Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the monthly e-zine, CPGmatters.
In 2006, ConAgra Foods was a novice at shopper insights. Today, it is leveraging those insights to develop in-store marketing programs with key customers and to activate sales.
"In 2007, we started to staff teams for shopper insights and shopper marketing. We started building some disciplines. What are some processes we need to do? Who do we need to work with in our key accounts? What are some things we can be doing to increase our penetration in those key accounts?," Tony Washington, director of shopper insights and analytics for ConAgra, recalled in a presentation at IRI Global Summit recently in Las Vegas.
Mr. Washington and his colleague, Julie Oser, manager of shopper marketing, are part of the account-specific team assigned to Safeway. ConAgra has teams dedicated to other major grocery chains, including Publix Super Markets, Kroger, Supervalu and Wal-Mart.
To operate more effectively, ConAgra consolidated four departments under the umbrella of Integrated Customer Marketing. Coming together were Shopper Marketing, Shopper Insights, Category Leadership and In-Store Marketing. The key principles of the department's multi-functional teams are:
- Speed: Simplifying
everyday processes to do them more efficiently
- Collaboration: Deploying
cross-functional teams
- Accountability: Helping customers grow.
Retailers like Safeway are concerned about retaining shoppers, according to Mr. Washington. He remembers telling Safeway that if they could only retain half of the shoppers in the lower-income segment, they could realize almost $300 million.
"We also identified where those folks were going," he said. "Almost 80 percent of them were going to a combination of grocery, mass and club stores. Understanding where shoppers are going can help develop strategies to keep those shoppers. For instance, if you find out that you're losing a lot of shoppers to mass and club, then you need to think about [stocking] larger packages that those retailers sell and you typically don't."
One program developed for Safeway involved families spending time around the table; that is, eating more at home. ConAgra executed a meal solution at Safeway called Stock up and Save. "Safeway needed to have [products] organized in a way that shoppers could find them easily. Right items, right price. All of the items you need are right there. Just by making it easier for a shopper to shop, we saw a big increase in sales."
Other ideas executed successfully were a meal solution for Cinco de Mayo and a Nostalgia theme throughout the store.
Ms. Oser was quick to point out that the in-store programs involved more than just ConAgra products.
"We want to show Safeway something they can trust and believe in," she said. "We want them to see us as a consultant and partner. If we just go in with our ConAgra hat on, we are not really helping the shopper.
"Build credibility with retailers," she advised. "That is what has worked for us."
Discussion Questions: What benefits can a vendor provide around shopper insights programs that a retailer may not be able to? What are the challenges in making such collaborative shopper insight research and consequential in-store programs work?