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Snacks Retail Expertise

Why Elevated Partnerships are Key to an Effective Retail Strategy

Kate Silver
Contributor
  • By sharing insights within company departments, businesses can bridge silos.
  • When collaborating between companies as partners, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of the shopper, building value and loyalty. 

 

 

Today’s retail landscape can feel like a maze for shoppers. With online options, delivery choices and in-store opportunities, the choices are more mind-boggling than ever before. In fact, Hershey’s recent “Month in the Life” study, which followed 500 shoppers for a month, found that shoppers take nearly 60 trips in a typical month, or more than two trips a day. That's a lot of trips, and yet, shoppers are only considering more than one option on 12 percent of those trips. That means there’s a limited opportunity to win a shopper over.

That’s why retailers and manufacturers, alike, are striving to better understand shoppers, their motivations and their behaviors so that they can increase store trips, build bigger baskets and earn loyalty. In other words, they’re seeking to “get” shoppers. And in order to “get” shoppers, collaboration is critical in the current retail landscape.

1. When partners share data, everybody wins.

We work to help our partners develop an approach that is led by insights, many of which are made richer with context from different departments and even different companies. media buyer’s knowledge of the consumer can provide a richer context for merchandising. A supply chain manager can learn valuable information from manufacturers. By responsibly sharing data across the entire spectrum, all parties involved can gain a deeper understanding of who the consumer is and what he or she wants, building on shopper value.

2. A unified strategy can bridge silos.

When everyone in a company is speaking the same strategic language, they can start to come together and make decisions holistically. For example, category managers and digital managers can collaborate closely so that navigation and pay points are aligned in-store and online. In turn, category managers can share shopper behavior data that is collected online and in-store for even deeper insights. Retailers can learn a lot by answering questions such as: What is the consumer browsing? What search terms are they using? Are there digital trends you can uncover that could help in organizing the physical aisle? When departments collaborate, digital teams can uncover an array of shopper insights that could help in brick-and-mortar stores, and vice versa.

3. When retailers and manufacturers work together, broader insights emerge.

While retailers collect a wealth of data on transactions, manufacturers have deep understanding of the categories in which they sit. When those insights are overlaid, a more expansive view of retail and category management takes shape. Both retailers and manufacturers can benefit, and so does the shopper.

When retailers and their partners work together to better understand shoppers, they can help build loyalty. And when shoppers feels valued, they become more valuable to all parties involved.


For Hershey's guide on how to unlock your retail potential, and to learn more about elevated partnerships, download the full report, “Creating Value in a Shoppers’ World.”