses to ongoing world events is reawakening the desire for people to want to contribute – and be consulted – in reaching realistic, serious solutions in helping those less fortunate than themselves.

Better-off people have also raised their expectations of scaled organisations’ attitudes and responsiveness to these difficult and complex realities and judge them both positively and negatively depending upon their actions.

Brands and retailers who, in 2016, take a measured and credible approach to recognising the source or consequences of these issues through deliberate CSR programmes will be heralded and attract loyalties from large factions of shoppers.

shoppers have raised their expectations of scaled organisations’ attitudes and responsiveness to these difficult and complex realities

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MEANINGFUL CARE DEFINES A BRAND’S PURPOSE

CONTACT

GREG THORPE DIRECTOR, CLIENT LEADERSHIP

GTHORPE@MARSLONDON.CO.UK +44 20 3119 3200

SHOPPER MARKETING

TRENDS

2016