Retail Strategy: Re-Defining the Shopper Base

Background:

A global retailer came to us with a shopper challenge: their core shoppers were kids and young tweens (and their parents), and they felt there was room to age up the brand. They wanted to understand what’s making people stop shopping, and if there are strategies they could employ to capture a share of the market for longer.

Objectives:

Determine the age at which people stop shopping there and why. Understand where they are shopping instead and why. Uncover insights into what is needed to encourage teens and twenty-somethings to continue shopping, without alienating the younger shopper base. Measure similarities and differences across global markets.

Approach:

We designed a quantitative study that was sent to 3 audiences (parents of kids who shop the store, tweens/teens and adults) in 3 global markets. The study asked questions about:

• Brand Metrics vs. Competitors (localized to each market), including awareness, favorability, purchase consideration and past purchase

• Shopping Occasions to understand how much was gifting vs. purchase for self

• Brand Attributes and Driver Analysis tied to purchase intent vs. localized competitors

• Overall brand perceptions via open-ended questions

My Role:

I led conversations with the CMO at the client and additional consultants they were working with. Having a story-driven presentation was incredibly important to them, and I worked with them to build a presentation that would resonate with the full C-Suite and other marketing and product leaders.

Outcomes:

I presented the findings to the C-Suite and other leaders during an offsite. Our data showed that aging up the brand was possible, but that it would require adjustments to both product and marketing strategies. In addition, significant improvements would need to be made to all e-commerce channels, which had previously not been a priority. I communicated these findings with sensitivity and received positive feedback from senior leaders at the client for delivering a tough message grounded in data and consumer truths. Following the project, the brand’s marketing and e-commerce presence have evolved to reflect my recommendations.