Category: Marketing

3 effective experiential marketing ideas for building brand awareness

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3 effective experiential marketing ideas for building brand awareness

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There are many experiential marketing ideas that can be used in retail but the most effective will be those that engage customers while also increasing brand awareness. By leveraging experiential marketing, you can encourage shoppers to participate in a branded experience worth remembering, sharing, and evangelizing. Experiential retail is often characterized as influencing consumer behavior through fun and immersive retail spaces, which often deliver impressive results. In fact, in one survey, 93% of consumers claimed that live events had a larger influence on them than TV ads. 

With many companies already recognizing the effectiveness of experiential marketing, brands and retailers should tailor their marketing efforts to build awareness and provide consumers with a shopping experience worth remembering. 

Build Brand Awareness with these 3 Effective Experiential Marketing Ideas

1. Event Marketing

Event marketing and experiential marketing go hand in hand. Most events can be considered a form of experiential marketing as they provide an immersive experience that guests plan to attend; they keep brands top-of-mind through promotion as the set date and time approaches; and they leave a lasting impression on attendees once they’ve taken place. In one survey, 72% of consumers said they positively view brands that provide quality event experiences. A larger percentage of surveyed consumers (74%) say engaging with branded event marketing experiences makes them more likely to buy the products being promoted.

When planning an event to build awareness, brands and retailers must decide exactly how they want consumers to remember the experience. Brands and retailers should also take into account that this may be the first interaction a consumer has with them, and first impressions matter. 

Here are four types of event marketing to consider:  

  • Lifestyle events: You can leave a lasting impression on your customer base by creating events that align with their values and interests. Red Bull hosts a range of events worldwide, from sports activities to DJ and dance competitions. They even sponsored a world record-breaking freefall, which also set a record for the highest viewing traffic of any live event streamed on YouTube at the time—8 million people. For its efforts, the brand has become synonymous with a young, active lifestyle. 
  • Product showcases: You can draw loyal customers and new faces with an engaging product demo. Take, for example, the annual LEGO Americana Roadshow that crisscrosses the country displaying large replicas of historical sites and other objects made from LEGO blocks. The events are accompanied by supervised play areas, to the delight of parents and educators. The malls that host the event also benefit from a boost in attendance as it draws thousands of participants.
  • Community wellbeing: Brands and retailers can gain strong customer affinity by giving the customer something in exchange for their loyalty. Nike has residents in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles showing up early in the morning and after work to mobility classes and performance lounges in connection with their digital-to-live Project Fearless training program, which aims to reduce running-related injuries in urban environments. 
  • Corporate citizenship: Aligning yourself with your customers’ values goes a long way in building loyalty. That’s why sponsorship is a favored strategy for some of the country’s biggest corporations. Your support for a clean energy conference, a charity fundraiser, the next exhibition at a local fine arts museum or a performance by a music group allows you to target niche markets, receive media exposure, and differentiate your brand from others.

2. An Enhanced In-Store Experience

Experiential shopping can be fun, engaging, and exciting for consumers. It can provide immediate satisfaction and meaningful in-person interaction that online shopping doesn’t deliver. However, in-store experiential marketing doesn’t always lead to a shopper making a purchase at that moment; sometimes it sets the stage for a future, more organic response to the experience.

Mixed-Use Retail

We’ve come a long way since cafes in bookstores were newsworthy, but mixed-use retail is still an emerging trend. When transforming a retail space into a community gathering space, where visitors don’t feel pressured to spend money, retailers can inspire visitors to reciprocate in a way that feels natural and organic. Retailers opening stores in Las Vegas’s 200,000-square-foot AREA15 this year will share the space with a permanent art exhibit, a steampunk AR experience, and an ax-throwing lounge. “Storytelling is crucial,” said AREA15 CEO Winston Fisher. “It conjures emotions and memories and has the potential to bring you back again and again. Also, storytelling must be experienced in real life—it is nothing that can be authentically replicated online.”

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

AR and VR can make the shopping experience more engaging. Sometimes this is as simple as using screens to inform shoppers about your products. But you can also use AR and VR to create an immersive retail experience. Augmented reality doesn’t always mean digital technology. AREA15 CEO Fisher suggests creating a cold room where coats can be tried on in realistic surroundings. L’Occitane en Provence on Fifth Avenue in New York City features a “rain-shower sink” where shoppers can test their products. The French-based retailer isn’t backing away from hi-tech, though. At the same store, shoppers can experience a 360-degree VR-powered hot air balloon ride over France while simultaneously receiving a free hand massage.

Showrooming

Showrooming is the practice of examining merchandise in a traditional brick-and-mortar retail store—or other offline setting—and then buying it online. This concept of experiential marketing can also involve the use of mixed-use retail and AR and VR experiences. There is little difference between checking out a Tesla in a showroom in a mall and kicking the tires at a dealership, where chances are you would be more likely to order a customized model for later delivery. An extravagant display of your product can make your store a destination for new shoppers and it may encourage browsers to purchase other items while visiting. According to Neilsen, nearly 75% of food shoppers have used a physical store to “showroom” before purchasing online.

3. Digital Technology

Experiential marketing is unequivocally offline, but social media plays an important role before, during, and after an experiential event. In 2016, 98% of participants at events or experiences created and shared digital or social content; 49% of that content was video. The majority of the content was posted on Facebook. There is a symbiotic relationship between social media and experiential events, as the user-generated social content created at these events is then shared and reshared, guiding marketers when designing future events.

  • Create a buzz. Social media is an effective way to publicize your experiential marketing event. You can use incentives to encourage social media engagement in efforts to have your event trend online. The more hashtags and posts generated form your event, the more likely others are to want to check out what’s buzzing. Content from past events, if there were any, can also make great promotional material. 
  • Create a pop-up. Give your social media audience an exclusive, but highly sharable, scoop on a pop-up store or other “surprise” event. That exclusivity and the limited window of time inherent in the pop-up harness fear of missing out (FOMO). The experience can be easily gamified or linked to customer values. Busch beer tapped its customers’ sense of adventure in the summer of 2019 by creating a “Pop Up Schop” deep inside a U.S. national forest. Beer lovers followed clues provided on Twitter to a woodsy location and they won a lifetime supply of free beer. At the same time, the brewery raised money for the National Forest Foundation.
  • Leverage an app. A September 2018 survey from HRC Retail Advisory found that 59% of U.S. smartphone shoppers used their device in-store to compare costs or search for deals and coupons. Shoppers appreciate the benefit of having a mobile app to turn to that features information about a variety of brands and retailers; Shopkick offers this solution. Shopkick is an innovative mobile shopping rewards app that brands and retailers can partner with to reach an already-loyal userbase of shoppers. Once shoppers download the Shopkick app, it travels with them via their mobile device, sending push notifications that raise brand awareness and drive traffic. The app enables shoppers to interact with brands from any location and incentivizes engagement while they’re already in a shopping mindset. And when a shopper enters a participating store, interacts with a featured product at shelf, or makes a purchase, they are rewarded—which makes for a memorable retail experience. 
Effective experiential marketing ideas for building brand awareness are diverse and incorporate both physical and digital experiences. It is these types of experiences that create lasting memories and keep brands and retailers top-of-mind when it matters most.   
Shopkick is a rewards app that brands and retailers can incorporate into their experiential marketing strategy to build awareness and drive sales. Consider the success of our partners and contact us for more information.

4 ways to improve the retail customer experience to encourage loyalty

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4 ways to improve the retail customer experience to encourage loyalty

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In almost every situation, a bad experience deters one from placing themselves in a similar situation in the future; this is especially true in retail. If a customer finds that a particular retail experience causes them an inconvenience, they aren’t likely to return to make a purchase. In fact, 33% of Americans say they’ll consider switching to another brand or retailer after just a single instance of poor service. And unfortunately, once those customers have switched, it can be costly to acquire new customers—five times more costly, to be exact. However, when brands nurture the customers they already have, they’re likely to gain a loyal following and, in turn, boost revenue. One report found that 84% of companies that work to improve their retail customer experience report an increase in their revenue.

How to Improve the Retail Customer Experience to Encourage Loyalty

Brands and retailers looking to improve the retail customer experience should consider the following four strategies to reach shoppers and earn loyalty.

1. Engage with Consumers

Even at a time when many choose to shop online, customer engagement is still important. One study revealed that 75% of consumers expect companies to provide a consistent experience wherever they engage with them—both online and offline. These efforts to engage may involve training salespeople, increasing customer service visibility online via chatbots, or creating an interactive in-store experience.

Well-trained salespeople:

Make sure your staff is knowledgeable in your store’s offerings and train them on how to interact with customers. Friendly and competent service is crucial to landing a sale. Knowing how to diffuse an angry customer is equally valuable. Besides preventing a negative situation from attracting attention, that customer will appreciate decisive action and remember that more than the original source of the pique.

Online customer support:

The online shopping experience can be a lonely one. But, by making sure customer service efforts—such as online chatbots—are visible, you’re likely to reap the same benefits as training staff to properly engage in-store.

An interactive experience:

Shoppers appreciate a retail experience that is just that—an experience. By creating points throughout the purchase journey where customers can interact and engage—with salespeople and products—brands and retailers can expect sales to increase. For example, the opportunity to try before buying is one of the major reasons that people frequent physical stores. Consider how Neiman Marcus turned the dressing room into an interactive experience.

2. Personalize Messages

Personalization leads to a tailored experience that, in turn, increases loyalty. A 2017 report found that apparel retailers with online personalization strategies saw gains of 10% or greater—a rate three times that of other retailers. By personalizing marketing efforts, brands and retailers only place messages in front of consumers about the products they want.

Personalized marketing makes the customer feel as though you know them. You can target social media posts to reinforce the feeling of solidarity. Research has found that an engaging and entertaining social media presence increases loyalty among existing customers and encourages loyalty among new customers. Social media also encourages information sharing, allowing you to find out valuable information that you can use to hone in on your customers’ tastes.

There are countless ways to personalize marketing efforts, particularly online. Among them:

  • email marketing drip campaigns based on customer action
  • targeted social media marketing messages geared toward certain types of shoppers
  • segmented content marketing landing pages, customized to suit individual needs
  • paired related products to provide helpful recommendations as the user browses 
  • alternative payment options to allow greater freedom to purchase

3. Reward Loyalty

A 2017 study showed that consumers receive as much pleasure from the anticipation of a reward—that is, from simply belonging to a rewards program—as they do from what they actually receive from the program. Another study found that 61% of consumers consider being surprised with offers and rewards as the most important way a brand can interact with them. You can’t lose by letting your customers know how much you appreciate them.

Rewards

Rewards can serve two purposes: they trigger reciprocity in new customers and they reinforce loyalty in existing customers. Consider emailing new customers special offers with a “come again soon” message. Regular customers can be rewarded with special offers or be informed about new products before everyone else finds out. Also, sample- or trial-size items are an excellent way to introduce your customers to new products.

Loyalty Program

A loyalty program is one of the best ways to retain loyal customers. As of 2017, the average American consumer has 14 loyalty program memberships, up 31% over the previous four years. By rewarding purchases with points and other perks, it reinforces emotional attachment and motivates spending. Creating a tiered program increases that motivation. Sephora’s loyalty program has added tiers every few years since its inception.

Special Events

Special events will show your customers how much you value them. Customer-appreciation flash sales, product premiers, tastings, and samplings let customers know how much you think of them. They also create a sense of community, where people can meet, bring their friends, and experience something out of the ordinary. That community can later be leveraged in targeted social media campaigns. 

4. Leverage Mobile

The use of apps in loyalty programs is surging. In 2019, mobile apps were found to be the preferred way for consumers to track and redeem loyalty rewards, favored by 44% of customers of national retailers, grocers, CPG brands and c-stores, up from 20% in 2016. Apps can be tremendously versatile. Besides being the vehicle to deliver rewards, they can drive cross-selling, track buying habits and provide marketing insights, and provide measurable ROI. In addition, apps have a number of practical advantages for rewarding loyalty.

Easy to Use

Consumers who download the shopping rewards app Shopkick can earn points (also known as “kicks”) by simply linking a credit or debit card and using the card to make qualified purchases; visiting a participating store; or locating and scanning a particular product in the shopping aisle. Online, customers earn kicks for browsing lookbooks, watching a branded video, or making online purchases.

Easy to Integrate

Customers can use the Starbucks app to listen to discover new music on Spotify, or they can earn extra rewards points for completing their order through the Uber Eats app. Similarly, Shopkickers can shop at a variety of stores directly through the Shopkick app. 

Easy to Locate

Brands and retailers can rely on a rewards app to use geolocation to inform the user about nearby stores, products, and deals. Shopkick can be used to communicate with shoppers along the entire path to purchase—from browsing on their mobile phones at home to searching for products in the store aisle.

By offering excellent customer service, personalized messages, and rewards via a mobile app partnership like Shopkick, brands and retailers can expect to see an improved retail customer experience that leads to customer loyalty.    
Shopkick is a shopping rewards app that brands and retailers can leverage to improve the retail customer experience. Our partners use Shopkick to drive sales, steal market share, produce incredible ROI, and reward loyalty. Contact us to see how an improved experience through Shopkick can encourage loyalty.

How to increase brand awareness through digital marketing

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How to increase brand awareness through digital marketing

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A list of “lesser-known brands that consumers should learn about” comes out almost annually. Lists like these prime consumers to be impressed, be in the know, and remember the mentioned brands in the future. If your brand is referred to as “lesser-known” in the early days of its existence, that’s totally fine. After that, it’s probably the last thing you’ll want to be labeled. In today’s retail landscape, if your brand doesn’t have a strong digital presence, it is likely to be lesser-known. Fortunately, you can change that by learning how to increase brand awareness through digital marketing.

Learn How to Increase Brand Awareness Through Digital Marketing

Become Visible

The first thing to do to increase brand awareness is to make sure your digital strategy is effective, and that you are attracting the attention you want. This is a matter of choosing which mediums (email, targeted ads, etc.) you want to use, creating social media profiles, and scheduling how often you send out communications. This is called organic reach, and it’s essential. When done properly, it can pay off in a big way.

The foundational steps in crafting your digital presence are straightforward:

  • Choose your media carefully: Most marketing campaigns adopt an omnichannel approach. There are a lot of digital platforms, and while it’s perfectly fine to take advantage of more than one, you can’t be on every one of them. You want your presence known on the platforms where your customers interact the most. Be aware of national trends, as well as the habits of your demographic segment. Among the digital platforms you have to choose from are:
    • your website
    • email
    • social media
    • mobile apps
    • television
    • radio

    Your presence on each of these platforms should be uniform in appearance and tone—making it easy for consumers to recognize your brand.

  • Stay on the cutting edge: Preference and technology can change fast, and your brand needs to keep up. Interacting on the right platforms not only helps you stay at the center of your customers’ attention, but it also provides you with new ways to tell your story and expand your audience. Make your digital content engaging, targeted to your customers’ interests, and shareable—every share has the ability to expand your audience exponentially. And, don’t forget to include hashtags where appropriate.
  • Reach all channels: Be technically proficient. People access their media across multiple devices, so you need to be sure your content looks as good on a smartphone as it does on a tablet or computer screen. Otherwise, you will be excluding a big chunk of your potential audience. This involves a little more technical work, but it’s an important quality assurance issue.

Advertise

Give your digital presence a paid boost too. There is a dizzying array of choices on the ad market, so it’s not always easy to make a choice. Once again, market research is needed to focus your efforts where they will be most effective. A good start is to look at where your competition is already advertising. Paid social media can complement and expand on your organic social media or exist as independent campaigns.

Paid social media

These are the familiar pay-per-click ads, banners and display ads, but newer formats like paid videos on platforms like Facebook and TikTok are gaining popularity. If you create really clever videos, they will find an audience on YouTube too. Native advertising fits into its surroundings more unobtrusively, usually around the edges of the main content. You see native advertising all over: Google, news websites, shopping sites, and more.

Remarketing and recommendation

Remarketing is a process that takes into account one’s previous browsing habits and suggests similar items in other contexts. Say someone views a pair of shoes on your website. Remarketing will offer similar types of shoes from your website to the same potential customer as an ad on Facebook, Google, or anywhere else they browse online. One study found that online retail browsers who engaged with a recommended product had a 70% higher conversion rate during that session.

In-app advertising

In-app advertising is exactly what it sounds like: your ad appears in an app. The advantage of in-app ads is that they have the ability to travel with consumers wherever their mobile phone does. They can be delivered to a specific demographic or they can target audiences in certain locations. This huge ad market highlights the importance of having mobile-ready content—that’s where your in-app ads will link.

Engage and Interact

You want your brand to be likeable and your digital presence to be memorable. Although, some brands try courting controversy or arousing discomfort from time to time. In any case, a well crafted digital campaign can stick in the public memory for years and even be remembered by the imitators it spawns. To this day, “Axe” summons up images of teenage boys and cologne in the minds of many people before they think of the woodcutting implement.

Cleverness counts here, but responsiveness is equally important. It creates the emotional connection that leads to brand affinity.

Be fun and engaging: People will spend more time interacting with your brand when it’s enjoyable. Consider creating contests and giveaways and posting content that humanizes your brand. Different platforms have inherently different tones, so you can highlight all aspects of your brand culture—Twitter would be a great place to keep your consumers updated about contests and giveaways, for example. 
Listen and be responsive: Make a space for your customers to express themselves, and then answer their questions, thank them for their opinions and let them know they are important in your eyes. Providing a space for customers to leave reviews allows them to feel heard. You will inevitably get a few negative reviews, but consider them an opportunity for you to turn that impression around and demonstrate your concern for the customer experience. You might also pick up a few valuable tips that way. Research has shown that replying to negative reviews leads to better reviews overall.
Use a third-party app: Third-party apps have a lot of advantages. First, you increase brand awareness by associating yourself with an existing brand. The user opens the app they already know, and there you are. One of the biggest impediments to app launch is adoption, so you can get ahead of a very crowded market this way, and you get access to an existing audience base. 
If you’re still wondering how to increase brand awareness through digital marketing, look no further than Shopkick. This innovative mobile rewards shopping app allows your brand to be visible, reach consumers, and reward them for their engagement and loyalty.  With Shopkick, you’ll be able to reach an audience of consumers who may not yet be familiar with you or your products—ensuring you are no longer referred to as “lesser-known”—and incentivize them for engaging with your brand.  
Want to learn how to increase brand awareness? Check out what Shopkick has done for our partners and contact us to see just how effective our platform can be for your digital marketing efforts.

3 effective customer loyalty incentive programs used by brands and retailers

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3 effective customer loyalty incentive programs used by brands and retailers

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Customer loyalty incentive programs will allow brands and retailers to discover which customers are most profitable to their business so they can focus efforts on those most likely to spend (and spend a lot). We all know that it costs less to retain customers than to solicit new ones. By using loyalty programs to entice your customers to buy again, you create habits that drive brand affinity, referrals, and sustainable revenue.

Recognizing the value of customer loyalty incentive programs and effectively implementing them are two very different realities. Whether you’re new to the game or you’re not entirely satisfied with the results of your launched loyalty program, you’ll benefit from considering: What type of programs are most effective? And what lessons can we learn from the enterprises that maintain loyalty the best? There are two approaches working for brands and retailers today—brand- and retailer-specific apps like those from Starbucks and Target, and third-party retail rewards apps like Shopkick.

Examples of Effective Customer Loyalty Incentive Programs

Starbucks

If you have the resources, developing your own proprietary app from the ground-up may seem like a desirable option, as it allows you maximum control and creative direction. You decide what the app will look like and which features you’d like to include—such as in-app purchasing, gamification, or social media integration.

Starbucks is the most-used loyalty rewards app in the restaurant industry. The coffee chain’s internally-developed app has been an evolution over the course of a decade, but today’s offering is an accurate reflection of the convenience and conviviality for which Starbucks is known. Users are invited to place their orders and pay in advance to save time at the counter, create their own Spotify playlists, and automatically earn free food and drinks with every purchase. Starbucks fans receive personalized content and offers based on past purchase history. They can also share the love by sending electronic gift cards to their family and friends directly through the app.

Starbucks’ customer loyalty incentive program succeeds because it features:

A User-Friendly Design:

The Starbucks app is attractive with large photos and intuitive to navigate. Five top-of-the-screen menus provide access to basic functions: Pay, Stores, Gift, Order, and Music. You can gift Starbucks to your loved ones, see what music is playing in the restaurant, and receive personalized food suggestions from the order screen. On a practical level, you can locate the nearest Starbucks stores, pay with your phone, and add a tip for your favorite barista. Rather than turn the app into a “Swiss Army Knife” that does-everything (but nothing well), developers focused on a few core goals like streamlining orders, boosting foot traffic, and increasing lucrative gift card orders.

Easy, Engaging Loyalty:

The best loyalty programs are easy to understand, track, and use. For every dollar spent, you earn two stars. The more you spend, the more stars you earn. You receive free in-store refills, tailored exclusive offers, and a free birthday drink. Going one step further, Starbucks understands that gamification works to get people into a buying mood;  Starbucks reward members can complete entertaining “challenges” to earn extra points toward free food and beverages. The stars have a limited shelf life of one year for “Green” tier members and six months for “Gold” tier members, which encourages rewards holders to engage frequently.

Full Integration:

Since music has been a central part of the whole Starbucks “experience” since they first opened more than 40 years ago, their partnership with Spotify makes sense. In the earlier days, you could grab a CD with your latte or download a free digital song from an undiscovered artist. Today, app users can discover new songs playing as they wait in line, add the music to a Spotify playlist, or create a custom mix. A partnership with Lyft gives first-time riders extra stars toward a free drink. Integration with Alibaba lets users in China buy gift cards and branded merchandise through the popular shopping platform, as well as order Starbucks-to-go deliveries. Through the co-branded credit card arrangement with JP Morgan Chase, Starbucks lets users earn stars with purchases outside the chain. These integrations make Starbucks more central to people’s lives and part of their everyday consciousness.

Target

Target uses its proprietary app for rewards, payment, coupons, and credit. The retailer was confident enough in their vast, unique set of offerings to offer their own credit and debit cards available to use in their stores only.

It can be viewed as a gamble at a time when people are looking to simplify their wallets, not add to them, but for Target at least, the risk has translated to rewards.

Target has seen tremendous success in using proprietary apps in their customer loyalty incentive program. In today’s environment, it’s increasingly more important to offer unique products and experiences that differentiate the brand from competitors. Target is able to compete with other retailers like Kohl’s, Walmart, and even Amazon because it offers unique products like its brand Cat & Jack or celebrity-designed apparel available only in their stores.

This philosophy has spilled over into their approach to app development. The Target loyalty program starts with REDcard, which offers shoppers an immediate 5% off everything they buy, plus free two-day shipping for online purchases and perks like longer return times and exclusive gifts.

Taking it a step further, Target’s Cartwheel program helps users save anywhere from 5%-50% on products without paper coupons. Users select the custom offer they’d like to redeem and cashiers simply scan the unique digital barcode at checkout. Those who don’t shop with a smartphone can print the barcodes at home and have their deals scanned at the register. Reward customers especially love that they’re allowed to combine their Cartwheel offers with manufacturer’s coupons, Target coupons, Target REDcard benefits, and gift cards.

Other proprietary apps Target has developed are aimed at boosting personalization and convenience—two ingredients for a winning retail customer service formula. For instance, they have an app that allows designers in their pop-up shops to communicate in an “instant feedback loop” with guests, who voted on everything from the shape of collars and the fabrics to the colors and brands they preferred. The Target Pay app lets REDcard users use their Cartwheel deals and pay with a virtual wallet by scanning QR codes.

Shopkick

While many consumers love the individual apps of their favorite brand or retailer, they also love the convenience of all-in-one shopping provided by third-party apps like Amazon, Instacart, or Shopkick. Instead of competing with dozens of other apps, brands and retailers can be woven into a consumer’s routine through an app they already use daily.  By partnering with a third-party app, brands and retailers can expand their reach to tap a captive audience that is loyal to the art of shopping, actively engaged, and ready to buy.

Shopkick is one of the most-used customer loyalty rewards apps. The program works by providing “kicks” (rewards points) to shoppers for walking into stores, scanning select items, and making purchases. Users can redeem accrued kicks for gift cards of their choosing.

In many case studies, Shopkick partners saw two to three times the return-on-investment:

Bomb Pop

During a two-month summer campaign leading up to Independence Day, the red, white, and blue popsicle brand Bomb Pop wanted to drive awareness of the product through a branded lookbook and dynamic kick rewards for purchases made. Nearly half (44%) of shoppers first became aware of Bomb Pop through the Shopkick app, and 68% of buyers had not been planning to purchase Bomb Pops before visiting the store. With more than 23 million impressions, the awareness campaign was viewed as a huge success.

Barilla

Barilla sought to communicate the unique benefits of Pasta Pronto, a new innovative type of one-pan pasta that didn’t require boiling water or draining. They turned to the Shopkick app to educate with video, drive awareness in-store, incentivize product scans, and drive trials. More than half of the app users (66%) first became aware of Barilla’s Pasta Pronto from Shopkick engagement. Half the people who watched the video purchased the product. There was also a 68% lift in future intent to purchase.

Kellogg’s

Kellogg’s used Shopkick to engage shoppers shortly after the launch of Nutri-Grain Bakery Delights Crumb Cakes. The snack aisles can be a crowded, competitive place, but Kellogg’s enjoyed a 35% conversion rate, a 55% increased intent to purchase, and 5:1 ROI from their lookbook and reward offers. Best of all, 47% of the consumers who purchased the Nutri-Grain Bakery Delights Crumb Cakes during the campaign hadn’t purchased a Nutri-Grain product within the last 12 months. Truly the promotion inspired customers to give the brand another look, driving consideration, trial, and favor.

Even if you have a fully-functioning proprietary app, you can still become a partner to an effective customer loyalty incentive program like Shopkick. The trend of fusing mobile app use with retail shopping is only continuing to grow. People love a good deal, but with Shopkick, you don’t have to slash the price or dip into your own pockets to entice the consumer to give your products a shot. Shopkick connects brands and retailers with a new audience that is ready to learn, earn, and buy.
Shopkick is a rewards app that is wildly popular with consumers and the brands and retailers they frequent. Our partners use Shopkick to drive sales, steal market share, and produce incredible ROI. Contact us to get involved in 2020’s biggest shopping revolution.

Interactive mobile marketing: 3 tactics to turn browsers into buyers

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Interactive mobile marketing: 3 tactics to turn browsers into buyers

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Although online shopping and the BOPIS model remain strong, browsing in-store is far from a lost pastime. As a matter of fact, a survey conducted at the end of 2018 showed that a majority of retailers (63%) are seeing in-store shopping make a comeback. Another report that used data collected around the same time found that 60% percent of consumers still make in-store purchases weekly, and 90% do so monthly. The desire to see and try products before buying them was cited as the shoppers’ main motivation.

 

Thanks to online retailing, shoppers in brick-and-mortar stores are better informed and more demanding than ever. They may love the in-store shopping experience, but it can be enhanced by interactive mobile marketing to create greater engagement. There are several tactics that can help your store engage and convert those browsers.

How to Engage Consumers With Interactive Mobile Marketing

Personalization

Individual attention creates emotional attachment, even when it is delivered automatically. Personalization leads to customer retention and, according to research conducted by PwC, around a quarter of shoppers are willing to pay more—up to 16% in some cases—for a product specifically in response to personalization. PwC also found that, while 43% of U.S. consumers say they would not allow companies to collect their personal data, which is a necessary step for personalization, 63% say they would share data for the sake of a service they value.

Purchasing history, personal information provided by the customer and recorded browsing patterns are among the information sources for personalization. Human service is essential for a positive retail experience as well, but the human and the digital can work in tandem to create a fast and targeted experience. According to a Salesforce report issued in 2019, the use of AI for personalization in retail and consumer goods marketing is expected to grow to 70% over the next two years—a 176% increase.

Personalization uses a combination of familiar tactics and the latest technology to engage consumers. 

  • Targeting. As customers walk in the door with a shopping app turned on, they can be greeted by name and view product suggestions based on previous buying patterns.
  • Mapping. In large stores, customers can even be guided through the aisles to locate items of potential interest to them.
  • Events. Customers can receive invitations to special sales, product premiers, and appreciation events based on their shopping patterns.
  • Feedback. Giving customers an opportunity to leave feedback on items they purchase or read the feedback of others before making a purchase can enhance the shopping experience.
  • Chatbots. Using natural language, AI chatbots can engage customers on messaging services by providing product suggestions and information, customer service, and branded entertainment in a conversational format. Chatbots are available around the clock and can generally respond faster than human assistance. They can also be used to gather information about customers, simply by asking for it.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is fun, informative, and easy to deliver—it is technically simpler to produce than virtual reality, and it requires no user headset. Consumers can use their smartphones to enrich the shopping experience. Augmented reality technology is still relatively new, making it enticing and exciting to most consumers. Many of them may be familiar with apps like Ikea’s that superimpose the seller’s furniture onto a view of their living rooms, or ones that find ATMs, stores and restaurants on the street.

Inform the Shopper

Customers can scan a QR code to find out the backstories of unique products, see demos or take a deep dive into the specs and options for products that interest them. The app might check the store’s stock for availability, sizes and colors as well, and even suggest alternatives until the shopper finds the item that suits them just right.

Try Products Out Virtually

Sephora makes even more extensive use of AR, allowing users to see what certain makeup products would look like on. A shopper looking for clothes might use AR to see a 360° view of garment on a model or combined with other garments. In a kitchenware store, a shopper might watch a demo of the countertop appliance on the shelf in front of them. 

Take Time, Save Labor

AR creates a rich, customized experience for shoppers, who can take in as much or as little information as they please, and work their way through alternatives of their choosing at their own pace. Only at the end of the experience, when the shopper has made their purchasing decision, does a salesperson need to become involved. Thus, the customer gets to enjoy the benefits of modern technology and the human touch too. 

Rewarding Loyalty

There are a number of ways to reward loyalty with interactive mobile marketing, and they are often among the most effective measures for retailers. Fifty-eight percent of shoppers visit stores where they are members of a loyalty program at least once a month—and 69% say their choice of retailer is influenced by loyalty programs.

These are some of the most widespread and popular tactics found in retail marketing.
 

  • Loyalty Rewards Programs. Many loyalty programs are available via a mobile app. In Shopkick’s case, shoppers can earn rewards for using the app when visiting a store and interacting with products at-shelf.
  • Proximity marketing. Beacon technology can be combined with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to guide shoppers to sale items. According to Beaconstat, 75% of U.S. retailers already use it, and its popularity is still growing. Shopkick worked with early adopters T.J. Maxx and Best Buy.

Interactive mobile marketing combines familiar tactics like rewards points and events with the latest digital technology to generate excitement and help shoppers make purchasing decisions. It presents ample opportunities to increase engagement among shoppers in your store and turn browsers into buyers. Using these tactics will create a satisfying shopping experience that is met with appreciation and positive response from your customers.

Shopkick is a rewards app that is wildly popular with millennials and the brands and retailers they frequent. Our partners use Shopkick to drive sales, steal market share, and produce incredible ROI. Contact us to get involved in 2020’s biggest shopping revolution.

How to increase sales in grocery stores when CPG eCommerce is on the rise

Posted on by shopkick

We don’t have to tell you twice, but running a brick-and-mortar grocery store can be costly. Naturally, you want to maximize your returns when you’re shelling out around $160,000 just on inventory. In some ways, you’re competing against local competitors, but you’re increasingly competing against eCommerce players as well.

The share of US consumers who purchased groceries online in the past year jumped from less than a quarter to more than a third, with Amazon and Walmart driving sales. Nearly 40% of those surveyed said they plan to shop for groceries online in the next 12 months, but there is growth potential in the 21% who “don’t know” if they will buy online. This may leave retailers wondering how to increase sales in their grocery stores. 

Is CPG eCommerce a Threat to Grocery Store Sales?

Despite the surges and impressive forecasts, the reality today is that only 2.7% of the $743 billion CPG market gets purchased online, up from 2.2% in 2018. Even if it reaches the estimated 8% share of US grocery sales by 2022, it’s still a relatively small amount of sales—something to consider, but certainly not a “threat” to physical supermarkets by any stretch of the imagination.

Online grocery shoppers tend to make infrequent purchases and buy in smaller amounts, according to research. Just 11.8% of online shoppers bought “most” or “all” of their groceries that way, so you can feel confident that eCommerce will not fully replace brick-and-mortar grocery stores. A recent report found that 71% of shoppers surveyed spent $50 or more shopping in-store, compared to just 54% of shoppers who spent that much online.  

With that said, it’s a wise move to brace yourself for the uptick in eCommerce shopping by creating an online presence and linking up with a service provider like Instacart or Shipt to cater to those consumers who purchase online. Analysts believe that physical supermarkets will serve as the anchor for inventory fulfillment for customers ordering online, rather than a separate entity competing with online providers. Using mobile apps like Shopkick will bridge the gap between digital and in-store experiences, providing crucial information at the purchase point and rewarding shoppers for their loyalty.

How to Increase Sales in Grocery Store Environments

1. Give them retail therapy.

Remember what draws customers to physical stores. Sometimes it’s not even the products or the convenience so much as it’s the visceral experience that provides a way to de-stress from a long day or week of work—“retail therapy,” as it’s called. Nearly three-quarters of consumers admit to stress-shopping. Consider ways of redesigning or augmenting your space to make the trip more interesting and fun such as curated music, enhanced lighting, digital displays, interactive kiosks, and perks like a free drink or bite of food while shopping to improve your aesthetic.

2. Add trending items and departments to your inventory.

Grocery store growth has largely been fueled by the rise of organic and healthy options, specialty items, and innovations like meal kits and ready-to-go prepared foods. Supermarket departments are rapidly expanding to become more of the one-stop-shops people have come to expect—new sections like high-end bakeries and gourmet cheese shops, in-store bars and wine shops, larger beauty sections and sushi bars, Starbucks counters, and full-service banks.      

3. Offer in-store promotions and deals.

In one survey, 84% of shoppers admitted that they go into the store for a need, but end up walking away with an impulse buy want due to an attractive promotion or deal. Online retailers often entice shoppers with free shipping offers and deep discounts, but you can do the same in-store.

4. Reconsider shelf space, shifting unique items to eCommerce operations.

learn how to increase sales in grocery storeThe internet is routinely turned to for “that one product you can’t get anywhere else.” More and more, retailers are relying on analytics to gain insight into consumer preferences. Start with a large selection and let consumers decide what you should or shouldn’t carry in-store. Be sure to have your best-selling eCommerce items available on shelves as well. Use online sales data to update, reposition, or replace low-selling SKUs in both physical and online shops. If a particular flavor isn’t selling well in-store, make it exclusive to your online store. Often, the highest productivity comes from a rotating selection of new and niche products that keeps the shopping experience fresh and exhilarating.      

5. Bridge the online/offline gap with the integration of mobile applications.

Leading grocers and CPG companies understand that digital media must be part of the shopping trip planning process, according to research by Deloitte. A completely integrated digital strategy recognizes that shoppers use their mobile phones to find stores, make lists, check prices, research products, compare products, share content, and purchase. Offering an in-house app or partnering with a third-party mobile shopping app can enhance in-store product interactions and deepen the brand conversation, saving shoppers time, money, and hassle. 

Kraft rewarded Shopkick app users who purchased baker’s chocolate, pudding, and marshmallows for the holiday baking season with “kicks,” which they could then put towards a free gift card of their choosing. Through Shopkick, Kraft was able to engage with shoppers along the full path to purchase, whether they were on their mobile devices at home, or in-store at the shelf. More than a quarter of shoppers converted to purchase all three items. Fifty percent of the Shopkickers said they hadn’t planned on buying any of those items when they first walked into the store. Overall, Kraft’s campaign garnered greater than 7:1 return on investment.

Find Out How to Increase Sales in Your Grocery Store With Shopkick

Digital is here to stay, but brick-and-mortar grocery stores aren’t falling by the wayside. Price, quality, convenience, and selection will always be the key drivers, no matter which shopping channel a person uses. A partnership with Shopkick lets you add value and enhance the in-store shopping experience while also rewarding and encouraging customer loyalty.    

Digital is here to stay, but brick-and-mortar grocery stores aren’t falling by the wayside.

Looking for more information on modern tools that boost CPG sales in grocery stores? Read our partners’ success stories or contact us to learn how to appeal to mobile shoppers with Shopkick.

Image courtesy of Gts