Employing Consumer Decision Trees to Maximize the Changing Shopper Value Equation
Elevating the Experience
Experience is fast becoming the increasingly critical constant in this formula for both brick-and-mortar and online grocery retailers. Online grocers often speak of having just three orders to win an online shopper’s loyalty, and they’re right. Research continues to show that if their early experience isn’t good, online shoppers will leave and, in most cases, never return.
Brick-and-mortar grocers, cognizant that providing a superior in-store experience for shoppers is critical to driving repeat visits, are aggressively looking for the tools and technology they need to 1) decide what additional in-store services to offer, 2) determine which departments to prioritize, 3) identify optimal category locations and flows, and 3) ensure correct layouts based on the correct hierarchy of product attributes.
A Ready and Reliable Resource
Among the myriad technology solutions being offered up to retailers, consumer decision trees (CDTs) are quickly emerging as one of the most effective analytic tools available for helping sellers deliver in-store and online shopping experiences that meet shopper demand. Evolving in concert with the expansion of omni-commerce, CDTs identify the attributes that are most important to shoppers and provide critical forward-leaning metrics that ensure shelves are stocked and online pages are presented in the best way, based on how consumers actually shop.
CDTs are commonly used for category business planning, and most analysts use them only for traditional category analyses, diminishing their full value and limiting the insights they provide. However, aggressive and growth-focused trading partners are using CDTs more and more to redefine category makeup, identify opportunities for disruptive innovation and determine the best content for improving online messaging. They’re also applying CDT learning and insights on a regional basis, as shopper preferences and attribute-influence differ across the country.
As omni-commerce has become the new reality for grocery retailers, maximizing the shopper value equation has never been more important. The good news is that CDTs portals and tools are available to do just that.