Germany’s traditional retail channel was massively impacted by CV-19. Shopper frequency immediately dropped in stores, but this bad news should come as no surprise noting the global nature of the pandemic. However, merchants in Germany are reporting interesting facts that can be taken as good news: conversion rates and average basket values are higher than before the lockdown. These indicators show that the people who are visiting retail stores are willing to buy, and have money in their wallets to spend. Vendors are now presented with important questions to answer such as: How do I convince shoppers to venture back into stores? Does my strategy united across channels to contribute to a “One Retail” experience?
In our last blog, we spoke about the beginning of a store concept change addressing improved shopper experience, and this will definitely come with a bit more time. So how do I win back shoppers in the short-term? With Promotions.
Call them, cashbacks, superdeals, luckydeals, or whatever – direct savings are currently the sales driver used by nearly all major brands to attract potential customers. The lockdown, and especially the cancelled European Football Championship, led to massive stock issues in Germany, and even worse, new product generations are already in the pipeline and ready for market shortly. Using cashback promotions is a legitimate tactic to support growth in units, but unfortunately less in value, which reflects the enormous effort that manufacturers are willing to undertake for results. Making sure that these cashbacks actually deliver the anticipated effect is of extreme importance.
We know that due to the pandemic, German consumers do more shopping online, but that is not all. More importantly, they are preparing buying decisions online, a notably critical element of a shoppers’ journey that was once done inside stores.
Consumers’ preparation includes a high-level research on price and promotions, too. Hence, more than ever, a perfectly aligned communication on- and offline is key to delivering the information needed if you want to steer a customer’s journey properly. What is the value of a cashback for a TV that is displayed on a flyer, but not shown on a website?
Price continues to be a key element for consumers’ purchase decisions. Vendors have to be sure that the “perceived” price (after cashback) is shown consistently on a merchant’s website, in-store, and on a flyer. It is neither about online price tracking nor about flyer adverts price tracking, it is all about the full picture: “one retail” price and promotion tracking, on- and offline.
gap intelligence has served manufacturers and sellers by providing world-class services monitoring, reporting, and analyzing the 4Ps: prices, promotions, placements, and products for more than 17 years. Earlier this year we announced our international expansion. Check out our insights on our gap intelligence GmbH LinkedIn and email us at info@gapintelligence.com to learn more.
