Survey Results: Retailer-Activated Shopper Marketing Programs (Part 2)

In a response to MarketingLab's recent shopper marketing survey, one grocery exec asked, "How do you get merchants to align on shopper solutions when they are incented on growing their categories?"

Good question. And the challenges didn't end there.

"After addressing how merchants are incented," the executive continued, "retailers must then consider how store operations is measured -- labor and shrink versus improved shopper loyalty, category growth and basket increase."

This respondent voiced two major areas of concern for retailers that are spearheading shopper marketing initiatives: how to achieve sell-in and how to measure success. Here are some key points drawn out in the study:

FINDINGS: Vendor Sell-In

Vendor Influence
In efforts to gain vendor participation, retailers -- to varying degrees -- allow their trading partners to influence their shopper marketing plans. For example, 93 percent of retailers surveyed offer vendors incremental merchandising as a part of their proposals.

Credit
"As many retailers stand on the line between surviving and thriving, it's more important than ever that we understand the effectiveness of the money we spend on marketing at retail," said one mass channel executive responding in the survey. Toward those ends, it is critical to the merchandiser to get credit for the marketing funds available through the program. The good news is that credit is awarded 73 percent of the time, according to survey respondents.

FINDINGS: Seeing Results

Measurement
Most retailers are keeping a sharp eye on the results of their programs. According to one grocer participating in the survey, "Scorecards with shared metrics are critical to build the retailer/manufacturer alignment required for shopper marketing success." All-in-all, about two-thirds (67 percent) of retailer marketers surveyed claim to always or almost always measure results.

Unfortunately for most retailers, developing a program template that achieves reliable results is still a work in progress. Most claim less than half of programs are successful.

Most Effective
It does appear, however, that some types of programs outshine others. Seasonal programs are most effective in the eyes of 29 percent of respondents; followed by medium-specific programs, such as email or in-store TV (18 percent); and department-specific (16 percent).

It is no surprise that retail marketers who cite the highest success rates also have certain elements in common.
Learn what they are by downloading MarketingLab's Shopper Marketing Survey Executive Summary. Please submit this form for your copy, or to request additional information. We also welcome your inquiries and feedback on the topics discussed in this Tip.