Where does digital fit into shopper marketing
When you think of in-store marketing, the first things that come to mind might be displays or cardboard shelf talkers. But digital, and most specifically mobile, are changing the face of shopper marketing every day.
Mobile phone applications have already had dramatic effects on retail shopping, and their impacts are really only beginning. The stats on mobile and retail are staggering:
- 66 percent of smartphone users use their phones as shopping aids. (Leo J Shapiro and Assoc, 2012)
- 59 percent use their smartphones to compare prices. (Deloitte, 2011)
- 47 percent leverage local search to find retailers. (e-tailing group, 2012)
- 47 percent use their phones to get product information. (Leo J Shapiro and Assoc, 2012)
- 18 percent have redeemed a mobile coupon in the past 90 days. (JiWire, 2012)
A lot of retailers and brands were caught off guard by mobile. Amazon was a very big winner early on when they encouraged people to comparison shop from retail aisles. They continue to do well with this strategy, much to the chagrin of retailers like Best Buy. But Best Buy has since responded in a host of ways, not least by providing early funding for Tecca -- a review and price comparison site. Other retailers have their own initiatives in place.
For brands, the number of mobile shopper marketing options is growing rapidly.
What's most remarkable about these new apps is the incredible range of functionalities. There are so many variations that virtually any brand sales objective can now be accommodated.
Conclusions
Shopper marketing is definitely something you will be seeing more of in the months and years ahead. If you work on brands that sell at brick and mortar, it makes great sense to keep learning about the field. More broadly, digital marketers would do well to keep abreast of developments because they are sure to be among the key catalysts for the near- and medium-term growth of mobile.
Certainly, the development of shopper marketing as a discipline is great if you believe that strategy should guide all marketing efforts -- shopper marketing extends strategic alignment into retail environments in unprecedented ways. And that's vital to the future of brands because so much of our marketing budgets are being deployed inside retail walls.
Jim Nichols is vice president of branding at ROI DNA.
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"Woman comparing products with a tablet computer" image via Shutterstock.
"Beverly and Pack," "85mm.ch," "TurtleMom4Bacon," "Steve Snodgrass," "dgray_xplane," and "Tessss" images via Flickr.
"Shopkick" image via Shopkick.
"CompareMe" image via ComparMe.
