Professor’s Corner – Selling at Retail? Increase your ROI on marketing dollars.

Posted on 22. Jul, 2009 by C.A. Walker in iGrok Research

Some analysts have explored the idea or theory that marketing a product to the general consumer market at large, via advertising messages through various media delivery vehicles, falls short of what additional results can be achieved with shoppers in the retail setting. The thought is that at retail, a store can employ tactics on behalf of a brand beyond the reach of conventional advertising and marketing communications.

This is not to say that marketers and their efforts stop at the retailer’s front door. Marketers will fund displays, coupons, special offers and the like that the retailer will pass along. A modest investment in market research before significant marketing, advertising, and merchandising decisions are made will help ensure a return on those investments. Some of the things that marketers can enable to help at retail are:

• Conducting research, both general surveys of consumers at large, and intercept or exit interviews with shoppers in stores, to understand attitudes, awareness, and usage patterns.
• The research will develop an understanding of who buys for the household, who consumes, and why some brands are chosen and others not.
• The research will also pinpoint the impact of any merchandising efforts, using a limited group of stores and asking detailed questions of participants.
• Based on the research results, marketers can create products and packaging that are unique to the particular retailer’s customers’ needs.

C.A. Walker, through our market research experience and skills, can work with marketers to fine tune their consumer (general market) and shopper (at retail) marketing efforts to maximize their return on marketing expenditures. Contact one of our executives to learn more.

To contact The Professor, email Dr. Kevin Gentry, Group Vice President at C.A. Walker Research Solutions.

The Professor has a doctorate in Social Psychology from the University of Southern California, and has been practicing market research for many years.