Why Shopper Marketing is important: the 1st moment of truth

Hi FMCGers,

     "I'd like to start by thanking all my friends who congratulated me and supported me on the blog, it is really motivating & inspiring for me to keep the blog going. Also, I got a couple of request to define (or translate) the terms and titles into Arabic which is something I am currently working on and I will share very soon."

   over the last couple of post we started by defining what is trade marketing, shopper marketing and customer marketing, which was mainly the base for this blog and future discussion, the 2nd pillar is to understand why these functions are important and how FMCGers can benefit from them.

So, why shopper marketing is important ?

well to start it called the 1st moment of truth :) 

Most shoppers are claiming that they know what they are purchasing before entering the stores, however, researches show that shoppers only plan to purchase 20% of their actual store basket, if you added another fact which the average basket size in the saudi market is SR 500 = $ 130; you will have another SR 400 (80%) to be an impulse/unplanned purchase, which is a quite attractive number to capture.  

Further to that researches also show that 76% of shopper purchase decisions are made in store that means that there is also a chance to eat from the 20% already planned purchase.  

another important factor is that In Saudi Arabia shopping is becoming to be an entertaining process for the family rather than a duty for the parents, entertaining this family in the store is becoming an effective tool to attract them to the different brands. Reachers show that the average shopping time in UK is 12-15 mins, in the US 18-24 mins and in Saudi Arabia (believe it or not) the number jumps to 70-90 mins, which is by far much more than the entire family watching TV's ads time. Shopper marketing is not only a tool to increase purchase, shopper marketing can be very affective tool in brand communication and awareness building.

But why companies are investing more in shopper marketing now?

"According to Deloitte FMCG companies like P&G are growing their shopper marketing budget by 21% annually, which a quite interesting number in a time where companies are cutting budgets."

It is for a fact that FMCGers and marketers are not considering shopper marketing as sexy as direct consumer marketing (above the line activity), also, shopper marketing can be a more dynamic and complicated process than direct marketing. the reason for that is the fact that there is another medium / step to take, which the our friends the retailers, the retailers are growing stronger and more greedy and they understand their role and power in the brand shopper marketing communication. Managing to manage retailers is a difficult task, also the shoppers within the different retailers behave differently, for example, what might work with Panda (biggest retails chain in Saudi Arabia) may not work with Danube (another retailer), what might work with Panda's shoppers may not work with Danube's shoppers and even what might work with Panda's shoppers in Jeddah might not work with Panda's shoppers in Qassim. 

Trade marketers should know their customers (retailers), the customers' shoppers and also the different behaviours of shopper between the different regions and some time between the different area within the same city. While it may sound like a difficult and complicated process the reality is that it can be much easier with the right knowledge, experiences and approaches. which is what will be talking about in the future posts :).

I hope that you benefited & enjoyed the article, please share your thoughts and experiences on shopper marketing on the comments section below, also, I'd really like to hear if you have any recommendation on how to make the blog better, sharing with your friend is a much appreciated support. 

Hasan Bashammakh

Follow @HasanBash