Susan ViamariThroughout the last decade, consumers have changed drastically their approach to grocery shopping. Mobile devices keep consumers connected constantly to current information on everything from new products and pricing to the latest deals and promotions. Additionally, the Great Recession continues to haunt shoppers financially, compelling consumers to maintain strict grocery budgets and continue shopping high and low for maximum value, even though some measures of the country’s economic health have improved.
Consumers continue to redefine value rapidly, prompting CPG marketers to readjust and develop strategic approaches to withstand an evolving landscape. Our latest Times & Trends report, “Merchandising Trends: Supporting the Value Proposition,” examines common and emerging merchandising trends that CPG marketers are implementing in an effort to satisfy capricious consumers effectively.
Key findings include:
- Merchandising activity increased across most CPG channels in 2012, following a momentary decline in 2011.
- Although merchandising activity within the drug channel slowed for the second consecutive year, support across key health and beauty care categories increased more quickly in drug compared to the grocery channel.
- Price-only merchandising increased across more than half of CPG categories in 2012, even though this tactic generally achieves lower lift versus other tactics.
- Average merchandising lift dropped sharply in 2012 across the majority of categories and measured channels.
- Media usage and new media adoption trends differ considerably across CPG categories.
This month’s Times & Trends report reveals that “the old way” of doing things is simply not as impactful as it was in the past. To capitalize on new and evolving opportunities, marketers must enmesh the broad and rapidly growing array of old and new media tools at their disposal. These tools, supported by advanced analytics, have the ability to optimize trade promotions and enable more granular executions in support of key consumer rituals in a highly targeted—and profitable—fashion.
To learn more, you may download the full report here. Additionally, you may register for this month’s Times & Trends webinar during which I will discuss our findings in further detail.
Tags: cpg, MarketPulse, merchandising, shopper behavior, SymphonyIRI, The Great Recession, Times & Trends, webinar
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