Are mobile apps the key to driving in-store impulse sales?


Not so surprisingly, a university study finds impulse shopping notably increases the longer a customer is in a store. A newsier revelation is that mobile apps may be the way to drive many unplanned purchases.
The authors claim this is the first study to examine changes in impulse shopping as the shopping trip unfolds. About 400 customers carrying handheld scanners at two grocery stores were examined.
Results showed planned budgets caused consumers to behave in two different ways:
- Shoppers with small budgets (less than $64) behaved consistent with so-called "self-regulation theory": an unplanned purchase decreased the probability that the next purchase would be unplanned. However, as the shopping trip progressed, the opposite became true.
- Medium-budget shoppers (between $64 and $109) reflected a "cuing theory": an unplanned purchase increased the probability that the next item would be unplanned, and the probability only increased during the trip.
The findings suggest that retailers might consider offering unplanned suggestions later in the shopping trip, such as via in-store sampling or other in-store promotions. But the authors particularly highlight how mobile-apps could trigger unplanned purchases.
Tapping past data around planned and unplanned individual purchases as well as a shopper’s in-store proximity, apps can keep track of shopping and allow the retailer to make targeted suggestions. Shoppers are also often found to be highly receptive to offers for a "fun" unplanned item following several purchases of planned "less fun" items, such as providing a coupon for ice cream after a shopper has picked up some milk.
Still, University of Notre Dame marketing researcher Timothy Gilbride believes retailers will have to decide whether they want to "play the long game" and use shopper information and emerging technology to enhance the overall shopping experience. Retailers might try to help consumers to stay on their budgets while still suggesting unplanned items or simply trying to encourage them to maximize the total number of purchases on any given trip.
He believes retailers are seeking to build relationships that are "more than just transactional" in nature with the help of shopper data.
"They recognize that consumers could potentially have a relationship with the store for as long as they live in their current houses," Prof. Gilbride told National Association of Chain Drug Stores. "This will prompt the retailer to ask, ‘What can I do to make your shopping experience better over the long-term, as opposed to just this one shot?’"
- Unplanned purchases: Why does that Snickers bar looks better the longer you shop? – America Marketing Association
- The Role of Within-Trip Dynamics in Unplanned Versus Planned Purchase Behavior – Journal of Marketing
- Time on retailers’ side: Impulse purchases rise the longer shoppers are in store – University of Notre Dame
- What Makes Shoppers Buy Items That Aren’t On The List? – NACDS
Do you see mobile apps evolving into the preferred way to drive in-store impulse purchases, other than via the checkout aisle? What are the risks around making mobile messaging pitches to shoppers while in aisles?
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12 Comments on "Are mobile apps the key to driving in-store impulse sales?"
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A survey of 400 shoppers does not represent consumers as a whole. I agree that mobile apps can help consumers while offering additional items for purchase, but if retailers get too aggressive in suggesting additional purchases they will turn off consumers. If retailers want to build loyalty their apps should, as Mr Gilbride suggests, use shopper information to enhance the overall shopping experience, not just push more products at shoppers. Retailers: Use mobile and social as sales tools at your own peril.
Mobile is a double-edged sword for in-store retailers. As soon as you have customers pulling out their mobile you open a door to a lot of things, including some beneficial and many counterproductive to your cause. On their mobile devices, shoppers can be influenced by other retailers as well as be distracted by their social circles.
Once we get to the point of self scanning that translates into payments, I suggest retailers think more about in-store digital. There are certainly those who will open an app to see what might be on sale, but having to get out your phone, turn on the app, use up your battery to scan an item for information? Not so much.
Now don’t get me wrong, there may categories such as grocery that may fair well here. Especially for those who keep lists and actually use the app. These budget conscience shoppers are often just the ones who want to see a deal that might allow them to pick up another impulse item.
But that’s just my 2 cents.
My recent impulse purchase was driven by a random conversation with someone in the store who was raving about a particular product.
Finding a way to weave customer stories into the shopping experience, not just reviews, can be a helpful retailer intervention. The store is a place where people go for ideas and solutions—these creating lasting meaningful memories. I think a focus on impulses takes our creative energy in another direction.
A loyal customer will appreciate a mobile app that connects them to the retailer. The key is acceptance first, then usage second. Acceptance comes from trusting that the retailer won’t abuse the privilege of “talking to me” while I’m shopping—and when I’m not. Second is usage, which will start with training the customer to use the app. The biggest risk is abusing the privilege. Too much promotion and you may get more than the app being turned off. You may turn off the the customer, as well—the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.
No, mobile apps are not a preferred way to drive in-store impulse purchases. POP, location, price (on shelf), are all much more important, and have a proven history of success impacting shoppers for impulse purchases.
When it comes to driving in-store impulse purchases, “AIM” (Aggressive Item Merchandising) and building impactful features like end-caps are still part of the art and the science of GMS and mass retail merchandising (not only to drive impulse at that spot in the store, but also to help pull shoppers in and down that shopping aisle, etc.). Personalization, targeted discounts based on loyalty and preferences, etc., enabled by mobile apps/technology and customer data can/will play a material role in the “brave new world” of driving retail impulse purchases. But retailers still need to step it up when it comes to putting the infrastructure upgrades in to place to enable all this. At last check, only 40 percent of retailers actually have in-store Wi-Fi programs deployed.
We’ve just scratched the surface of what mobile apps can do. By nature they are singularly purposed and can conveniently help customers shop. In the future we will find many other ways they can improve the shopping experience. Hopefully, in-aisle pitches will coordinate with trusted apps already on the consumers’ mobile device.