Impulse Driven Buying
Have you ever walked into a grocery store planning to make a quick trip and buy only two items and left thirty minutes later with ten extra items? We’ve all been there. In fact, most people buy groceries impulsively. 71% of U.S. consumers put food and groceries at the top of their list of their most common impulse purchase items, ahead of clothing, shoes and household goods.
But did you realize that your grocery store has been carefully designed in order to drive impulse purchases. Everything from the location where products are placed to the message that accompanies them is designed to engage your desire to purchase. However, the good news is that as a brand manager there are simple and easy tactics that you can leverage immediately to drive incremental purchases.
1) Engage and convert the shopper outside of the home location
Shoppers enter grocery stores with purpose, heading for the locations of the items on their shopping list. Very often, their attention will be diverted to a temporary display, either because of strong branding or enticing and relevant messaging, or because the display is properly stocked to take advantage of natural human behavior: making an impulse purchase. Research shows that seven out of ten times a shopper will put an item from this temporary display into their basket. Savvy brands consistently capitalize on this behavior, and you can do the same, showcasing your product(s) in a way that grabs shoppers’ attention with intent and power.
Temporary displays are one of the most effective in-store marketing tactics to drive awareness, trial and sales. Highly versatile, these displays can easily meet the needs of various packaging types and configurations, whether your products are pegged, stacked or laid side-by-side. Types of temporary displays include freestanding displays, end caps, side caps, sidekicks, power wings, and power panels.
They also offer increased visibility for your product(s). Since these displays are placed in secondary areas away from the product’s home location, they catch the eye and create awareness even when shoppers don’t walk through the aisle containing your product’s category. Finally, depending on brand investment and the retailer’s space, temporary displays are typically placed in high-traffic areas in order to draw the attention of shoppers walking by.
Advantages:
- Versatile – Wide variety of shapes and sizes makes temporary displays adaptable to physical specs and effective for new product launches, seasonal items and promotions.
- Visible – Placement in prominent or high-traffic areas makes them hard to miss.
- Noticeable – Large footprint makes them more likely to grab your shoppers’ attention while the strategically stocked product(s) and messaging communicates branding objectives.
2) Attract attention and break through the clutter at the home location
When 70%2 of buying decisions are made at the shelf, what does a brand need in order to convince the shopper to consider and purchase their item? An eye-catching sign with a great callout and messaging that draws the shopper directly to your product. With the power to attract attention and deliver sales lift, POP signs or shelf talkers positioned in the product’s primary location are one of the most common types of point-of-purchase signage tactics. Signage placed in front of your product and perpendicular to the shelf helps grab the shopper’s attention from a distance, even when your category or product is not part of the shopper’s consideration set. Best of all, a variety of analytics are available to gauge the performance of in-store and point-of-purchase signage programs.
Advantages:
- Affordable – Relatively low investment makes POP signage among the most affordable of all in-store marketing and advertising tactics.
- Effective – Works better than a store print ad/circular because it captures the attention of the shopper when they are most receptive to purchase.
- Conspicuous – Perpendicular placement makes this kind of signage more noticeable, even before the shopper arrives at the shelf to consider the category or the brand.
3) Drive trial and conversion at the shelf
Once your signage draws the shopper’s attention to your brand and the shelf, employ a complementary tactic to help differentiate you from other brands and convince the shopper to purchase your product. The following methods can help you drive trial and convert the shopper once they are facing your category. And better yet, since they typically reside on your product packaging, execution is straightforward.
Tear pads combined with a POP sign deliver a 1-2 punch: first by drawing the attention of the shopper who may not even be considering your category, and second, by helping convert that shopper once they have approached the category and need to make a purchase decision. Tack on a coupon to add value and aid in conversion.
Neck hangers provide versatile messaging and incentive delivery via direct product placement, whether you offer a coupon or make a new product announcement, claim, reformulation or other callout. They can either be applied to your products at the plant or at the store.
On-pack Instantly Redeemable Coupons (IRCs) promote your product and quickly increase sales by offering an instant rebate without the need for incremental store space. A great defense against your competition, they can either be planned as a proactive execution to drive trial (especially for new products) or a preventative tactic to restrain the competition from stealing your share. IRCs come in a variety of sizes and formats to suit your specific brand needs, and like neck hangers, they can be applied at the plant or at the store.
By defining and capitalizing on strategic points-of-purchase opportunities—and human nature—you can drive sales by encouraging impulse purchases in affordable, easy-to-execute ways.
Learn more about how Insignia Systems can help by attracting shoppers’ attention, driving trial, and ultimately influencing their decisions for your brand’s benefit. If you’d like to learn how we’ve helped other CPGs discover the right shopper engagement solutions, see our case studies! Contact us today to learn how we can help you build brand awareness through creative marketing solutions.
