At Home With the Path to Purchase

INDUSTRY REPORT
PRESENTS:
At Home
With the Path
to Purchase
Underwritten by
in collaboration with the Institute.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• Historically, the path to purchase has been linear. At home, someone uses a product,
and then the primary shopper sees the need to restock, chooses a shopping
destination and, once there, makes a brand decision.
• While a lot of work is done in-store to affect that decision, there are opportunities to
influence shoppers before they get to the store.
• Research shows that 94% of primary grocery shoppers say they typically prepare
shopping lists. And 67% say they never or only occasionally buy items not on the list.
• Getting on the list can be tricky. If marketers know what shoppers are doing at home,
they’ll have a leg up on the competition.
• Moms are not the only ones contributing to the lists. Children and dads also have a
say.
• Lists are not necessarily written and often are mental, requiring triggers to stimulate
the thought process.
• Ultimately, making an impression before the shopper steps into the store elevates
the brand and makes it more likely that the brand will get on the shopping list,
whether written or mental.
A supplement to Shopper Marketing magazine
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INDUSTRY REPORT
T
he path to purchase can be straight, or long and
winding. From home to store shelf and home again,
the influencers are many, as are the moments of
truth. If the path to purchase doesn’t necessarily begin at
home, it certainly revolves around it.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR INFLUENCE
“If you look historically at how the path to purchase has
been laid out, it’s been very linear,” says Terrie Wendricks,
a consultant and formerly vice president of insights for
Sara Lee/Hillshire Brands. In the home, someone uses a
product, then mom (or the primary shopper) sees a need
to restock, chooses a shopping destination and, once
inside, makes a brand decision. “The industry has done
a really good job of understanding product performance
in the store,” she says, “but there’s been a big gap in truly
understanding what happens right before the decision to
go shopping. That really hasn’t been mapped out.”
“A lot of work is being done in-store, but we know that
you can influence before you go to the store,” says Fiona
Blades, president and chief experience officer, Mesh
Planning. “And from what we’ve seen, those moments
can be very powerful.”
What are Consumers’ Biggest
Meal-Planning Challenges?
Finding new ideas
55%
Finding meals that
are quick to make
Using recipes once a week
Finding meals that
are good tasting
52%
42%
37%
Like to try new foods
67%
Source: The NPD Group’s National Eating Trends® surveys, Feb. 2012.
“There’s a lot of talk about this idea of a ‘pre-shop,’”
adds Christopher Brace, founder, Shopper Intelligence,
“although it’s significantly underutilized as a strategic
planning tool.”
Messaging that reaches shoppers at home is largely
traditional: TV advertising, newspapers and FSIs. These
methods are tried and true, well researched and well
funded, but there are stones only now being turned
to discover new ways of reaching shoppers. Digital
messaging, social media and even packaging are
increasingly used as mediums to impart a brand or store
message to shoppers.
Blades says that Mesh Planning studies the way
shoppers pick up information, asking market research
“ There’s a lot of talk about
this idea of a pre-shop. It’s
significantly underutilized as
a strategic planning tool.”
Christopher Brace, founder,
Shopper Intelligence
subjects to alert her company whenever they come across
anything to do with certain brands via a text-messaged
code. There are four key points of interest: (1) which brand;
(2) which touchpoint or occasion (a TV ad, mailer to the
home, etc.); (3) how did the message make them feel;
and (4) how likely is it that they would choose that brand
the next time – was it a persuasive experience, in other
words. Blades says that the shopper-subjects embellish
their thoughts later on in an online diary: “We’ll see in
the comments how, when perhaps they’d been thinking
about what soft drinks to buy, they’d see a leaflet,” says
Blades. “From what we’ve seen, it can be those moments
that are very powerful.”
FreshSpace Media places ads and coupons on milk,
bread, eggs, produce and fresh meats, using these staple
items as a way to reach shoppers at home via multiple touch
points. The company’s research shows that a gallon milk
container is viewed multiple times by several family members
at various points until it is emptied. “It’s like a billboard on the
breakfast table,” says Geoff Jackson, president, marketing
and business development, FreshSpace Media. “That’s how
people absorb it: the ad impression is delivered multiple
times over a seven-to-ten-day window in the refrigerator, on
the kitchen counter, and on the kitchen table.”
The effect, he says, is measurable. FreshSpace ad
campaigns run over four weeks, but a recent analysis of 30
campaigns showed that the ad had a greater reach. There
was measurable lift for the featured brand during a 12week period (the four-week ad run plus the eight weeks
following). But that lift was sustained when extended
to a 26-week period, bringing in new or lapsed buyers.
In one example for an established frozen breakfast
brand, among households exposed to FreshSpace milk
advertising (as part of a national integrated campaign),
dollar sales increased by 17.8% per 1,000 households in
the test vs. a control group. That lift, Jackson says, was
the result of increased levels of household penetration,
driving a slightly increased buy-rate among existing
buyers and attracting many lapsed and new buyers.
Obviously, making an impression inside the home
is one important way of getting on the all-important
shopping list.
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The Rise of Snacking
I
n 2012, snacking grew to 53% of all eating occasions,
up from 49% in 2010, according to The Hartman
Group’s OBM Eating Compass survey. The NPD
Group estimates that children under 18 are eating
nearly 17 billion snack meals, and that one-in-five
meal occasions is now a snack.
Trend: Snacking Now Represents
20% of All Meal Occasions
(% of in-home & away-from-home meals, by occasion)
Dinner
Snacks
27%
20%
Lunch
25%
Breakfast
28%
Snacking has changed substantially in the past 20
years, according to The Hartman Group. Snacking
is no longer “special,” infrequent, just for children
or confined to only a small number of product
categories. Meanwhile, the snacks themselves
have evolved far beyond conventional categories
to include fresh items and higher-quality products
(38% of adult snacking is savoring), and involve both
food and beverage items (56% of occasions involve
both, 30% involve just food, and 13% involve just a
beverage).
According to Technomic’s “Snacking Occasions”
Consumer Trend Report, 55% of consumers snack
once a day, 21% say they are now snacking more
frequently than they were two years ago, and 77% say
they usually snack while watching television.
Hartman’s Shelley Balanko, senior vice president
of business development, calls this “a departure from
a culture of cooking to one of eating.” Why is this
significant? “It widens the target market,” she says.
“The way we eat has fundamentally changed. There’s
a lot more snacking and culturally, we are becoming
less and less grounded by our meals.”
Source: The NPD Group NET and CREST services, year ending February 2012.
Does not include skipped meals.
THE SHOPPING LIST
The vast majority of households’ primary grocery
shoppers say they make a shopping list – 94% according
to data from The NPD Group. Sticking to that list may be
an even more important element of the story, with 67%
of shoppers saying they never or only occasionally buy
items that aren’t on their list.
Granted, the realities of self-reported behavior and
post-shop basket audits sometimes paint different
stories. “One of the things we know about shoppers
is that everyone thinks they’re a planner,” says Lily LevGlick, founder of Shopper Sense. “But we do know that
at least four in 10 shoppers really do use some kind of
list, whether written down or on their phone, so pushing
“ There’s a big gap in truly
understanding what happens
right before the decision
to go shopping. That really
hasn’t been mapped out.”
Terrie Wendricks, industry consultant
Trend: A Shopping List
Is Now a Critical Tool
(% of in-home & away-from-home meals, by occasion)
94%
67%
of primary grocery shoppers say
they typically prepare a shopping
list prior to grocery shopping.
of shoppers never
or only occasionally buy
items not on the list.
Source: The NPD Group/NET Shopper Insights 2012
messages based on pre-store planning is probably a very
valuable strategy.”
Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst, The
NPD Group, says: “Quite a lot of people prepare some kind
of list, so getting on the list is certainly very important. We’re
not trying to say that decisions aren’t made in the store, but
it requires a full understanding of the entire cycle.”
That cycle begins at home. “A lot of the big influencers
occur in the home,” Seifer says. “Shoppers, after all, don’t
just end up at a grocery store by mistake and decide to
hang out there. They’re driven by some need.”
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Whether or not they physically make a list, 49% of
shoppers report “taking stock” of what they might need
before going to the store, according to The Hartman
Group’s “Shopping Topography 2012” study. Almost
every shopper believes they have a well-planned
method for a successful shopping list. They check the
refrigerator, pantry and medicine cabinets; they ask other
household members; they check out circulars and look
for coupons. Jackson says that intercepting shoppers at
these “moments of need” – standing in front of an open
refrigerator, taking inventory – can have a huge impact
during this pre-shop phase.
Getting onto the list can be tricky, however. Not only
are there many interruptions and messages competing
for attention, there can be different human influencers
along the way, each with different habits and interests.
I
“ Four in 10 shoppers use
some kind of list… pushing
messages based on pre-store
planning is probably a very
valuable strategy.”
Lily Lev-Glick, founder of Shopper Sense
“The main shopper is going to be listening to other
members of the household in terms of what they might
need, or dislike, or may be asking for,” says Blades. “And
certainly, if somebody requests something, it’s going to
directly influence the main shopper.”
Millennial Moms
Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst,
The NPD Group. “They’d been brought up with the
mindset that maybe this behavior should be delayed,”
he says. “Then they become parents.”
Millennial moms are new to providing for a family
and are more in need of advice than older moms,
according to The NPD Group’s “Generation Moms”
report. It’s not just a matter of influence; these moms
are looking for recipes and advice about what to
buy and cook for their families. They are also more
engaged with and influenced by social media. This is
where CPGs can best make an impact.
Millennial moms are also more likely to turn to
outside sources for meal advice. The Internet and
social media are nearly as important
as friends and family. But more than
half of these moms say they aren’t
Question: Which of these Sources of Information
Have a Strong Influence on Meal Decision-Making? seeking any help on matters of meal
planning, nutrition or food choices.
(% agreement among moms, aged 22-56 years)
Reaching this group presents a
Young
challenge, at least for the moment.
Boomer
Millennial
Gen X
“We see a lot of old-fashioned,
Moms
Moms
Moms
All
old-school shopping behavior with
25%
30%
23%
17%
Millennials,” says Julie Quick, vice
Friends/Relatives
president of shopper marketing,
18%
25%
14%
13%
Internet/Websites
Project: WorldWide. Coupons,
14%
14%
16%
12%
Magazine/Newspaper
shared deals and a focus on the
shopping list all rank high with this
13%
18%
10%
7%
Medical Professional
group. “But it’s more about the fact
13%
20%
10%
2%
Pinterest
that they are new shoppers still
honing their skills and tend to be
5%
8%
4%
1%
Social Media
a little bit over-involved in those
Smartphone/Apps
4%
7%
2%
n/a
activities. As they get older, those
None of these
57%
47%
62%
69%
behaviors will go away.”
f there’s a generation capable of redefining the
path to purchase, it’s the “Millennials,” that techsavvy group that is on the cusp of having children
and experiencing all the pangs of new motherhood.
The “Millennial Mom” is still learning how to feed her
family, is interested in good nutrition – although not
as focused on healthy eating as older moms – and is
cost conscious.
This is a demographic that came of age during a
recession. Even in her teens and 20s, she was aware
of food prices and the economy of dining at home
whether it was alone, with family or while entertaining
friends. Millennials also aren’t going to restaurants as
much as people their same age did 10 years ago, says
Source: The NPD Group/Moms Custom Survey, October 2012
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Trend: More Meals are being Prepared & Consumed In-Home
(% share of all meal opportunities, including skipped meals)
64.1%
64.5%
63.8%
63.4%
1997
1998
64.0% 64.1% 63.6% 63.7% 64.2%
63.9%
64.6%
65.3%
67.4%
65.9%
62.6%
62.4%
1996
66.8%
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007 2008
2009
2010 2011
2012
Source: The NPD Group calculation based on National Eating Trends® and CREST® databases.
Question: Prior to Shopping, Who
Contributes to Your Household’s
Written List?
52%
Question: How Often Do the Children
(age 2-17) Choose What They’ll Eat
at In-Home Meal Occasions?
14%
Spouse/partner
24%
Lunch
Dinner
At least one other
household member
31%
Breakfast
45%
Children
3%
Between-Meal Snack
46%
Source: The NPD Group/Moms Custom Survey, October 2012
Source: The NPD Group/NET Shopper Insights 2012
“Not every American eats the same way” says NPD’s
Seifer, “But if you know what they’re doing at home all
the time, then you have a leg up on understanding what
they’re eating and what they are doing so marketers can
get on that list.”
THE INFLUENCERS
While “Shopper Mom” is the FMCPG industry’s archetype
for consumer behavior in-store, “Mom” is far from the
only person contributing to the list. In nearly half of all
households, someone other than the primary shopper
contributes, according to The NPD Group. In households
with kids, non-mom contributions increase: 60% of these
“ A lot of the big influencers
occur in the home. Shoppers,
after all, don’t just end up at
a grocery store by mistake –
they’re driven by some need.”
Darren Seifer, food and beverage
industry analyst, The NPD Group
households have spouses that contribute, and in 43% of
these homes, children add items to the shopping list.
As of 2010, there are more than 83 million children in
the U.S., according to census data. This includes biological,
adopted, step- and grandchildren – all living in a variety
of households. Children now exert an enormous amount
of influence on shopping behavior and consumption.
What’s more, kids’ annual meals per capita increased
from 710 to 753 while those eaten away from home
declined. Americans in general are eating more meals at
home, a trend begun in 2008 as the recession deepened.
It’s one with some staying power. The economic recovery
has been slow and consumers are either still reluctant or
unable to spend on dinners out they way they once had.
More dining at home means more shopping trips.
According to census data, households with children
present are spending about twice as much annually on
groceries: $8,684 for households with children present vs.
$3,951 for those without. Snacking is also on the rise for
both adults and children.
Kids have a good deal of influence over what they eat
for nearly every occasion, except dinner. Kids between
the ages of 2-17 have the most decision-maker power
over snacks (46%) and breakfast (31%), followed by lunch
(34%) and finally dinner (3%).
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Get on the List? Get into the Kitchen
I
n an age when multiple marketing messages are
constantly fighting for attention in the store, at
home, and on the go, here’s one more to consider:
the milk carton. Milk is not only ubiquitous in American
homes, it’s especially popular with a hard-to-reach
demographic – teens.
Daily Milk Consumption Patterns
Among Teens
(Sample = 50% male, 50% female; 37% = 13-15, 63% = 16-19)
• 91% of teens eat breakfast at home.
• Gallon milk is most prevalent in the household:
• 61% have only gallon milk
• 33% have gallons and half-gallons
• 6% have only half-gallons
• Milk is consumed frequently
• 61% consume it daily
• 27% consume it 2-3 times per week
• 98% of teens pour their own milk
• 31% of teens leave milk out on the breakfast table
or kitchen cabinet
• 45% of teens recall seeing advertising on their
milk container
Source: Qualtrics study of milk consumption, interaction, and ad interest among teens.
Research by FreshSpace Media shows that 61% of
teens consume milk frequently, 27% do so two to
three times each day. Approximately 98% pour their
own milk while 31% leave the container out on the
breakfast table or kitchen counter. Nearly 45% recall
seeing advertising on the milk container.
“If you want to connect with your shopper when
they’re at home, the question is not ‘How do I push an
ad in front of them,’ it’s ‘How do we place our brand
message at the moment it’s most relevant to the
shopper,’” says Christopher Brace, founder, Shopper
Intelligence. “So we don’t have to push the message,
they invite it in.”
FreshSpace places ads on gallons of milk to
serve “as a billboard on the breakfast table,” says
Geoff Jackson, president, marketing and business
development. FreshSpace data suggests that 90% of
households with kids consume milk at least once a
day, and milk is consumed throughout the day. The
key is visibility to the 49% of shoppers who report
that they “take stock” of what they might need before
going to the store, according to The Hartman Group’s
“Shopping Topography” study.
Jackson, who was director of integrated and
shopper marketing at Campbell’s Soup prior to
joining FreshSpace, says that when a consumer is
taking an in-home inventory prior to a shopping
trip, the first place they go is the refrigerator, and the
number one thing they check is the milk. “Giving
brands the opportunity to deliver an impression at
that critical moment is truly a point of difference for
us versus almost any other marketing tool available
today,” he says.
That same milk carton lends itself to digital and
social engagement as well, he says. “Smartphones
are ubiquitous and they are at the kitchen table with
us,” says Jackson. A digital pilot, with Campbell’s,
prompted consumers to take online quizzes, view
videos and access recipe content. Engagement was
considered high as consumers engaged with an
average of 10 digital challenges. Approximately 70%
signed up for a weekly meal mail, 39% were new
“likes” on Facebook, and 15% followed the brand on
Twitter.
A pilot program with the Blippar Augmented Reality
app enables consumers to access additional content
and download coupons from the FreshSpace oncarton message. “These digital partnerships allow us to
add a level of interactivity and a deeper engagement
with the brand to our ad units” says Jackson. “We have
a relatively static offline medium, but we’re pretty
unique in that we sit on the kitchen table.”
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“ We may be providing the
last moment to get on the
shopping list while mom is
standing there in front of
the refrigerator.”
Geoff Jackson, president, marketing and
business development, FreshSpace Media
Dinner is where mom has the ultimate control and,
ironically, the least amount of time to plan. Brands in
this meal category will benefit from having more direct
influence with this key decision-maker.
Men are shopping more than they used to, or so
researchers would have us believe. According to The
Hartman Group’s Shopping Topography 2012 report,
men are filling store aisles as frequently as women across
all channels. In fact, 47% of primary shoppers are male
and 57% of Hispanic primary shoppers are male, found
the report.
However, dads may not be doing their fair share of
the grocery shopping. According to NPD’s “Generation
Mom” report, just 19% of dads are grocery shopping,
although fathers married to Millennial moms tend to be
doing more around the house when it comes to grocery
shopping, meal decisions and helping out with the kids.
Still, the prevailing wisdom is that dads are more
involved in household and family activities and marketers
are responding.
“Dad is becoming more like mom,” says Art Sebastian,
director of sales strategy and customer development,
Kraft Foods. “She used to handle a lot of the planning,
but given the complexity of life, everyone is starting to
have more influence.” That influence extends to kids
these days, especially in the growing snack categories.
When FreshSpace studied its prime marketing vehicle
– the gallon of milk – and its interaction with all members
of the household, it learned that 98% of teens pour their
own milk, and a large number leave the container on the
kitchen table while they eat. “There’s a lot of opportunity
to drive requests from dads and kids,” says Jackson.
Not everyone makes a list, but those who do are more
likely to stick to it, spend less time in stores and have
less fun or positive engagement with brands and retail
banners than those who don’t. Getting the attention of
these shoppers before the store therefore is imperative.
Off-list influences matter, too. “It’s a great objective
to lock into the list because those who make lists tend
to follow through,” says Julie Quick, vice president of
shopper marketing, Project: WorldWide. “But on the
flipside, if you’re only focused on getting onto a list,
you’re probably not capturing the full opportunity. I
want to be part of her trip mission and trip plan. I want
to be the top-of-mind category and brand as she’s going
to the store.”
Shoppers say they make lists, but often those lists are
mental, not written, leaving a lot of room for deviation.
Even list makers more often than not include a product
category, not a brand. For CPGs, conquering this part of
the pre-shop stage is especially challenging. “It’s about
understanding how people pre-shop any given category,”
says Brace. “What are the touch points they use, both
Attitudes Toward Meal Preparation
Among Working Moms
(Index of agreement with each statement; “All Moms” = 100)
“I bring home the brands kids request.”
Moms who work full-time
121
Moms who work part-time
108
All moms
100
Stay at home moms
98
“Convenience is most important in foods.”
124
Moms who work full-time
100
All moms
98
Moms who work part-time
Stay at home moms
77
“Price is not an issue in foods.”
“ Dad is becoming more like
mom. She used to handle a lot
of the planning, but given the
complexity of life, everyone is
starting to have more influence.”
Art Sebastian, director of sales strategy and
customer development, Kraft Foods
110
Moms who work full-time
100
All moms
93
Moms who work part-time
Stay at home moms
78
Source: The NPD Group/National Eating Trends, 2 years ending May 2012.
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digital and non-digital? What is the information they seek
from those touch points? If you know what those are, the
brand can connect in.”
“And it can happen at any moment in time,” says
Sebastian. “There is a handful of what we call ‘trigger
categories’ that stimulate the thought processes of
shoppers.” One of these categories, he says, is cheese
along with fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, carbonated soft
drinks, cereal, bottled water, coffee and frozen pizza.
Fundamentally, the retailer is in control of the in-store
experience, brand presentation and “First Moment of
Truth” at the shelf. “Obviously, if impulse buying didn’t
happen, we wouldn’t be spending on trade promotions,”
says Jackson. But making an impression before the
shopper steps into the store not only elevates a brand,
but makes it more likely that the brand gets onto any lists
that are imprinted in that shopper’s mind.
When in doubt, says Sebastian, try to be everywhere
the consumer is. Kraft’s shopper marketing campaign for
the Fresh Take line of seasoned breadcrumbs and cheese
“It’s a great objective to lock
into the list. Those who make
lists tend to follow through.”
Julie Quick, vice president of shopper
marketing, Project: WorldWide
coatings for proteins did just that. It first reached shoppers
at home with traditional messaging, then staged events
in store parking lots with food trucks, sampling the
product to reach them just before entering the store. POS
signage and displays gave a final nudge. The campaign
is ongoing, he says, “But as we measure success, not only
did we sell more of our product but we were able to drive
the entire category for the retailer.”
■
FreshSpace works with some of the biggest brands in the world to deliver media impressions to consumers while
they are in their homes, preparing/consuming meals and planning to go back to the store. The company offers a
range of products and services including advertisements on a perishable, high-penetration, high-velocity perimeter item: GALLON MILK. The FreshSpace network reaches the top 200 DMAs, is distributed in over 50,000 stores
from coast to coast, and has penetration into more than 60MM households per month. CPG marketers can target
shoppers and consumers in a number of ways including: geography based on dairy footprint; retailer via private
label network; demographic via select partners; or the half-gallon network to reach boomers and smaller households. Nearly 100 analytic studies across multiple categories have show significant sales lifts and strong ROIs.
Contact: FreshSpace Media LLC, 317 Madison Ave, Suite 1700, New York, NY 10038
212.206.9000 ext. 124, info@freshspace.com, www.freshspace.com
The Path to Purchase Institute is a global association serving the needs of retailers, brands and the entire ecosystem of solution providers along the path to purchase. Through a variety of platforms, the Institute engages,
informs and empowers its members and the industry at large while fostering best practices and a deeper understanding of all marketing efforts and touch-points that influence and culminate in purchase decisions at retail.
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