Fancy a Snack? Try Some Ice Cream!
As I said in my previous post, just because it's the last day of the conference doesn't mean the content and questions aren't thought provoking! And maybe hunger provoking too!
I had the chance to sit in on the Nestle's New Merchandising Location Strategy preso specifically covering ice cream cups presented by Russ Onish and Alex Sodek. The added bonus for sitting in? A chance to sample some of the great ice cream. Talk about a delicious multi sensory experience!
Nestle's ice cream brands include Haagen Dazs, Dreyer's, Edy's as well as Skinny Cow. All of these brands have cup options for a total of 30. Cups are an interesting concept because ice cream can be an intensely personal experience. Everyone has their own favorite brand or likes to eat ice cream in a certain way. Cups also let you be a little more adventurous. You can try a new flavor without committing to a whole tub. And, for us permanent dieters, cups are great for portion control.
For the retailer and manufacturer, cups are a huge revenue opportunity to expand ice cream to be more than ice cream, like desserts or snacks. Here's an interesting ratio to give a sense of scale $10 Ice Cream : $40 Dessert :$100 Snack. So, if these cups are crucial to expand into "snack" then the question becomes how to merchandise these cups properly: either with the parent brand or within a separate case? And how do you learn the answer quickly and reliably?
The answer lies in virtual shopping research! There were two questions:
- Should the cups be in a dedicated case or with the brand family?
- How should promotional pricing be communicated: 99 cents or 10 for $10?
I wish I could show you the virtual shopper research demo! We saw a video of how the shopper traversed the virtual grocery store and arrived at the ice cream aisle. The shopper could stop at any case and make any amount of purchase they desired. Here's a little of what they learned:
- The Skinny Cow branded cups performed better when placed with their parent brand and the 10 for $10 offer resonated more than the 99 cent each offer.
- The other branded cups performed better in a dedicated case. When placed in the dedicated area, people bought more within the category, they bought in multiple, they bought in variety yielding more dollar sales. People also traded up to more cups versus tubs ($1/serving versus $.31/serving).
- In terms of pricing the 10 for $10 offer yielded 21% sales penetration versus 18% for the 99 cent each offer. Also, people bought more cups when offered at 10 for $10.
Nestle made recommendations for retail implementation. Here are some of the results:
- 90% of stores now stock the cups together. These stores have sales 53% higher than the 10% that did not stock the cups together.
- 85% of the stores keep the Skinny Cow cups with the parent brand. These stores have sales 136% higher than the 15% that did not stock the cups with the parent brand.
- Sales are currently at $50MM which is up 45% over one year ago. 2011 Forecast shows $300MM in sales.
All in all, these are delicious results for Nestle. I really enjoyed this preso - what about you?
Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef
678 Partners
Where Do Your Eyes Go?
Are you enjoying these sessions as much as I am? I've learned quite a bit so again, a big thanks to IIR and Shopper Insights in Action!
After lunch, I listened to Herb Sorenson and Jacob Suher present The Path of the Eye in Shopping and Purchasing. It was a fascinating discussion of how our biological framework can be a help and a hindrance to our shopping. As I was listening to their comments, I remembered yesterday's keynote by Mark Changizi so I will try to bring in some of his comments here as well.
This presentation showed us through a practical video example that the current aisle setup and merchandising creates clutter which forces the shopper to filter through the choices to eliminate what they don't want in order to focus on and select what they do want. The video showed us that while our torso and our feet move, our point of focus does not move. This rather reminded me of the hand exercise in yesterday's keynote. If you recall, when we blocked one open eye with a hand, that hand became semi transparent.
Sorenson and Suher's research showed that if the shopping times were quicker, then the basket sizes grow larger. A few approaches to minimizing shopping time include reducing the number of SKUs and also laying out products horizonally instead of vertically. In other words, if you maximize shopper efficiency, the time you give back to the shopper will be rewarded with larger baskets and increased loyalty.
What's interesting here (and what I couldn't ask because Q&A time was over) was that WalMart lost sales and customers because they minimized SKUs. I wish I could understand how and why WalMart's practical example differs from the research findings. Furthermore, Changizi's comments yesterday suggested more depth than breadth when it comes to displays/merchandising which is also different from the recommendation here. It would be good to know where and how these findings fit in with one another.
Another question I had was typical big box/warehouse stores typically are longer shopper times (not shorter) with inefficient layouts. Why and how is it that it's impossible to walk out of Costco, Target or WalMart having spent more than you intended if the trip is long (especially taking checkout into consideration)?
I know there are good answers to these basic question? Were you in the session with me? What would you add?
Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef
678 Partners
Consumers see private label brands as alternative
According to a recent article at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, they are seeing many consumers make the decision to by the private label brand. In fact, a recent study stated that 75% of decisions made by consumers at the grocery store has to do with the current economy. This is allowing private label brands to gain consideration in consumers minds. As many as 62% of consumers are trying private label brands, which is leading to as much as $21 billion in savings. Certain items in the Chattanooga area that are gaining private label consumers: milk, yogurt, bread, water and ice cream.
Read the full article here.