Use the shopper market basket to grow sales and shopper loyalty

Time-starved consumers rarely choose only one item when they shop at any store. They strive to get all the items on their shopping list while they are in the store. They want convenience and they don’t have time to shop multiple stores.   

So why does this matter? When a shopper buys your brand, what other items are they purchasing at the same time? What’s in their market basket when they check out? 

Being able to answer this will give you insights that your competitors don’t have. It will give you the actionable insights that retailers REALLY want, thus providing you with a significant and substantial competitive advantage. 

The harsh reality is that canned topline reports do little if anything to help you drive sales. A canned ranking report, the same canned report your competition shares, will not differentiate you from the other brands in the category. 

If you want to stand out on a crowded shelf, then you need strategies other brands overlook. Market basket is one of the most overlooked strategies ALL brands miss. 

The reason for this is that it’s sometimes difficult to capture this information and there are very few resources available that accurately measure this. This should not stop you. The easiest and best way to capture this is to talk with your customers where they shop including online. Ask them why they choose your brand over other brands and what they purchase along with your brand. 

Yes, this is unscientific but this strategy works. I once used it to help a natural brand gain national distribution. You will begin to identify patterns in your shopper's behavior as you talk to them. Their insights are invaluable and offer a huge opportunity for you. There is nothing more impactful than being able to use your loyal customer's words to define and celebrate your brand. You can also use them in all of your marketing, – including social media. 

Once you capture these valuable insights, you can begin to share them with retailers. When you are ready, and where you can afford it, you can validate these insights through a third party resource to add credibility to your insights. The best part of this strategy is that you can save valuable money and time by not having the third party validator chase after the wrong insights.