The shopping experience has evolved quickly and dramatically in the last decade and a half. The pace of that evolution has accelerated dramatically since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. Since then, touchscreen phones with crystal-clear displays have become the norm, and shoppers use them for everything. We store our loyalty cards within an app, pay for our latte with a mobile payment system, and hand the clerk our smartphone to scan a coupon code at the drugstore.
Mobile
CPG marketers are capitalizing on digital trends to make the shopping experience more convenient and more engaging for shoppers. For example, brands like Cambpell’s Soup are delivering personalized offers to shoppers via their mobile devices to translate shopper data into in-store sales. Other brands like Frito-Lay and Pull-Ups are pulling ahead of their competitive sets by using in-store display to drive downloads of augmented reality apps that increase brand engagement.
In-Store Digital
While recommendation engines are now commonplace online, that technology is now moving to the physical store, as well. Sephora’s Color IQ system scans a woman’s skin tone, and then searches over 1000 foundation products to reveal a makeup that will perfectly match. The system is brand-agnostic, leveraging a Pantone color-match system to deliver accurate results, which are displayed on an iPad. Sephora offers a similar recommendation system on its website. Will it be long before other retailers offer similar systems – perhaps to find the right vitamin supplement, or the right selection of snacks for your weekend dinner guests?
Video
Video is also helping consumers learn more about the products they consider. A Videology studyreported incremental sales of between 4% and 35% as the result of exposure to a digital video campaign. (The 31% spread is due to the fact that many campaigns also offered special pricing.) CPG marketers are also using behavioral targeting alongside more traditional tactics to improve performance: “A packaged food brand wanted to grow its market share in weaker markets, so it used geo-targeted online video combined with purchase data to reach those markets. The result was a 14% lift in household penetration for those who saw the online video ad in the targeted areas.”
Marketers are moving quickly to put technology to work for both themselves and –more importantly – their customers. As CPG marketers gain a deeper understanding of the behaviors that drive shoppers to purchase their products, they are using technology to stay one step ahead and build convenient, engaging ways to shop. A search on a mobile device for “Clorox Stain Remover” not only shows the visitor what stains their product can remove, but offers two key options: “Shop online” or “find a store.” When marketers use technology to make it this easy to purchase the right product, how can consumers refuse?
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