Pretty much everyone in category development, shopper marketing, trade marketing and beyond has been there. There is a need or opportunity to lead a big category or shopper project, but you don’t have much/any bespoke shopper research. You want to create some mind-blowing shopper insights to transform the fixture, but you don’t feel you have the data to do it. You’ve got a few bits and bobs: maybe some POS data from the retailer, retail audit data from Nielsen. Maybe you have a few other bits and pieces too. But you’ve not got that BIG study. Or if you do, it’s a few years old and might be out of date. What do you do? Is it still possible to create ground-breaking shopper insights without a lot of shopper research? The answer is yes, of course! Otherwise this would be a mighty short article!
It is perfectly possible to create meaningful insights and implement them at retail with very little bespoke shopper data. In the last few months we’ve done exactly that with clients in beverages, snacks, confectionary, biscuits and appliances. In each case there was little or no up-to-date bespoke shopper research. In each case the results have been implemented, leading to significant, multi-million dollar revenue gains.
Unique shopper insights – its what you do with the data that counts!
In my experience there is little correlation between quantity of data and quality of insights. With shopper research data, it isn’t about how much you’ve got, but what you do with it that counts. Sure, having up to date surveys is good, don’t get me wrong. And if you do have more data, then the insights may well be more robust, and certainly will be easier to sell-in to a retailer. But no matter how much data you have there are still huge gaps. And as you’ll see below, making magic with what you have is the best way to get more data in the future!
How to create unique shopper insights without much data
Step one is to gather everything you do have. Everything! Get hold of all the reports that your department or team have. And not just the reports. Go get the data tables too. If Kantar just give you a monthly presentation, go ask for whatever else they can give you for free. Do the same with Nielsen. Get all the data, by SKU/Brand/Segment. Everything. Ask for more than you are entitled to (if you have a good relationship it is often possible to blag a little extra!) If they create reports that you have to pay for them, ask your client services manager for a free copy. You never know!
Even old data has a role in creating unique shopper insights
Go get any shopper reports you do have. Even if there are a bit old. Get the PowerPoint, get the tables, get the database.
When gathering secondary data, grab anything you can find
Get whatever data you can from retailers. If they don’t usually share data, ask for a little bit. There is rarely any harm in asking. I was working with a client in Indonesia who just asked and got full sell out data, pricing and margin data for EVERYTHING in the category. They’d never got anything before, but they asked and they got it all sent over the next day. No harm in asking!
Go see your consumer marketing colleagues, market research colleagues, and if you are part of a global or regional company, go talk to the guys in those offices. Talk to everyone (and I mean talk, not email – you’ll get much better results from talking). And don’t just focus on your category. Go get data from any other categories your company works in too. Get data from other markets.
The secret to creating insights without bespoke data
Why?
Because in my experience the heart of insights isn’t the data, it is ideas. All of this data will get your head spinning, and get you thinking. And those thoughts and ideas can be converted into hypotheses. And those hypotheses are little baby insights, waiting to happen.
Armed with a set of initial hypotheses, the next step is to go to stores. And not just one. And not just the ones in the retailer you are working on. Go to stores, observe the stores, observe shoppers, talk to shoppers.
Use this experience to build more hypotheses, qualify or disqualify existing hypotheses, and so on.
Once you’ve got a set of hypotheses that seem interesting and valuable, then go check which you can prove with your data. Always be careful when handling secondary data (check out this useful guide to handling secondary data).
This is the disappointing part for most practitioners. So many hypotheses will not be provable. If you’re lucky, one or two will, and then you are well on your way to an exciting breakthrough.
The breakthrough point. You don’t have to PROVE anything
But most won’t be provable with existing data. BUT THAT’S OK. Actually, its normal. But now the hard work needs to take place. We have a great idea. We think it makes sense. If it is true, then it could have a big impact, but we don’t know whether it is true or not, because we don’t have the data to prove it.
That’s OK. Data doesn’t need to prove the insight. Wait – what?
You don’t need to PROVE it. All you need is enough data to convince your manager, and the retailer, to try it.
That is all.
The reality is, with any new shopper insight, we NEVER know what will happen until we actually test it in a store. All of our data describes what shoppers did in the past. But nothing will really tell us what will happen if we changed things around (OK, virtual stores can give you a pretty good sense, but we’re talking about situations when that research is not affordable).
So the job is NOT to PROVE anything. It is to convince yourself, your boss, and the retailer, that it is worth a shot.
Get enough evidence to sell a test
At this point it is time to roll up our sleeves. Ad hoc interview with shoppers. Quick surveys done by you and your team. Go back to the store and see. Asking the retailer. Using the data you can to piece together the strongest story you have. Remember it doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be concrete. There are no guarantees. It needs to be persuasive. Good enough to get a test.
And then, when you have a test, then you need to measure, to prove (or otherwise) that the initiative works, and then you have a shot at a roll out. And you have demonstrated the power of shopper insights to your boss, and you might just get that research budget you want! With success you might get access to more retail data in the future too. Certainly you have a good case to request a little more!
It is totally possible to create unique shopper insights without bespoke data
Clearly, there is only so much of the process I can share in a blog post. I just wanted to convince you that it is possible; that an absence of data doesn’t have to be a barrier to discovering shopper insights and implementing them at retail. And to share a few of the key steps to help you get started.
If you have a few data gaps (or a lot!) or even if you have data but are struggling to create insights, just get in touch and let’s see if I can help. If you are prepared to put in some effort, then I’m sure we can work something out!