Anyone involved in shopper marketing, for agencies or manufacturers, will likely have been frustrated at some point by a retailer who was reluctant to install their brilliant work. Even with a great argument, backed by objective research, retailers can be tough to persuade. Why is this? Sometimes it is simply that implementing and maintaining that shopper marketing solution at retail over time is simply too much for a retailer to manage. A recent store visit to a Tesco store in the UK shows this perfectly. Hang in to the end of the post for five key questions which will help you get a ‘yes’ from a retailer, and deliver a lasting impact with your retail execution.
Retail Execution: Secondary Locations and Out of Stocks
Secondary locations are a great way of intercepting a shopper outside of the category. They can create incremental sales for the category and therefore benefit both the retailer and the shopper. Here we have a secondary location of an allergy product in oral care. Looks nice. But as this example shows, they are also prone to out of stocks. Why? Firstly, inventory levels are managed at a total store level. While this display is out of stock, the store itself might be recorded as ‘in-stock’ and new inventory won’t be dispatched. Secondly, who is responsible to maintain the inventory? If I’m restocking oral care, am I also supposed to restock allergy products? Am I even allowed to? Perhaps not.
Retail Execution: The Perils of Permanent Signage
Shoppers often need guidance, and shelf strips and signage are a great way to help shoppers navigate a complicated category. In the UK and across the world, craft and specialty beer is growing fast, and that results in a rapid growth in product varieties, which might cause some shoppers problems. So many unfamiliar brands – what should I buy? This is where on-shelf communication should come to the fore. But look at this execution.
In the first picture, Guinness and Porter are labelled as ‘light and refreshing’. Now I like Guinness more than most, but I would never describe it as light! Shown in the next picture, in an attempt to promote its local (and possible environmental credentials) there is a section for ‘local beers’ with even the suggestion that Tesco was working with local breweries. This store is in Cheshire in the north of England. The beers are from Dorset and Hampshire, about as far away as you can get within England. On the shelf labelled “ginger beers” there was real ale (I couldn’t find any ginger beers!)
A good idea forgotten (or maybe not that good in the first place)
Above the wine section is a great sign: color coded wine showing which wine goes best with which food. A great idea, and you can imagine the insight behind it, suggesting that wine was often bought for a specific occasion, but that some shoppers struggled to decide which wine to choose. The trouble is that this sign was the only reference to this color coding I could find. There seemed to be nothing on the bottles, or on the fixture, to tell me which wines fell into which category. Now of course this could be because I simply couldn’t find it, but a great id
ea poorly executed is no good to anyone. If you look closely the sign is peeling and damaged: perhaps a great idea that died some time ago?
So if you’re ideas are getting rejected, or even if they are accepted – think hard about the long term implications of execution. Too often agencies and brands focus on the immediate execution. But what happens a week, a month, three months afterwards is key. Ask the following questions:
- How long will the installation last?
- In that time, what else is likely to change? (think range reviews, product listings, seasons, promotions, etc.)
- What challenges will this execution create for day to day operations (think stock checking and shelf stacking especially).
- What contingencies need to be created to manage these eventualities?
- How will I measure compliance ongoing, and what will be the procedure if things go awry?
These five questions aren’t fool proof, but they will help create shopper marketing activities that retailers will support, and ensure that your activities will keep delivering in front of shoppers for the full duration of the activity. Do you have any examples of retail execution which has gone wrong? Or any tips or tactics to share to ensure great retail execution? Please share in the comments section below.
