March Madness Shopping: Bringing Fun and Exploration into the Client Experience
As we come upon the NCAA's March Madness program, we must take a moment to remember how the school basketball tourneys performed in March 2020. In what seems like a lifetime ago, fans and teams readied for college basketball teams to winnow down their way to the Sweet Sixteen, then the Elite Eight and eventually the Final Four. Instead, Covid-19 started its relentless spread. And like dominoes falling, 1 conference after the following cancelled their championships, leaving just the Big East to play in Madison Square Garden. Initially they allowed fans, but the following day they had been barred, and the day after that the championship was cancelled in the middle of a match.
It was breathtaking and quite shocking in its speed and reach. And it kind of encapsulates why shoppers' psyches and behaviours were changed so very much within one (apparently very long) year. And as one merchant after the next was closed because of stay-at-home orders, the humble grocery store was deemed necessary. Not only were they wanted for their basic items however, as the pandemic wore on, many came to see them as crucial for their mental health. Why, grocery shopping has been a reason to escape the house! While plenty of shoppers embraced a grab-and-go technique, others viewed it as a kind of entertainment. And that's something which grocery stores can be capitalizing on today, even as Covid-19 constraints remain in place.
When we composed in 2020 about utilizing the grocery aisles to market to sports lovers , we wanted to highlight unique approaches to using things like QR codes and interactive screens. At that moment, we could not have imagined just how differently these strategies would come to be appreciated in a Covid-challenged world.
Euromonitor International's Alison Angus, Head of Lifestyles, stated in a current Retail Touchpoints narrative which"electronics saved the day this past year, which makes it possible for much of life to continue despite the physical limitations imposed by the outbreak. Because of this, even elderly consumers have become acclimated to electronic interactions, and customers now expect integrated experiences.
"A blend of in-person occasions has been building, especially with younger customers," Angus said. "Teens today don't differentiate between physical and digital --it just is. Now, consumers of all ages experienced the digital world more closely and have seen the benefits."
In the beginning phases of the outbreak, shoppers veered away from brick-and-mortar shops or were forced to shop online because of shutdowns. Buyer habits changed radically and online shopping skyrocketed. Consumers also took advantage of apps that provided instantaneous delivery of everything from cocktails to Murphy beds. The least app-savvy consumer found themselves getting Uber Eats and DoorDash junkies. (Oy, the weight gain!)
But after months and months of getting everything on-demand and only a click away, customers began to question: Is this all there is?
What started as fear turned into approval and then adaptation, even if a degree of anxiety remains. Those who ventured out embraced new routines. Car keys? Check. Gloves? Check. Face mask? Double check. So first fears about entering shops or public spaces started to settle down, particularly after customers saw companies were ensuring shopper security with highly visible hygienic standards and practices.
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Next Step: Occasion Marketing
One of the things which disappeared early in the pandemic was live time by the user. And retailers understand all too well that"dwell time is a swell time" for their bottom line. Consumers who invest more time in shop frequently purchase more--and impulsively. So now, once grocers have fulfilled shoppers' fundamentals needs with basic products, they could place some experiential marketing into play and engage those customers that are beginning to look for an experience within the shop.
1 way grocers can up their participation match is by taking a page from retail advertising and generating a showroom or shop-in-shop sort of experience. We call this event marketing, and it entails creating an area that focuses on fun activities and engagement with goods.
Stores can employ an assortment of engagement practices to entice customers to a screen long enough to participate with goods, learn about new things and think about using different products or components together. We have written about screens that have taken elaborate turns, getting interactive extravaganzas that we predict retail theater. Take, for example, a snack maker who built a basketball hoop in their point-of-purchase (POP) screen, causing the consumer--especially children --to interact with it.
Nowadays, grocers may be skeptical of consumers having a lot of physical contact with a screen. So instead, something like a March Madness demonstration can involve baking utensils, pans and components for cupcakes. A posted QR code on point-of-purchase displays could lead shoppers to a Pinterest page which has ideas for home amusement throughout the NCAA games.
We have come up with 10 more thoughts around QR codes Your shoppers can scan and participate with to get a multi-sensory experience:
- Ideas around celebration planning (perhaps by way of a branded movie that Offers brief tips on how to maintain your party planning safe but enjoyable)
- Advice on new products (their use, taste, components and inclusion Tips for your at-home celebrations )
- Sweepstakes offerings (as promoted via a brand)
- Coupons and promo offerings (for use at another trip )
- Games (for the youngsters in tow, while mom or dad shop the distance )
- Game time recipes between sponsored food items (short videos on meal prep)
- Music playlists curated for March Madness fans
- Updated scores
- Time schedules of games
- Teams stats
All this will be staged in a generalized area, based on the store's square footage. It needs to be regarded as a one-stop engagement or a library depository of thoughts, in partnership with new representation.
Since grocery stores can vary in size from tens of thousands to over 100,000 square feet, merchants have loads of space to create a secure, socially distanced place for discovery. And instead of expecting the user to do a great deal of research before they get to the shop, grocers can create detection zones where shoppers can find out, discover and participate with products all in a place of 20 or 30 feet or less.
Such an idea requires a page from party stores which have helped active parents inventory for a kiddie birthday party. In these shops, supplies are curated by party theme and kids can select a licensed character or theme, and within the same aisle parents can find all of the necessary and fitting items they should finish the party theme like cups, plates, napkins, decorations, goody bags and much more. Easy, fast and concentrated.
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Another example is Target's seasonal vacation or Back-to-School pop-up section. It is usually at the rear of the shop, drawing two-way foot down traffic aisles. Even Target's Hearth & Hand with Magnolia shop-in-shop displays, replete with all the wood tables and chairs, linens, accessories and greenery, tell a story to customers. And it is a story that affects --and captures consumer attention --regularly.
Going back to the supermarket March Madness thought, this type of screen --or what we prefer to call Party Central Station--could appeal to all family members. Dads could enjoy a movie playing from a traditional basketball game. The children could scan a QR code in their telephones and play games. And moms can collect food and entertaining ideas. These displays provide an opportunity for shoppers to easily participate, discover and fulfill their internal quest for new tastes, experiences and products.
Some ideas to consider for a point-of-purchase screen that focuses on March Madness at-home parties:
- Themed decor
- Housewares (paper cups, disposable utensils/tableware, napkins)
- Pre-packaged snacks (for individual consumption Rather than communal bowls)
- Healthy food options
- Baking provides
- Condiments
- Beverages/Mixers
An event display that addresses the client's staple shopping needs also gives grocers the opportunity to bring brand awareness to items which captured more popularity throughout the pandemic when other manufacturers ran out. And it offers an area where shoppers can slow down and be (safely) diverted in their unease and drawn to the shopping experience a little longer. Once a specialty area such as this is established at the shop, shoppers will look forward to returning to this place, whether it's for holidays like Easter and July 4th or a event like March Madness.
Convenience. Fun. Discovery. It is an experience.
Like a recent Forbes article pointed out, shopper stress might continue, but it doesn't mean customers are not interested in having fun and interesting experiences in store.
"The supermarket of the future will be a lot more concentrated on expertise than just things," the Forbes article states. "Customers won't opt for the store due to the products; they will choose it because it provides a convenient or beneficial experience. It'll be a place where clients come to find out about their food and experience it in fresh ways instead of just buying it. That means shops will offer items like cooking courses, wine tastings and restaurants"
A distinguishing Party Central Station area makes particular sense when you think that the normal grocery store is 42,415 square feet. In the event of a Walmart Superstore, places average around 178,000 square feet (almost an entire neighborhood in Brooklyn, right?) . Also consider that the typical consumer made 1.6 weekly grocery shopping trips in 2020. Consumer psychology will dictate that an anxious shopper who just wants to get what they want and escape the shop would appreciate finding all they want in one place, as opposed to navigating an whole store.
Here is another eye-popping stat: The conventional supermarket carries anywhere from 15,000 to 60,000 SKUs. New food products often roll out on store shelves, and a report from Kroger's found 60 percent of shoppers enjoyed experimenting with international flavors and recipes while they spent so much time at home last year. However, pandemic security rules have done away with in-store tastings by brand ambassadors. This is another opportunity for a Party Central screen to show its value, as it can showcase, through a huge selection of ways, information on new products or house brands that the shopper might not have known about or miss when shopping down other aisles.
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Draw the grab-and-go shopper in and make it simple.
These technical areas are also perfect for introducing shoppers with impulse items. In a new Progressive Grocer article, Retail Feedback Group's Douglas Madenberg, principal for its customer insight consultancy, talked about the value of product adjacencies.
"One key to creating center store more helpful for shoppers centers on Implementing merchandise adjacency," Madenberg stated. "Not a new concept, but by finding solutions for certain recipes or occasion together, it makes centre store items a lot more accessible to shoppers."
If grocers can make that shopping trip more rich and concentrated, meeting not only the immediate demands of their shoppers but also providing many levels of interaction and instruction, it may be a catalyst for attracting customers to the middle of the shop and down the aisles. Many grocers who've chosen to take unconventional approaches toward client participation and loyalty programs have found their efforts rewarded many times over (believe Stew Leonard's, Wegmans, Trader Joe's) via customers returning to the experience of shopping together.
At-home customs continue and brands should be about helping with them.
This past year, lockdowns around the U.S. only weeks before Easter had consumers and businesses"in a tailspin," the Hershey Company recalls in its own blog. The iconic candy and chocolate manufacturer worked hard with its retail partners to produce digital orders happen. But this year will probably be different.
"A year to the pandemic, we have seen precisely how resilient consumers are," says Hershey. "They love patterns, rituals and customs, and even though Covid--or perhaps regardless of Covid--they are keeping opportunities for connection and goodness a priority. They have gotten creative at planning meaningful encounters with their own families in the home, and candy is a major part of those parties. Many suggested that this yearthey intend to celebrate in larger ways than previously by purchasing more Easter candy, baking homemade snacks, making larger Easter baskets and planning backyard egg hunts."
While online grocery shopping will without doubt continue, shopping in shop will also. It just might be a bit different (and yes, much better ) than that which we all remember. It's ironic that in this day and age, while we've limited choices in entertainment, there are a lot of choices in shopping. Why can't they be interchangeable with one another?
During our 60 plus year history in retail, Medallion Retail has seen lots of changes in consumer behaviour. We apply our historic and tactical experience to our work in assisting brands and retailers stay applicable and customer-focused in physical retail spaces during difficult times like these.
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