How do I boost/uplift a supermarket's image, sales and consumers?
An owner of a medium-sized supermarket needs to uplift - enhance his supermarket image/visual Identity, sales, better promote his products and earn more consumers!
He is open for a out of the box concept - formula etc. in order to reach his goal.
As a Communication Designer, my expertise relates specifically to the design and visual advertising part of the business, but of course the whole project will need more.
I would so much appreciate your advice on the strategy (what structure needed) to follow and which experts are to join forces on this project.
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Feb 8, 2016
Hi Tatiana,
Firstly thanks for putting up another simpler questions as there was quite a lot of point to unpack and explore in the original questions. However I hope that some of this will answer both questions.
Aside from all the valuable answers that you have already received, it is also worth considering what actions can be taken within the store itself. There are many changes that can be implemented simply, at low cost with great results.
A few fundamentals in store design and planning should probably be looked at. 1) Lead the customer thorough the store. What I mean by saying this is that the store should be an interesting and exciting place to be. If you want consumers to part with money, then you need to make it easy for them. The customer journey should be simple and uncluttered. Displays should be obvious and allow customers to get hands on with the product. Ask yourself what are consumers buying most? Develop various plans with these items in various locations, and see what narratives you are creating. Are you serving grab and go customers, weekly shoppers, top up shoppers? Once you know this you can develop a plan that answers all the key shopping missions.
2) Get your categories and adjacencies correct. By saying this I mean what products cross sell? What products go hand in hand? Could you create an area in store with every ingredients needed to make 5 min meals? Are all the cleaning products together?
3) Ensure you create clear sight lines. People shop with their eyes. Can customers see across the store and recognise the products they need?
4) Is the every inch of the space working as hard as it can? Dead zones wont make money. Ensure customers can access the products, as products out of reach dont get sold. This is basically a dead zone.
The above are the basics of store planning, and will (if implemented properly) increase sales, raise basket size and hopefully draw in new customers. You can run as many PR campaigns and social media initiatives you want but if the fundamentals dont stack up the gain will be short term.
Let me know if you need any further help.
Thanks
Mark
Feb 4, 2016
Create a customer contest in which they submit recipes for new/featured monthly grocerant items - prepared foods.
Feb 4, 2016
I would have him get a blog and have it maintained, then offer coupons on his blog for his products. There is more but it needs to be done in steps.
Feb 3, 2016
Appreciation marketing. I can show you what me and many other business people are doing to challenge the status quo.
Feb 3, 2016
Personally, I'd start a Vblog (Video Blog) about the region, community, and food. Launching an engagement program via a YouTube channel is the least cost and fastest way to recognition (and reward) you can get for your marketing dollar.
If you need help, PM me.
Good luck!
Feb 2, 2016
I appreciate all of your contributions and variable answers to my request, still i need your help!
in fact i am going to make my question easier and more detailed, and i will then ask a rather a shortcut and more clear question.
The supermarket i mentioned is a one branch supermarket in a neighborhood, and is located in Lebanon to answer Scott's question :), and this Store exists from 30 years!
Lately the owner realized that the sales are weaker and consumers not increasing, and after i have visited the supermarket and checked the outside and inside, i realized that it reigns some chaos and disorganization, precisely with the lack of a separate depot room, the depot is part of the inside supermarket!
As far as i know, the owner wants to improve the aspect, image and more importantly the sales and consumers, but has a limited budget.
Being the Communication Designer in this project, I will be relooking/redesigning the Image/identity and everything visual and conceptual in the supermarket. So that will be the Design part.
My question for you is, and please if you can be precise and direct, as in 1- 2- 3- ...
- As i am the Communication designer in this project, who are precisely the other Experts/Consultants
that will join forces with me to uplift and improve this supermarket's general image/reputation/sales/costumers?
I hope it is more clear now, as it's sort of rather urgent project, I await your answers as soon as you can give me your feedback, which will help me search for the adequate Consultants (who need to be located in Lebanon)!
Regards :)
Jan 28, 2016
I think a great rewards/loyalty program is extremely important for a supermarket. The partnership between Safeway and chevron is ingenious. I almost exclusively shop and get gas at those locations for the benefits.
Cross promoting costs little to nothing and the rewards are potentially very high. Partner with local business, restaurants and your neighbors. Offer each other's clients/customers exclusive coupons and discounts.
Gain social media hype by hosting a contest or contests. Best new logo design. New slogan or company jingle. New commercial or marketing idea. Have everyone vote for their favorites. That way anyone who submits an idea will share it with all their friends to get votes and you reap the benefit of exposure. Now that's targeted content marketing. Even if they don't win, you've made a lasting connection with that person as they now feel like part of your family.
Build traffic, awareness and sales by doing weekly or monthly farmer markets, new product demos and taste testing, etc. Have vendors pass out samples for free. In exchange they get their products showcased on that day and in your store for a given period. Even better the vendors will also do the promoting for u as they don't want their time to be wasted.
Do a huge drawing for a shopping spree or some kind of prize like a year supply of ______ blank. You could probably get some vendors or local company to donate the prize(s) for the free exposure and marketing. Customers get an entry many ways. And there is no limit to how many entries one can get. One just for stopping in, one for purchasing $X amount, two for purchasing $x amount and so on. Five entries for checking in online and sharing it with friends/followers through social media channels. The possibilities are endless and each new idea gets you free marketing from happy, loyal customers who now feel even more connected to your business.
Have a party! A new launch or unveiling party or networking event with a charity tie in. Sell tickets and some proceeds go to the charity. The charity's volunteers will help you plan and promote the party. Invite the news, radio stations, announce the winners of your contests and drawings on that day to ensure a good turnout. Everyone loves a party, and what a good excuse if it supports a charity and counts as networking.
Best of luck.
Steve Kennett
Jan 27, 2016
oh how exciting! It feels like a carte blanche! If you can do the visual signage and staging of products - I would also get a nutritionist on board and social media and perhaps delivery. You know who wants lots of nutritious food? Moms. And they don't have time to get it!! Offer delivery! And free kids programs with a little demo of how to create a fruit dip - or whatever is healthy! lol
have weekly free kids' demos (think home depot) and bring parents in. Bring health conscious people in through special programs designed for them - bring in a nutritionist to answer questions and develop specialized recipes for the sensitivities prevalent in the community once a month.
You need to get the message out that this supermarket is catering to the needs of its customers - that everything here is healthier than the competitors and that this supermarket cares more about your health than the others.
Charity work can also work wonders - this supermarket cares more about your community will get a lot of loyalty. Sponsor soup kitchens or school lunch programs.
Also get the supermarket to ENGAGE with the customers through social media - share recipes on instagram and pinterest. get the users pinning the super-fabulous recipes and posting pics of their kids chocolate covered noses during Saturday's kids demo.
how fun is that??
Enjoy!!
To answer your question - I would bring on board a PR person and a nutritionist, maybe social media manager if they have the budget for it. :) Oh - another thought!! Youtube videos of a chef or nutritionist demoing recipes. :)
Jan 27, 2016
Marketing within the supermarket and maximizing enjoyment / spend by shoppers will be aided by creating the right in store music experience. This should be added to your clients business plan, and local providers that specialise in this service should be consulted. In my experience this can be a lot more important and powerful than visual marketing strategies.
Jan 27, 2016
Where do we start. First, I assume this is a local supermarket, not looking for a national audience, With that said, social media would be out, However, email will work very well. We are doing a local supermarket now, and each week we email to the local community the weekly specials. Each week we have had a consistent 55-65% of those who opened the email (our mail server tracks). Our list has email addresses of 90%+ of the residents in their community.
In the store they will need help, but I can't say how without seeing the store. To increase add-on sales, at the register offer the "gotcha" items - those high margin small items, that people will pick up at check out. It differs for each store.
Talk to the suppliers about help with layout of their products. The larger suppliers have teams that help with that.
I assume they know about store and shelf layout and how people shop. That is critical for increased sales.ASK customers what they like or dislike about the store and products offered.
Assuming the have automated POS and back office software, analyze what people buy. If they track customers, analyze by customer. If not see if they can analyze by credit card number. At another larger supermarket in NYC that we consulted with they were ready to drop a particular section of high-priced cheeses. We analyzed who was buying and learned it was the more affluent customers (we dug into market research). So, instead of dropping the products, they increased them and are doing very well.
Needless to say the list goes on. Contact me if they need any direct help.