With all the hype around social media and digital marketing what we are learning now is that POP displays and things like packaging can still lead to conversion. Despite a shopping list being a tool to stay on budget and eliminate unnecessary purchases, research shows that nine out of ten shoppers still buy items not on their list.
Of these shoppers who purchase off-list items,
- 66 percent say the reason was a sale or promotion,
- 30 percent say they found a coupon, and
- 23 percent say they simply wanted to pamper themselves.
Data shows that 61 percent of off-list shoppers purchase an additional 1-3 items. [pullquote]”This shows that if you reach a particular shopper at the right moment with the right message, for example—using in-store signage to play into their desire to pamper themselves— it can end with that item being added to their basket.”[/pullquote]
When it comes to list-making,
- 61 percent of shoppers are influenced primarily by the brand of product they currently use
- 57 percent report that coupons influence their list, and
- 56 percent say store ads or circulars influence their list. However, when shoppers are making lists, they typically do not write down brand names of a product, they write the product type.
This means that although they may have their brand of choice in mind, there are factors that can influence a shopper to select one brand of a product over the other, telling marketers they need not worry that a shopping list excludes certain brands or creates a barrier to purchase.
So does this mean that social media and digital marketing is not important ? Of course not it just means that marketers may be allocating marketing dollars to the wrong channel. A great looking and functioning website maybe nice but if a POP display drives more sales than why aren’t you looking for innovative ways to catch their attention at the store ?