As retail media evolves and outpaces all other forms of ad spending, it becomes more targeted, more effective for brands and more valuable for retailers. Acosta Group released its recent Seamless Shopper Qualitative Research Study in advance of Groceryshop, offering insights on the importance of in-store shopping and highlighting three key expectations in consumers’ seamless shopping journeys.
“We identified that consumers expect to be informed, want to be inspired and appreciate personalized content when that content provides convenience or savings,” said Kathy Risch, SVP of thought leadership and shopper insights for Acosta Group.
Applying the company’s proprietary shopper insights to inform its strategies, Acosta Group’s digital commerce team has identified physical stores as the next major retail media channel for brands to connect with and influence their customers.
Physical stores are next canvas for retail media
When it comes to grocery items, consumers from Gen Z to Boomers prefer to shop in-store, particularly for items such as fruits, vegetables, meats and seafood, according to Acosta Group’s November 2023 “The Why Behind the Buy” shopper community survey.
Understanding the power of the in-store experience to influence shopper behavior is critical for brands, and consumers have noted that retail media is becoming a part of this experience through digital screens.
“The physical store is quickly becoming the next canvas for media, and that means we’re starting to identify retailers that might not yet have the digital footprint to capture the traffic they can attribute to their brands or stores,” said Cody Tusberg, SVP of retail media for Acosta Group.
Retailers that lack pure digital reach are turning to their footprint to distribute in-store digital content. Success in this space translates to measurable value for the shopper and incremental growth for brands.
“Retailers have started to open up digital signage that we can buy programmatically in as little as a week, when we used to have to plan months in advance,” Tusberg said. “We can now bring fresh content to engage consumers and drive trial, loyalty and household penetration.”
If a brand goes viral, Tusberg explains, the digital team can almost immediately develop and publish content that reflects that innovation, trend or flavor profile in the physical store, providing a curated experience for customers.
According to Acosta Group’s 2023 “The Why Behind the Buy” shopper community survey, 87 percent of all shoppers have a retailer app to assist with grocery trips in a store. These retailer apps, according to the company’s recent qualitative study, are the No. 1 digital shopping tool, with consumers saying they use them to learn whether an item is in stock, what aisle it’s in and whether there are any related digital coupons.
“As consumers continue to bring their devices into the store, the connected shopper experience extends from the home into the retail location. Understanding this behavior helps us deliver the right message in the right format in the right location,” Tusberg said.
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Navigating Retail Media Networks
Brands can right-size their investments based on scale and capabilities by focusing on the nuanced differences between retail media networks.
“We know that retailers will ask for investment, and brands need to understand individual retailer capabilities as well as the execution and measurement of their investments, or they could misallocate budget for their brand and shopper initiatives,” said Tusberg.
For instance, a full-funnel media strategy that reaches a large incremental audience may not meet a brand’s needs as effectively as a longer-tail RMN focused on driving sales. Understanding what retailers have to offer and then capitalizing on those opportunities is key for brands.
“The tool set now lives with the brand to take advantage of,” Tusberg said.
Shopper expectations
Today’s shopper wants easily accessible information about the products they’re purchasing. Reviews are by far the most useful information shoppers look up online, with photos and product specs also listed as being important. False and conflicting reviews and a lack of details have a negative impact, and AI search results can be polarizing or misunderstood by shoppers. Shoppers appreciate inspiration from retailers, offered via item variety, recipes and product pairings that help them make a purchase decision.
Great retailer experiences come from helpful employees in-store and personalized ads and reminders. While some consumers don’t like retailers tracking their purchases or search history, many have come to appreciate the value-adds, like coupons or discounts on items they purchase most frequently.
Shopper research for this qualitative study was conducted over two days in July with 32 pre-screened participants aged 18-75 from a range of income levels, all of whom shop both in-store and online at least three times a week and had shopped once in the last week. All participants were members of Acosta Group’s proprietary shopper community of more than 40,000 demographically diverse consumers.
Advanced technology improves the shopper experience
Acosta, an Acosta Group agency, partners with Pensa Systems to drive category ROI at the shelf and improve the in-store customer experience.
- Pre- and Post-Reset Analysis: Allowing brands to better understand shelf inventory conditions via a new level of automated shelf data recency, accuracy and insights, this technology provides faster results, eliminating the traditional tedious legacy process. Analysis has proven to identify significant space-to-sales gaps as well as on-shelf availability gaps. Resolution of these issues translates to more brand and retailer sales and a better shopper experience.
- Retailer Planograms: A new-to-market solution available to all CPG brands and especially strategic for those that are not category captains to secure retailer planograms, which are essential for shelf planning. Pensa has developed a method to automatically convert its shelf set scans at any U.S. retail location into industry standard planogram files. When paired with Acosta’s current access to planograms from key retailers, brands can gain access to a majority of the All Commodity Volume (ACV) across a large number of retailers, informing their recommendations for upcoming line reviews and future resets. Accuracy ensures a positive in-store customer experience.
“Our partnership with Pensa allows us to provide our clients deeper knowledge as well as efficiencies in their shelf management,” said John Carroll, president, digital commerce and advanced analytics for Acosta Group. “This translates to a win-win for consumers, who want to find their favorite products on shelf in-store and online.”
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