R&FF Retailer: Under Five Percent of Shoppers Buy More Than 50 Percent of Frozen Seafood
By Warren Thayer, Editorial Director, R&FF Retailer
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion are excerpts of a current article from Refrigerated & Frozen Foods Retailer magazine.
Did you know that according to Catalina Marketing, only 2.6 percent of shoppers account for 54.3 percent of dollar sales of all frozen breaded seafood? Or that 4.6 percent of shoppers account for 63.5 percent of unbreaded frozen seafood? Neither did we.
Those percentages get even more interesting at the brand level. For example, the following percentages of all consumers within Catalina's Pointer Media Network (76 percent of the American grocery shopping population) make up 80 percent of the sales volume for these frozen breaded seafood brands: Gorton's, 6.16 percent; Van De Kamps, 1.9 percent; Seapak, 1.2 percent; and Mrs. Paul's, 1.17 percent.
So, in whatever manner you choose to do it, it certainly makes sense to identify your heavy frozen seafood shoppers and deliver incentives to them. Todd Morris, senior vp of business development for Catalina, says it's wise to offer not only incentives, but perhaps something as simple as a recipe, a suggested new use for a product, a new flavor/variety or merely a reminder to buy.
He points out that when buying frozen unbreaded seafood, shoppers purchase two or more units only 33 percent of the time. On average, there are 1.5 units per transaction. And for frozen breaded seafood, shoppers purchase two or more units only 22 percent of the time. In this segment, the average transaction is comprised of 1.3 units. If you can trade these shoppers up to buy, say, three units instead of two, you're obviously onto something good.
"If people are buying two units at a time, we might incent them to buy three on their next shopping trip. Over 10 percent of the people we give that incentive to will come in and buy three units within 14 or 20 days," Mr. Morris notes.
One more reason to segment your shoppers: the heavy frozen seafood shopper typically spends $121 a year in the category versus just $30 for the light user, according to Catalina data. Mr. Morris points out that it's wise to target shoppers who buy in the category more than once a year and try to build their consumption further. He also noted that the Lenten season does not dominate the buying.
"We looked at a number of (frozen seafood) brands, and about 75 percent of their volume was moved in non-Lent weeks," said Mr. Morris. "The trick is to drive the business year-round."
Discussion Questions: If under 5 percent of shoppers buy half of all frozen seafood, how should promotions be maximized? What's the best way to reach heavy users? How might promoting seafood differ from other categories with a concentrated group of buyers?