TheShopperWonk

The Rise of Shopper Management

Today we are kicking off our national Consumer 360 client conference in Orlando. TheShopperWonk will be actively blogging including video clips from our clients and presenters throughout the conference.

As manager of the Shopper Management Area of Expertise I will be moderating a panel discussion in two concurrent sessions entitled "The Continued Rise of Customer Centricity". That panel will include an outstanding group of market leading clients including:

Melissa Zip, Food Lion

Rob Colarossi, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group

Lisa Klauser, Unilever

David Newman, PepsiCo

Diane Harper, Kraft

Prior to kicking off the panel I will set a foundation for the discussion by articulating our view of the evolution of the market so that we can all orient ourselves to the emerging Shopper Management space.

Market Evolution

Today’s shopper has access to more choice & convenience than ever before with a typical grocery retail outlet having over 40,000 skus to choose from. In addition, channels have doubled over the past 50 years. In my neighborhood in San Clemente, California there are seven different channels available for certain categories. Shoppers are bombarded with ads throughout their day. This environment creates a major challenge for our clients, both manufacturers and retailers, as it results in a shopper that is highly impulsive and largely disloyal.

Thus the importance of understanding shoppers and shopper behavior has never been more critical. With the advent of access to granular forms of shopper data including frequent shopper data, tlog and even better access to panel data we have seen an evolution from legacy Category Management to Shopper Management.

Nielsen Development Paths

At Nielsen we have invested in three development paths in the Shopper Management space.

1. Loyalty: We have a number of pilots and full implementations going in the loyalty space. Loyalty is the richest dataset in that in addition to the tlog (basket data) there is a longitudinal identifier that allows us to track behavior over time. This yields a rich tableau of loyalty analytics.

2. Tlog: In addition we are piloting a tlog service as well. Half the top 50 retailers do not have a loyalty card and therefore lack the longitudinal identifier mentioned above. This service focuses on basket analytics in particular and the impact of individual items on total store behavior and basket value.

3. Panel: Our panel is one of the most advanced shopper databases in existence. We have strived to make it easier to extract analytical value from our panel. Thus we have recently launched new Shopper Management guided analytical roadmaps to make analysis that used to take an analyst and a number of days render in a matter of seconds. These new roadmaps sit atop our syndicated databases and provide unprecedented ease of access of shopper insights via our Answers portal. (Note: Please see a demo of these in the Networking Café at the conference or by contacting Peter Huisman: peter.huisman@nielsen.com.

Nielsen’s comprehensive development and learning paths will ultimately converge to a fully integrated platform delivered through Answers. Moreover these developments will help us evolve from the world’s best information company to the world’s best analytics company that is delivered in a highly consultative solution oriented approach. Shopper Management is one of those solution focal points and is indeed on the rise! We look forward to continuing to partner with an outstanding group of clients to evolve the space.

See you in Orlando!

-Jay Stockwell, TheShopperWonk

-email: jay.stockwell@nielsen.com

Organizing Your Overflowing Data Closet? Nielsen Has The Answers

Do you know what’s in your closet? A friend once showed me her two oversized walk-in closets, packed from top to bottom in complete disarray. Thousands of dollars worth of tops, skirts, pants, suits, dresses, scarves, shoes… you name it, it was squished in –there… somewhere. Oddly enough, she typically wore the same old pieces in regular rotation… while continuing to buy more stuff! I asked why she wasn’t using the extensive wardrobe she owned. She rolled her eyes and groaned, "Ugh, I can never find anything in there… I don’t even know what I own."

Sound familiar? Now, picture those closets stuffed with data. Nielsen Homescan’s syndicated Consumer & Shopper Insights Suite consists of over 10 billion data points per update. How on earth can a brand manager or sales rep be expected to extract just the right information to help drive better business decisions from 10 billion data points? Never fear, Nielsen’s new Answers Shopper Management roadmaps (consider it the "California Closets" of consumer insights) now organizes, retrieves, and helps interpret the most critical findings about shoppers and their purchasing behavior. The roadmaps leverage pre-processed data sets derived from the most robust consumer panel available today, to help quickly and easily find a story, determine next steps, and drive business growth (creating that perfect outfit!)

Answers Shopper Management roadmaps break down this wealth of information into a set of Consumer Diagnostics (Market Level) reports for brand marketers, and a set of Shopper Diagnostics (Chain Level) reports for sales and category management applications. The analyses are   logically organized into a list of concise business questions. One click brings you immediately to the relevant graphic, smart text, highlighted insights and recommendations to address your question. Within any report, lies the ability to change data selections re-populating all of the above dynamically! Cool stuff -- and the fastest, most comprehensive way to better understand shopping behavior across a vast set of categories and brands, channels and retailers, markets and trade areas, consumer segments and shopper groups.

View sample screenshots here (click and they will expand), and be sure to check back for future posts on how Answers Shopper Management roadmaps bring clarity to the world of shopper insight.

Email Peter Huisman @ peter.huisman@nielsen.com for a demonstration.

- Janice Linnane, Co-founder, The ShopperWonk

-email: janice.linnane@nielsen.com