SUCCESS BEGINS WITH CONSUMER INSIGHTS

April 21, 2017

Understanding and serving the needs of the changing customer begins by asking a very different question. For years, retailers and suppliers have used transactional data to best understand what shoppers buy – but future success may require a better understanding of why.

To succeed, retailers must have a better understanding of overall needs, motivators, behaviors and choices along with how those very same issues are changing.  For example, until recently, convenience was usually linked to locations that made it easy for shoppers to reach and use the store.

As we see happening already, emerging technologies like online shopping are altering the nature of convenience as shopping can be done whenever and wherever, with products delivered directly to the home. Yet stores can remain relevant to these very same shoppers by using shopper insights and analytics to better understand and address their constantly changing needs and wants.

It won’t be easy. But as shown in Surviving the Brave New World of Food Retailing: A Roadmap to Relevance, the new report from the Coca‑Cola Retailing Research Council North America, retailers can better understand the consumer journey by developing profiles, understanding triggers and fulfilling those needs. The study offers detailed processes to help companies navigate these new challenges.