MARKET WATCH
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C-Store Study: More Traffic, But Lower Conversion
Increased traffic and lower conversion in convenience stores are the key results of a year-over-year shopper tracking study conducted by VideoMining Corporation, provider of in-store intelligence for retailers and consumer product manufacturers.
The research, part of a national C-Store Shopper Insights (CSI) program, was conducted using a carefully selected sample of 48 C-stores from major retailers in 11 U.S. markets. It employed VideoMining’s breakthrough in-store measurement and analytics technology to quantitatively analyze shopping behavior of millions of shoppers over the same periods in 2011 and 2010 to uncover the trends. The large behavioral data set was integrated with transaction data to provide visibility into the path-to-purchase of C-store shoppers and factors that impact purchase decisions.
Among the many interesting trends observed: a significant increase in C-store visits in 2011, but lower conversion of the visitors into buyers. The shoppers also spent lesser time in the stores and spend lower amount per trip, though the overall same-store sales trended up. There were also many interesting shifts in behavior for different demographics, especially for younger age groups and Hispanic shoppers in specific categories such as candy and beer.
“We expected changes, but were quite surprised by the magnitude of shifts in shopping pattern within a year,” said Dr. Rajeev Sharma, CEO of VideoMining, “Understanding and responding to these trends is important for both the retailers and manufacturers in this dynamic channel.”
Dr. Sharma will be presenting highlights from the findings at the National Association of Convenience & Fuel Retailing (NACS) State of Industry Summit in Chicago on April 4.
The results of VideoMining’s C-Store Shopper Insights program are available in over two dozen in-depth research reports—including overall channel trend as well as “deep dives” into all major product categories and special topics, such Foodservice, Beverages, Snacks, and Hispanic Shoppers.
Now in its fourth year of the tracking program, VideoMining plans to expand the panel to 120 stores in 2012 by including more markets, retailers and store formats. The expanded program will analyze tens of millions of convenience trips including longitudinal tracking to understand seasonal trends and impact of Holidays on convenience trips. Participants in the program can also conduct custom research and testing using the VideoMining panel of stores, benefiting from the continuous technology-enabled tracking of shopper behavior
Fishers Foods Joins Digital Promotion Network
Fishers Foods has joined the Inmar Digital Promotion Network with the retailer launching a new “Digital Deals” savings program for their Fishers Rewards customers. This new program - designed, implemented and managed by Inmar - will allow Fishers Rewards members to load manufacturers’ coupons from the grocer’s website directly to their Rewards cards.
Fishers Foods’ seven stores join more than 7,600 retailer locations already active in the Inmar Digital Promotion Network. The network is an end-to-end digital promotions solution that connects manufacturers and other promotional content providers with retailers and provides those retailers with point-of-sale redemption technology and transaction settlement.
“With this new initiative,” says Fishers Foods President Jeffrey Fisher, “our customers can quickly and easily load savings offers to their Rewards card just by clicking on coupons at our website. Once they click on the coupon, the offer is automatically placed on their Rewards card. They don’t have to print anything, clip anything or bring anything with them to the store to redeem the offers and receive the discounts.”
Spire Launches Shopper Intelligence Portfolio
Spire, provider if quantitative shopper intelligence that provides smart, actionable shopper analytics, has added five products in its Shopper Intelligence Portfolio. They include intelligence for Shopper Marketing, Trade, Retail, Coupon and social Media/CRM.
The new product suite leverages data from the second largest grocery shopper loyalty panel in the U.S, with over 30 million households shopping in over 1,700 stores across twelve retail banners.
“The combination of direct access to such a large and diverse panel of actionable shopper data and pragmatic analytic processes creates value that is unmatched in the industry” said Paul E. Taylor, CEO & Founder, Spire.
Spire’s Shopper Marketing Intelligence product measures both the short and long term volumetric and shopper behavior impact of Shopper Marketing activity across a wide range of programs and tactics, giving users the ability to understand the value of their investment at a brand, category, tactic, event and retailer level.
The Trade Intelligence product captures the short and long term volume and behavior impact of trade promotions. It breaks down the shopper behavior that individual trade tactics drive, resulting in a simplified Field Sales Action plan, with prioritized recommendations to maximize Brand and Category growth.
Spire’s Retail Intelligence product lets users implement controlled store tests for business questions including the impact of assortment changes, pricing strategies, shelving strategies, merchandising strategies, Shopper Marketing initiatives, and new products. This detailed understanding creates a snapshot of shopper impact behavior at the category, portfolio, brand and household level.
The Coupon Intelligence product analyzes the impact of coupon incentives across a wide range of programs and tactics. Metrics include volume lift, incrementality of redemption volume, trial and repeat impact, category and brand buy rates, and brand loyalty. Spire’s evaluation gives users the ability to understand the value of coupon investments at every level.
Social Media/CRM intelligence links households engaged in the social and CRM initiatives with actual shopping behavior. Metrics delivered include lift, segments engaged, trial and repeat impact, promotion sensitivity of social and CRM households, impact to category, brand buy rates, and long term loyalty.
Supervalu Offers Integrated Mobile Apps to Simplify Shopping
Supervalu has launched a custom-built mobile application to help customers be efficient while shopping. After testing the mobile app at its Cub Food stores in November, the grocery giant rolled it out the rest of its traditional banners last month.
One of the unique features to the app is its synchronization with the banner web sites. The shopping list is synchronized with the web site in real time so a member of the family can update the list from home while another is shopping. The mobile app is available for use on all Apple iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) and Android devices (phones and tablets).
“As our customers continue to be crunched for time, this new app and its capabilities allow for a more hassle-free shopping experience,” said Kat Kozitza, Supervalu’s director of digital and social media. “Customers of our 1,100 retail locations can now find a store close to them, view the current weekly ad and manage a shopping list all from their mobile device.”
Budweiser Launches ‘Track Your Bud’ Digital Promotion
Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Budweiser, has launched a multi-faceted digital promotion that enables fans of the iconic brand to trace the origins of the brew they hold in their hands to one of 12 U.S. breweries. By using their smartphone to scan the QR code on Budweiser packaging, downloading the free “Track Your Bud” app, or visiting TrackYourBud.com, consumers can enter the “Born On Date” found on bottles and cans and be taken on a guided tour of the creation of their individual beer by the Budweiser brewmaster responsible for it.
“Track Your Bud” content will provide beer drinkers with visibility into the source and selection of ingredients, Budweiser’s seven-step brewing process, when their beer began Beechwood aging and which brewmaster tasted it multiple times throughout its brew cycle to ensure their beer meets Budweiser's high quality standard.
The campaign platform includes a social application, available on iTunes and on Android Market that integrates with Facebook to connect beer drinkers across the country with each other through the Budweiser they hold in their hand. Users also will be able to access video content, collect badges from each U.S. brewery, and name batches of beer if they’re the first to track a beer from that particular batch.
Grocery Chain Renews Price Optimization Software Agreement
Big Y Foods, operator of 61 supermarkets in New England, has renewed its price optimization software agreement with Revionics. The chain leverages the solution for its base price planning and optimization throughout all of its supermarkets.
Chain executives said the price transparency and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery approach was a strong value proposition, driving a faster ROI by accelerating adoption of price recommendations. Price transparency provides visibility into the “why and how” behind every price recommendation. The SaaS platform speeds time-to-implementation and ensures high performance and access to the most current solution capabilities.
“Revionics’ proven solutions enable us to gain insight into shopper demand and set prices aligned with our price image,” said Michael Tami, Vice President of Information Resources and Technologies for Big Y. “We look forward to strengthening our partnership with them.”
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