Monthly Archives: March 2008

Don’t Fence Me In

Topics: Category Strategy, E-Bulletins / Newsletters, FMCG, Insights, Point of Purchase, Segmentation / Clustering, Shopper

Don't Fence Me InSingle person urban dwellings (or SPUDs) now account for 25% of all Australian households in 2008. More people are trading white picket fences for elevator access. But is the rise and rise of the SPUD being reflected in products and stores? Who is the SPUD shopper and what do they want and need?

While there is, no doubt, a variety of personal circumstances and reasons why a SPUD is a SPUD, one thing is for sure – it’s increasingly about freedom and choice. Don’t fence me in has become metaphorical and physical.

According to geo-demographic survey Mosaic 2008, 51.4% of Australian women are now choosing a singles lifestyle, and up to a quarter will never have children. Meanwhile more and more men are living alone and taking care of themselves – in fact a 2007 study from the US had 71% of men doing their own grocery shopping.
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Shopper Needs Sexy Brief

Topics: E-Bulletins / Newsletters, FMCG, Insights, Shopper

Shopper BriefsWe all know that decent briefs are essential to avoid the embarrassment of… misrepresentation (we’ll leave the image to your imagination). Well, so it is with shopper research. With the increasing focus on Shopper in the FMCG industry, here’s a what-you-need-to-know about briefing a shopper research project that will generate useful, commercially applicable results.

Before we have this discussion in depth, it’s worth a quick clarification about the difference between consumers and shoppers.

Shoppers generally need to be human (don’t laugh – pets are consumers but not shoppers!!), above 13 and may be buying for others or for themselves, for now or for later.

Consumers are the end users of the product that is shopped for. They may influence the shopper’s purchase decision, but so do many other factors. In some channels and situations, shopper and consumer are the same – like a person in a restaurant buying dinner for themselves. If they are shouting a partner, though, that partner is the consumer but not the shopper.

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USA Retail Tours

Topics: Uncategorized

USA Retail ToursStay ahead of your competitors by joining us on one of two retail and FMCG trend, best practice and fact finding missions to the global retail trendsetting hothouse – the USA between 4-7 May and 3-5 June 08. With the strength of the Aussie dollar, learning in the USA has never been so cheap!

US retail trends generally hit Australia 2-3 years later so this is your opportunity to be forewarned and forearmed, as well as gain a lot of new ideas into creative retailing and in-store marketing.

Tours include:

  • One of two conferences
  • A fully hosted set of store and trade visits across 4 major US destinations
  • Meetings and interviews with key industry executives
  • To read our Retail Tours brochure and details on costs and bookings, click here

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The FMCG Oscars: nominations for the top trends of 2008

Topics: Category Strategy, Channel / Retail, FMCG, Segmentation / Clustering

Published in Retail World 03.03.08 by ShopAbility Directors Peter Huskins and Norrelle Goldring

What are your hot picks and new year’s resolutions? Where is the industry going? Directors of ShopAbility, Peter Huskins and Norrelle Goldring, share their nominations for the top five FMCG trends of 2008 – what the best suppliers and retailers are doing, and why.

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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Mall Retailers

Topics: Channel / Retail, Point of Purchase

Published in Ad News 8.02.08 – by Norrelle Goldring, Director – ShopAbility

THE SHOPPER JOURNEY TO THE MALL

Whilst the number of shoppers visiting malls in small groups as a pure leisure outing is increasing, the majority of shopper trips to the mall are still destination based. That is, the shopper is going for a specific purpose or item, or set of purposes and items.

However, they’re also open to influence – nearly 90% of shoppers deviate (add to) their shopping list, regardless of whether the list is on paper on in their heads. So you have a good opportunity to ‘interrupt’ them once they arrive at the centre, with ‘while I’m here’ type reminders.

First and foremost however, you need to ensure that you get on their destination shopping list – to be the reason they’re going to the mall in the first place. Read More >