Shopper Marketing at Traditional Retail: An Inevitable Journey
"Shopper Marketing at traditional retail: An inevitable journey"
90% of the Indian retail is built on the strong bricks of traditional trade. The just next door 'kirana store ' is still a significant part of the shoppers’ life. This makes Point-of-Purchase venture into knowing what role does shopper marketing play at the foray of traditional trade, is shopper marketing seeking its relevance here. Experts introspect, answer and help us gain a definite ground on this issue.
By Reena Mehta
An Inevitable Journey
Traditional retail amounts for 90% of Indian retail surely sounds a cliché statistic, but for brands it’s a journey that must be taken. The reason to embark on this journey is the fact that shopper behavior is well established and fairly mature within the traditional trade. Over generations the traditional trade has been able to establish and build a relationship, rapport and trust which are nearly impossible to replicate. Added to this is the proximity to the shopper - which by far is its biggest USP and this makes traditional retail the building block of Indian retail. Shopper marketing no doubts has gained its momentum at the modern retail but modern trade only contributes in single digit %s to the overall sales of many brands and will continue to do so for years to come. Kirana outlets will be the main stay of Indian Marketing. Unless shopper marketing programs cater to the kirana stores, shopper marketing as a practice will not able to make any real impact in the Indian market place. This fact is well reflected in the words of Mr. Vijay Singh, Managing Director, 141 Sercon who says “Brands cannot afford to look away from traditional trade; it is this sector which allows brands to operate with fair margins while not creating and pushing private labels.
Brands need to put in certain amount of investment in some form of experiential marketing or shopper marketing as a part of their last mile communication that facilitates conversion and this makes
90% of the Indian retail is built on the strong bricks of traditional trade. The just next door 'kirana store ' is still a significant part of the shoppers’ life. This makes Point-of-Purchase venture into knowing what role does shopper marketing play at the foray of traditional trade, is shopper marketing seeking its relevance here. Experts introspect, answer and help us gain a definite ground on this issue.
By Reena Mehta
An Inevitable Journey
Traditional retail amounts for 90% of Indian retail surely sounds a cliché statistic, but for brands it’s a journey that must be taken. The reason to embark on this journey is the fact that shopper behavior is well established and fairly mature within the traditional trade. Over generations the traditional trade has been able to establish and build a relationship, rapport and trust which are nearly impossible to replicate. Added to this is the proximity to the shopper - which by far is its biggest USP and this makes traditional retail the building block of Indian retail. Shopper marketing no doubts has gained its momentum at the modern retail but modern trade only contributes in single digit %s to the overall sales of many brands and will continue to do so for years to come. Kirana outlets will be the main stay of Indian Marketing. Unless shopper marketing programs cater to the kirana stores, shopper marketing as a practice will not able to make any real impact in the Indian market place. This fact is well reflected in the words of Mr. Vijay Singh, Managing Director, 141 Sercon who says “Brands cannot afford to look away from traditional trade; it is this sector which allows brands to operate with fair margins while not creating and pushing private labels.
Brands need to put in certain amount of investment in some form of experiential marketing or shopper marketing as a part of their last mile communication that facilitates conversion and this makes
Links: Friday, October 23, 2009 Shopper Marketing