In-store promotions: why it particularly matters now

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• Publié par: akajarym
• Nombre de lectures: 148
• Langue: English

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In-store promotions: why it particularly matters now

Winning in the final third

If you were to judge the importance of a marketing channel by the amount of

attention given to it by marketing textbooks, industry journals and articles on

strategy, you may conclude that the in-store environment is of relatively little

importance when compared to traditional media-based advertising or direct

marketing. However, evidence indicates the contrary.

Sixty percent of all in-

store purchases are unplanned

,

according to associate professor of marketing

at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In other words,

in most cases,

the battle for the consumer’s wallet has not been won or lost until they enter

a shop.

“Weapons of mass distraction”: the rise of the

special offer

As a result of these changes in shopping habit, it is no surprise

that we have seen a massive increase in deals and promotions .

For instance, Assosia data has showed that Sainsbury's

increased its deals by 44.5% in the 12 months to 6 March 2010

in the UK, more than any other retailer. Asda followed closely,

with promotions up 44.2% in the same period. The consequence

of this is essentially

a more crowded retail environment

where the consumer is bombarded by multiple promotional

messages

, often broadcast through multiple media of in-store

hoardings, audiio systems, TV monitors and branded displays,

dubbed by some commentators as “weapons of mass

distraction”. The immediate consequence of this is that

promotions need to fight harder than ever now to get

noticed and succeed.

The impact of the recession on how people are shopping:

more caution in the face of uncertainty, more resourcefulness

in the face of constraints

As a result of this recession we have seen a

greater focus on price

, more

deal-

hunting

behaviour and a move towards more

considered consumption

generally. Even before the onset of the recession there was a long-term trend of

shopping around, with a steady rise in the average number of major retailers

visited per quarter since 2006 (Source: Euromonitor Consumer Index). This has

intensified over the previous 18 months, and we see high numbers of people in

the UK and Ireland reporting that they are more likely to look for deals, buy on

discount where possible and shop around at retailers (Source: The Futures

Company Global Monitor 2009).

There is further evidence of this in the increase

in voucher and coupon use

in the early months of this year compared to 2009 (

up 21% Year on Year in December and January according to coupon and

voucher services provider Valassis). What is more, data from multiple sources

shows how people are adjusting their spending patterns across categories as

they

re-evaluate what is valuable to them

.

Simply put, today’s consumer is more likely to look for a deal, and more

likely to question former brand loyalties.