Simon Ford Talks Shopper Marketing at Network Breakfast

Simon Ford from Shopper Tracker spoke to over 200 people 23 March at the Drinks Association network breakfast hosted at the Sydney Cricket Grounds. By Michelle Manus

Simon focused on the importance behind shopper marketing and brand decision making to maximize drive among retailer and consumer satisfaction.

“It’s solution retailing not product retailing. That’s getting into the mind of the shopper, understanding their needs and becoming a destination for them,” said Simon.

The discussion placed emphasis on in-store and pre-store buying factors that customers have and how these ultimately impact their decision for consumption.

For pre-store consumers Simon recommends, “maximizing investment by understanding the categories and segments of the brand that most likely will give you the most bang for your buck and then going to a retailer that is most likely to align with that.”

However, for in-store purchases Simon said, “the decision being made is at-shelf and therefore the investment needs to be retained in store.”

Driving margin and retailer loyalty also depends on the brand names at hand. Simon shared that premiumization is occurring where people are less flexible in their choice of retailer such as red wines, champagne and ciders.

In order to move away from this commonality, Simon stated there is a strong need to, “identify and segregate value from premium and build a portfolio around it.”

Simon shed light onto how shoppers’ wants prove to direct the market and the moves retailers should keep in mind for driving prosperity.

The Drinks Association will host their next network breakfast 18 May at the Sydney Cricket Grounds featuring chief economist of National Australia Bank, Ivan Colhoun.

For more details visit www.drinkscentral.com.au

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