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Shopper Marketing Best Practices: A Collaborative Model for Retailers and Manufacturers

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The Retail Commission on Shopper Marketing was created in April 2009 to develop a new model of effective collaboration for consumer product marketers and retailers. It comprises marketing and merchandising executives from 10 leading U.S. retailers, and is facilitated by the In-Store Marketing Institute and The Partnering Group. Coca-Cola has generously served as lead sponsor. A group of 12 strategic advisors has provided additional input and financial support.

A group of Commission participants discussed their involvement with the project and their views on the benefits of retailer-manufacturer collaboration during a panel discussion held as part of last month's In-Store Marketing Summit in Oak Brook, IL. The panel included executives from Walmart, Supervalu, Walgreens, Marsh Supermarkets and four leading product manufacturers. Video highlights of the discussion follow.

Dr. Brian Harris, founder and co-chairman of The Partnering Group Inc. (TPG), discussed the Commission's progress and objectives during an April 22 keynote address at the In-Store Marketing Summit held at McDonald's Hamburger University. A video of the keynote with slide presentation follows. (Download a PDF of the slides.)

Executive Summary

  • Shopper marketing is the next evolutionary stage in strategic retail marketing, and a mandatory component of effective consumer marketing in general.
  • The most essential and effective form of shopper marketing involves collaboration between retailers and product manufacturers.
  • Effective shopper marketing demands a blueprint for collaboration that will help standardize many of the operational processes necessary for the practice.
  • To date, shopper marketing has been driven primarily by manufacturers. But to fully capitalize on its promise, retailers must play a key role in further developing the concept and the processes required to carry it out.
  • The Retail Commission on Shopper Marketing was formed to provide a mechanism for the development of effective retailer-manufacturer collaboration that will drive mutually beneficial business results for both parties.
  • The Commission's objectives also include developing a framework of strategic, operational and organizational requirements that retailers will need to effectively integrate shopper marketing into existing business practices.
  • Shopper marketing encompasses an array of integrated marketing and merchandising activities that can influence behavior in all three stages of the shopper behavior cycle (planning, shopping and consuming) and at all steps along the path to purchase.
  • Successful shopper marketing begins with the development of a strategic plan to serve as a blueprint for retailers to follow internally and a guide for their manufacturer partners.
  • Collaboration may, in certain cases, begin at the strategic planning level, but more often will manifest itself in the joint development of shopper-focused communication platforms and actionable marketing and merchandising programs.
  • To fully realize the potential of shopper marketing, retailers and manufacturers must establish working relationships that are more open, productive and results-oriented than has been the historical norm, and must develop the organizational capabilities necessary to accomplish this goal.

Purpose of the Commission

With the goal of addressing those needs, the Retail Commission on Shopper Marketing was formed by the In-Store Marketing Institute and The Partnering Group in April 2009. The objective was to develop guidelines for a rational, deliberative process that enables retailers to leverage manufacturer insights and other resources in transformative initiatives that enhance the shopping experience and increase customer loyalty -- while driving sales and profits for both parties.

While the full scope of shopper marketing encompasses a much wider range of strategies and tactics that, basically, mirrors the entire field of consumer communication, the Commission has focused its work on this concept of collaboration, which its members believe is the most essential aspect of the practice.

The Coca-Cola Company generously agreed to be lead sponsor of the project, which soon gained the support of marketing and merchandising executives from Food Lion, Giant Eagle, Marsh Supermarkets, ShopRite, Meijer, Schnuck Markets, Supervalu, Walgreens, Wegmans and Walmart. Members of these companies convened for several meetings over the course of one year, and also met individually with TPG for in-depth, proprietary discussions.

In late-summer 2009, representatives from Campbell Soup Co., Clorox Co., Hershey Co., Kellogg Co., Kimberly-Clark, Johnson & Johnson, Sara Lee, Hewlett-Packard Co., Chiquita Brands, Mars Advertising, Arc Worldwide and TPN came on board as strategic advisors. These companies were instrumental in helping the Commission develop a full understanding of the overall industry's needs.

The full Commission thus comprises executives from 23 leading companies representing all key sectors of the retail marketing community. Their willingness to dedicate time and resources to the Commission's work is testament to their belief that shopper marketing is a key strategy for future business success.

The tangible goals of the Commission were four-fold:

  1. Create a concise definition for "shopper marketing" that would address the potential benefits for both product manufacturers and retailers.
  2. Present a set of key principles to serve as a foundation for all collaborative shopper marketing activity.
  3. Develop a basic framework for the collaborative process that can be a "starting point" for efficient and effective planning.
  4. Identify the strategic, operational and organizational capabilities that best-practice companies will need to successfully implement shopper marketing.


Published: April 2010

Source: In-Store Marketing Institute

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