The Stores Role is Rapidly Changing

The store is more important than ever before. It is becoming the primary demand generator with over 70% of purchase decisions made at the shelf... during the shopping moment. In this environment, the role of the store is to help the shopper construct the information needed to make the "right choice"... by making the time invested to shop worthwhile. This means using merchandising to spark creative thinking, showing the shopper who is just looking where to find relevant ideas, helping connect product differences to important purchase requirements and helping the shopper invest time wisely by providing an information rich experience that has solution relevance.

The effectiveness of the shopping moment, as well as the overall shopping experience, can directly influence shopper loyalty to the store, department, aisle and category. It can lead to a shopper relationship with the store where there is a high level of satisfaction. Shopping behavior becomes routinized. On the other hand, the shopping moment can leave questions unanswered and the shopper frustrated. The shopper will shut down and leave empty handed or make do with something that's not right.

The effectiveness of the shopping moment can be affected by store layout; communication on the shelf and on the product; location in the store, in the aisle and on the shelf; product adjacencies; category assortment; product promotion; access to additional help and other environmental considerations within the store.

Making shopping moments more effective is the key to strengthening center of the store performance. It provides the greatest opportunity to generate incremental sales.

The Changing Role of the Store is Driving the Evolution of Market Research
from "What" to "How"... We Must Move Beyond Conventional Practices
and Gain a Deeper Understanding of Shopper Behavior

Today, and in the future, retailers and CPG manufacturers must know as much about the shopper in the store as is known about the shopper pre-store. This means having insights that are squarely focused on how the shopper makes up her mind to buy something new, both emotionally and rationally; insights that are based on how shoppers use marketing/merchandising information; and insights that show how to simulate shopper response to new marketing/merchandising concepts. In other words, knowing "how" to change behavior is the key to generating new sales.

Traditional research tools that develop insights by correlating the attributes of products, consumers and stores with past behavior come up short. These methodologies, such as scan data, panel data, loyalty card data, entry/exit interviews and accompanied shopping do not produce insights into how the shopping experience should be changed to increase sales.

The answer is ShoppingMomentResearch^SM, an advanced research methodology that enables you to understand what's behind the shoppers' decision making process...it closes a huge knowledge gap.

Shopping Moment Research^SM Background

Shopping Moment Research^SM is the result of a several year effort by WWA and InnoMedia Research, the industry's consumer segmentation expert, to determine how to make the store a more powerful interactive marketing medium. InnoMedia's work with Harvard Professor and innovation expert Clayton Christensen on the central role of Shopper Jobs in producing growth led to our Job based segmentation research. This opened our eyes to two shopping dynamics...shopping for old consumption (transaction based) vs. shopping for new consumption (job based). Work on the value of different message carriers in the store led to the concept of the Shopping Moment, and development of a new breed of market research that enables us to simulate how shoppers use Shopper Marketing communications to buy new things.

The Shopping Moment is when the shopper does the thinking at the shelf. She needs information that tells her what products can do her job and how well unfamiliar choice alternatives will perform.

Shopping Moment Research^SM is Job Based Segmentation Research

Job based segmentation research reveals what shoppers "will do" and "how to" change behavior. A Job is a situation that challenges historical, business-as-usual choices. it involves "hiring" a new choice versus simply repeating business as usual. Job situations are caused by new information that interrupts old thinking or new situations to address a specific situation or solution. In other words, Job behavior is disruptive behavior. A Job-to-be-Done is a gap in the status quo, when the shopper looks at it through the lens of new information... information relevant for new situations or information about new market choices.

Shopper Jobs bring out the emotions that produce new sales.

Research Methodology

A fully integrated process helps identify, develop and implement sustainable growth concepts.

We use in-depth Job Lab interviews (in our Job Lab facilities) to fully understand how to grow sales by changing shopper behavior at point-of-sale. The methodology...

• One-on-one interviews with targeted individuals who recently invested time and energy to shop the category (one or two flights, depending on the business questions). The interviews provide a 360 degree view of the shopper's experience... an in-depth Job segmentation. It discovers how to use merchandising communications to convert shoppers who are looking to hire new Job solutions...
  makes the business case for implementing specific category growth plans based on shopper Jobs.
  
  
• Micro-timeline "slow-motion" interviewing technique fills in a complete picture of shopper Jobs. Shoppers replay recent shopping trips... works back from point of purchase. It captures the back and forth dialogue in the shoppers mind, explaining in detail how the shopping experience helped (or hindered) their ability to hire the right product for the Job. It identifies where sales can grow because the point-of-sale experience is maladapted to shopper Job requirements.
  
  
• "Drills deep" in a non-confrontational manner. the respondent identifies and articulates all aspects of the shopping experience by drawing storyboard scenes.
  
  
• Provides richly documented descriptions of the shopping experiences to let you see how shopper Jobs and shopping experiences impact product value.
  
  
• New merchandising concepts will emerge from the Job Lab interviews, through the output of our "Innovation Team" or both.
  
  
• Simulate concept prototype ability to change behavior using Follow-up Concept Development Labs

A Significant Opportunity for CPG manufacturers to Collaborate with Retailers
to Develop Merchandising Solutions that Grow Sales

In today's environment, with the store becoming the primary demand generator, actionable shopper insights must be the focal point of the collaborative process between retailers and suppliers. This suggests that CPG manufacturers who capitalize on the "power of shopper insights" will have a noticeable competitive advantage. They will significantly enhance their value proposition.

The opportunity for CPG manufacturers is magnified by a recent survey that reveals 91% of retailers do not believe they have sufficient shopper insight to fix ineffective shopping experiences. They say they need more help from suppliers.

Shopping Moment Research^SM provides a new "insights tool" for sales management (the Shopper Insights function, Account Teams, Category Management). It is the one shopper insights capability that will enable CPG manufacturers to capitalize on this opportunity.