The shopper journey has forever changed as the digital world has transformed how people shop. The internet allows people to research products online which means shoppers start their shopping journey even before entering a store. It’s time to look at the shopper journey from the shopper’s point of view and acknowledge the shopper’s needs and experience.
Shopping is no longer a straightforward logical journey and there is more exploration and adventure. Shoppers start the journey at different places, use multiple information sources, and journeys are different lengths and intensities resulting in a gradual narrowing of choices.
A behavioral approach is required along all types of research. It’s crucial to get inside the shopper’s mind and develop a snapshot of the shopper brain and understand the sub-conscious drivers of behavior. Humans can’t describe what’s happening in our subconscious. As researchers, there are some key pieces of information that shoppers either won’t or can’t explain to us.
Emotions also play a big role in shopper behavior. Wouldn’t it be nice if our purchase decisions were rational and logical based on the careful consideration of all the available options? The truth is, they rarely are. Rather, our emotions are the main drivers of our purchase decisions. To develop the best shopper experience possible, it’s imperative to understand the key emotional drivers in your shopper’s needs, wants, and behaviors in the purchase journey. This allows for the creation of personalized shopping experiences that shoppers can relate to and creates loyalty to drive sales.
Today, consumers have an unlimited appetite for information. Loyalty to brand is waning as shoppers have limitless access to information and reasons to switch. Information has replaced value as the most important thing shoppers are looking for. In most categories, two-thirds of shoppers do some kind of online search before purchasing. Furthermore, on average shoppers use 10 or more sources of information before making a decision to buy. Everything from searching online, looking at brand or retail websites, reading reviews, talking with associates at a store to comparing prices at shelf. (Google 2011)
Due to this insatiable appetite for information, it’s important to look at what shoppers interacting with. Indicators such as usage, influence, and time around touch points both on and offline. Identify substitution and walk-away points for different groups. Influence is often taking place at unexpected times – sometimes much sooner or later than one would expect. (e.g., some people are spending three to five days thinking about a $2 purchase)
The other trend that’s emerging is that there is no such thing as a “low engagement” category anymore. Since consumers have unlimited access to information every category should be treated as a consideration category. (e.g., mushroom-infused coffee)
In summary, the shopper journey is constantly changing and we need to always question our assumptions about when, where, and how people are getting information. The trick is to understand where shoppers are getting their information and how they use those sources.
