4 Types of Grocery Shoppers You Can Delight With Loyalty Campaigns
Research points out one common reason for the failure of many supposedly good retail stores: their inability to understand the different types of grocery shoppers and how to handle them (1). It is necessary to be one step ahead and know everything about the various types of shoppers and their needs. Knowing your target group well will help you offer smart solutions that match your customers’ values, interests and behaviors—you can give them what they want even before they ask for it!
Although there are multiple ways for grocery retailers to delight shoppers, loyalty campaigns—the marketing tactic commonly used in supermarkets—can delight most shoppers’ profiles at the same time. Check out the 4 most common types of grocery shoppers you can delight with loyalty campaigns.
The Switcher
The switcher is a shopper who doesn’t hesitate to scope out stores to get the best deals. This shopper is completely discount-oriented. It means that their visiting frequency depends on the type and number of deals your supermarket offers and how many offers or rewards they can score by visiting you over other retailers. In addition, this type of shopper loves to check flyers and price booklets for coupons, and loyalty programs and high-perceived rewards are more than welcome.
To delight this customer, you will need to not only have good product deals but also give them an extra reason to come to your stores. It’s a challenge, but don’t worry: the switcher is one of the types of grocery shoppers that you can delight with loyalty campaigns. Offering highly perceived rewards in your loyalty program will attract them to your stores and keep them coming back. At the same time, it will make them more familiar with your supermarket and your brand and even help form an emotional connection.
The Emotional
Also known as the “impulse shopper,” this customer makes emotional choices and purchases based on instant gratification. This means that they are driven by emotions such as the joy of buying a new item or completing a collection, even if it is something that they don’t essentially require. This is a significant opportunity alert for retailers, as such shoppers love to receive recommendations and usually make snap decisions.
Targeting this type of consumers through loyalty campaigns can be extremely profitable and beneficial for your marketing strategy. The emotional shopper is even more likely to increase their basket size to get more rewards for each transaction, just so they can feel recognized by the retailer. Moreover, the collectability of loyalty campaigns makes it all the more irresistible for the emotional shopper to return and complete their collection.
The Browser
The browser is the customer who loves the activity of shopping and values experiences that bring this unique moment to another level. You can identify this shopper wandering through the supermarket aisles, looking for new products and items as well as new ways to experiment within the act of shopping. They love everything new and are very likely to notice any change you make in your stores.
Loyalty campaigns are highly attractive for these customers by the very simple idea of offering them not only a product but also an experience as a reward. For example, the browser is typically the type of shopper that appreciates how Woolworths Discovery Garden offered their customers an opportunity to garden in New Zealand or how Magnit’s “Have Fun With Hasbro Games” campaign introduced family time with board games in Russia.
Besides, loyalty campaigns include both in-store and online activation. By making your campaign and theme visible through POS display and other in-store executions, you give this shopper a whole new adventure to participate in and experiment with while they shop. Adding an online dimension further increases the campaign hype and gives the browser another chance to connect with your brand from the comfort of their home.
The Loyal
This type of shopper is the retailer’s best friend. The Loyal customer already has an emotional connection with your brand. There is more than just affinity and attachment: there is also the trust of judgment in this relationship that makes the shopper pledge loyalty to their favorite grocery retailer and brands.
Why should you care about running loyalty campaigns for this type of shoppers if they are already loyal to you? Well, despite the fact that they love your brand and love to engage in your promotional activities, you shouldn’t forget that the loyal customer is the best brand advocate you can hope for. This means that you should keep this customer close and make them even more aware of how you, as a retailer, care for your customers and community.
A loyalty program designed for all types of grocery shoppers
Understanding the differences, interactions, and needs of each type of shoppers can make a huge difference for you and your business. How? By speaking to your target shoppers and answering their needs, you can create strategies and campaigns that resonate with and convert your main audience. In addition, understanding consumer behaviors and the types of grocery shoppers can assist you in effectively targeting consumers, thereby improving your marketing efforts.
As you learned above, loyalty campaigns are a perfect way to delight different shoppers at the same time. They also constitute the perfect tactic to invite new shoppers to your store as well as build long-lasting relationships with your existing customers.
Sources: (1) International Journal of Marketing and Technology