omnichannel

Loyalty Rewards Programs Help Retailers Retain Customers

Leave a Comment / Shopper Marketing / By Aaron Richman / August 2, 2023

Canadian grocery shoppers love loyalty rewards programs! This according to a recent research study from Caddle that shows practically all Canadians use at least one type of loyalty reward program led by the PC Optimum card with 91% penetration. And with the cost of groceries continuing to rise, rewards programs will maintain their popularity with consumers who are seeking out value-based offers in order to stretch their weekly shopping budget.

Sobeys Scene card loyalty rewards program POS in-store.

For grocery retailers, the benefits of loyalty rewards programs are plentiful and include:

* Customer acquisition – According to the Caddle research study, loyalty programs rank second behind price on things Canadians consider when deciding where to shop. Moreover, 51% of shoppers state loyalty programs play a key role in choosing where to shop.

*Customer retention: Loyalty programs are highly beneficial to grocery retailers, bringing them repeat customers, larger basket sizes and higher customer lifetime value. In fact, if a retailer stopped their loyalty rewards program, 74% of shoppers would change their shopping habits by shopping at the store less frequently.

*Zero-party Data: Loyalty programs allow grocery retailers to capture historical purchase data that can be utilized to improve marketing strategy, to develop seamless online and in-store shopping experiences and to personalize messaging and offers to individual shoppers.

Finally, despite high consumer usage and satisfaction, retailers face two key challenges moving forward to ensure their loyalty rewards programs. First, shoppers want more personalized offers with 44% of Canadians stating more relevant offers would motivate them to use their loyalty rewards program. And second, shoppers want the ability to redeem loyalty points in more places than just the retailer stores.

It will be interesting to see how loyalty rewards programs evolve over the next 12-18 months. If you have a comment, please leave one. Until next time, thanks for reading.

Check out the full Caddle report on The Shifting Landscape of Consumer Loyalty by clicking here.

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2023 Omnichannel Marketing Trends

Leave a Comment / Shopper Marketing / By Aaron Richman / February 24, 2023

Top 5 omnichannel marketing trends for 2023

Omnichannel marketing is evolving so here are my predictions on what the top 5 trends for 2023 will be within CPG that will dominate the grocery landscape.

1. Brands will increase focus on online grocery shopping

While in-store will remain the #1 channel for grocery shopping, many brands are starting to invest more dollars to build an online ecosystem to ensure they reach shoppers to drive pre-shop consideration and online sales conversion.

2. CPGs will expand emphasis on personalization to improve conversion rates

A recent research study from McKinsey & Company shows 71% of consumers expect personalization and 76% will switch brands if they don’t like their shopping experience. As a result, many brands are using customer data and insights to create targeted and personalized experiences and offers direct to consumer or in partnership with key grocery retailers.

3. Retailer Media Networks will continue to grow in popularity

In my recent blog “Omnichannel Marketing & the Growth of Retail Media Networks”, I wrote about how retailer media networks are gaining in popularity. How popular? According to a trends report from the Path to Purchase Institute (P2PI) a survey of 166 marketing executives, shows retailer media networks as the number one most important omnichannel tactic in 2022. This trend is only going top continue this year.

4. Shoppers will increasingly demand brands be more sustainable.

Sustainability is becoming a key factor in consumer purchasing decisions. Brands that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability are more likely to attract and retain loyal customers. This will include promoting sustainable production practices, reducing packaging waste, and offering eco-friendly products.

5. High grocery prices will continue driving more shoppers to buy private label products.

As Brian Ettkin at Numerator Canada stated in an article in Canadian Grocer Magazine in October 2022: “Canadian shoppers have become more reliant on private label in today’s high inflation environment and there is no sign that sales will slow”. I agree. Especially given that grocery prices will continue to rise in 2023 and the consumer perception of the quality of private label products is improving all the time.

What are your top 5 shopper marketing trends for 2023? I want to hear from other omnichannel marketers what is on your trends list.

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Omnichannel Marketing & the Growth of Retail Media Networks

Leave a Comment / Shopper Marketing / By Aaron Richman / February 18, 2023

Retailer media networks are gaining in popularity according to a trends report from the Path to Purchase Institute (P2PI) in the USA. The survey, which includes insights from 166 marketing executives, shows retailer media networks was the number one most important omnichannel tactic in 2022.

In fact, the P2PI survey shows that investment in retailer media networks increased by 58% last year, more than any other omnichannel tactic.

Omnichannel Tactics Investment — #1 increase in omnichannel tactics spend is retailer media (Source: P2PI)

What are Retailer Media Networks?

Retailer media networks are digital platforms that allow retailers to sell advertising space to brands on their e-commerce websites and mobile apps, as well as on other digital channels such as social media and email marketing.

The growth of retailer media networks can be attributed to several things. First, the acceleration of E-commerce sales has led to more retailers investing in their online presence and looking for ways to monetize it. Second, it provides retailers with a new revenue stream by selling advertising space to brands. Finally, it allows brands to reach consumers in a more targeted and relevant way by leveraging retailers’ first-party data to deliver personalized ads to consumers who are most likely to be interested in their products. This can lead to higher conversion rates and a better return on investment for brands.

Retailer Media Networks Important Omnichannel Tactics in Canada Too

In Canada, the increasing popularity of retailer media networks mirrors that of the USA.

How popular?

Last week, I contacted Atedra, the media sales partner in Quebec for IGA, to inquire about a digital media plan for a CPG client. Last year, demand was increasing steadily, but typically marketers could plan a campaign 2-3 months out. Leap forward to today and demand is increasing so significantly brands need to start planning 9 months out.

While retailer media networks are gaining in popularity, here are two things to consider.

First, while marketing budget allocation is increasing, major media are still garnering the biggest slice of the advertising dollar pie.

Second, many large CPG clients I deal with find the cost of entry for retail media quite high. As a result, many are investing in retailer agnostic shopper media through vendors such as Flipp, ShopliftR, AdAdapted and Neptune Retail Solutions who can all target hyper-locally to reach category shoppers to drive purchase consideration and sales conversion.

I am curious what other marketers think about the growth in retailer media networks. Leave a message and share your thoughts. Plus. do not forget to check out the Path to Purchase Institute’s survey results on omnichannel marketing tactics here: https://tinyurl.com/rps4h7jm.

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Omnichannel Marketer: Secrets to My Success

Leave a Comment / Shopper Marketing / By Aaron Richman / January 23, 2023

At 91.5, Eugene shared his sales and marketing experience with me

Young Marketers Should Seek Advice from Experienced Omnichannel Pros

People often ask me to share the secrets of my success over the 20 years of running JAMZ Marketing.

Lesson 1:

No matter what your age you can always be learning from someone with more experience than you. I was reminded of this fact last week when I met Eugene poolside in Florida. Eugene is 91.5 years old and retired for over 20 years. I engaged Eugene in conversation and I am sure glad I did. Eugene is the former owner of the one the largest RC Cola bottling and distribution companies in the USA northeast. The stories of his life in CPG he shared to overcome business challenges were golden. Here are few examples:

1. In the 1960’s, when he needed to increase sales he looked outside of traditional grocery and C-store channels and instead partnered with the fastest growing department store in Upstate New York — revolutionary at the time.

2. He introduced the first glass bottle return program with his new retail partner to help drive store traffic and loyalty.

3. In the mid-1970’s, when most companies were still doing accounting by hand, he bought one of the first Tandy TRS 80 computers and designed his own accounting software with no experience.

Key lessons learned from Eugene:

– Work hard.
– Take a creative approach to problem solving.
– Customer service is everything.

My lesson for younger agency personnel: don’t look past older people inside or outside of your company. Instead engage them. Ask questions. You just might learn a thing or two.

If you have any questions or just want to connect to share experiences feel free to connect or DM me.

#marketing #anniversary #business #experience #shoppermarketing #omnichannel #success

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Grocery shoppers looking for value, not price sensitive: Weston

Leave a Comment / Shopper Marketing / By Aaron Richman / May 10, 2022

Headline after headline and research study after research study suggest grocery shoppers across North America are being hard hit by skyrocketing CPG prices and are shifting their shopping behaviour to stretch their grocery budgets.

Case in point, a few headlines from my weekend reading:

“Majority of Canadians will change food buying habits amid rising prices”

“Foot traffic slows at grocery stores as inflation takes hold”

“Consumers likely to trade down to chicken as beef prices soar”

Galen Weston: Shifts in price sensitivity not that dramatic

In contrast, I read an article via Canadian Grocer Magazine titled “Consumers Still Spending Despite Food Inflation” in which Loblaw chairman and president Galen G. Weston is quoted saying “customers are definitely seeking value, but the shift isn’t as dramatic as one might expect”.

Further, Mr. Weston suggests the company is seeing “a slight swing towards price sensitivity as opposed to a dramatic left turn…an indication of the consumer having more money in their wallets still, than they would have had pre-COVID levels,”

As a frequent grocery shopper, I have more than a “slight swing” towards price sensitivity. Rather, I am continually shocked at how high prices are getting in every category of product wondering how the vast majority of Canadians can afford to eat.

As an omnichannel marketing consultant I am wondering if Mr. Weston is either out of touch with the challenges average food shoppers are facing today (I like to think not) or just playing to his shareholders. After all, his quotes are coming on the day Loblaw’s announced its first-quarter results.

grocery shoppers surprised at grocery prices — Rising grocery prices leaving shoppers surprised

Grocery Shopping Behaviour is Shifting

But just in case Mr. Weston needs a reminder, here is some data from a research study in January from Dalhousie University Agri-Food Analytics Lab in partnership with Caddle, in field long before inflation hit 6.7%, the Russia-Ukraine war which has put additional stress on global supply chains and “shrinkflation” became a thing:

63% per cent of respondents said they intended to change their food buying habits in 2022.

51.7% per cent of Canadians saying they intend to avoid restaurants in 2022.

45.5% said they plan to consult flyers more often before shopping for food in order to find savings offers

30.3% said they will buy in bulk more in 2022

26.8% per cent said they will buy discounted food about to expire.

How are higher grocery prices impacting your household?