Research for "Finding the Way Forward" included examining shoppers in five markets, talking to retailers and conducting a two-day workshop. "What we really wanted to create with this published piece was something that any retailer could start taking advantage of right away," Paul Ballew, vice president of insight and strategy at Integer, told CSP Daily [image-nocss] News. "Whether you're an independent single-store operator or one of the bigger chains, there's opportunity for growth."
According to the study, the bottom tiers of shopper needssafety, cleanliness and hospitalityinclude threshold needs that are not necessarily being met by retailers because they are so familiar or retailers might think they have them covered. "If you're not at parity with your competition in those three areas, you're tending to create negative value for your consumers," Ballew said. As an example of one of those negative values, Ballew discussed stores with "no loitering" signs. "It typically made people feel uneasy, like there were situations that had occurred before that had to be remedied."
Ballew said cleanliness is becoming a more important tier as foodservice continues to evolve in the c-store channel. "If the restroom is not clean, then am I going to partake in your foodservice offer?"
As for hospitality, it comes down to people feeling welcomed. "They need to feel in some way accommodated for shopping the store, whether through good customer service from your staff or the layout navigation in the store."
Once a retailer has mastered those tiers, the top tiers include simplicity and ease, and time enrichment. Simplicity and ease includes better understanding who your customer is in "just-in-time scenarios," and can include installing drive-thrus or other elements of functionality. Time enrichment is about connecting with shoppers more emotionally through culture, causes and community, and can reinforce an "element of delight" in shoppers. "Operators who begin to satisfy among those particular tiers are now being able to differentiate their brand," Ballew said.
Ballew also cited numbers from Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. that 67% of all shopping trips are somehow based in convenience, yet c-stores are only getting 7% of those trips. "For us, it really framed up both the issue and a massive opportunity for the channel," he said.
Watch for tomorrow's CSP Daily News to learn more about those opportunities, the six types of shoppers retailers can focus on, and how to take advantage of each of them.
The NACS/Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council is composed of convenience industry leaders from around the world and conducts studies on issues that help retailers respond to the changing marketplace. The Integer Group is a promotional and retail marketing agency, specializing in the intersection of branding and selling.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.