We’ve often been asked, how do you improve convenience store footfall, engage with more shoppers and encourage more of them to spend more with you and be more loyal to you? One sure-fire way to improve convenience retail for shoppers is, quite simply, to make it easier for them: take away as much of the shopping friction as possible.
Facts:
- The Convenience sector was responsible for £40.3bn in sales in 2019
- The average customer will visit their nearest Convenience store 3.8 times a week
- 80% of customers live less than a mile away from their nearest Convenience store
- The average customer will buy 2.31 items and spend £6.38 in one Convenience store visit
Over the years, we have conducted more than 50 shopper psychology research studies within the convenience retail channel. We have done so in more than 20 countries around the globe. From forecourts in Germany to neighbourhood stores in USA and kiosks in Russia, we’ve uncovered what real shoppers really want from a convenience store.
Shoppers want to be able to meet their shopping needs as quickly and effortlessly as possible. It’s not so much about a Convenience channel, but more about being the most convenient way for shoppers to attain their needs.
This is where Adcock Solutions are able to really help - understanding shopper psychology, how to optimise shopper perceptions and the reality of fast and effortless shopping.
Here is a case study summary from a recent brand-funded, Convenience channel project:
Primary Convenience Store Shopping Behaviour Goal
- How to make most shoppers see, consider and try/buy my brand in this habitual and uninspiring convenience retail channel.
Goals
- How do we encourage more shoppers to even see our brand in-store?
- Once they are aware of our brand, how do we make more shoppers pay meaningful attention to it?
- What does it take to turn meaningful attention into active brand consideration?
- Over and above everything else, how do we make more shoppers select our brand in preference to their normal purchase?
Results
- Share of category sales for a specific brand up 21% simply by letting shoppers know they’d made a good choice
- Share of sales up a massive 150% (from a low base) from tapping into positive shopper associations with a specific colour
- Increased share of category by 14% by simply improving on-shelf standout using low cost shelf edge strip in a unique manner
Another key convenience store shopper consideration worth pointing out relates to their familiarity with a particular retail environment. The brand prompts and cues that work in an unfamiliar (to the shopper) store are entirely different to what is effective in a store that a shopper regularly visits. Even the locations of communications differ based on shopper familiarity with a store.
Often, the convenience store shopper is also the consumer or end user. Therefore, for a brand to be preferred in convenience retail, it needs to be the easiest to recognise, engage with, want and buy. There are a lot of quick wins to be had in the convenience store channel simply by auditing retail outlets and identifying and removing friction points.
In summary, in the convenience retail channel, the easier it is for shoppers to see, want and buy a particular brand, the more likely they are to select it.
Adcock solutions helped many brands and convenience store retailers to become more shopper oriented by implementing actionable shopper psychology insights. Between us, we make convenience retail more convenient; better for shoppers, better for brands and better for retailers.
Summary
Consider the Convenience store channel from the perspective of Marginal Gains: Many small improvements and shopper-oriented enhancements will deliver a dramatically better convenience store offering, not just for shoppers, but for retailers and brands too.
