MISTAKE #7: You assume your shopper is more educated then they actually are
(alternate title: Your Shopper Might Be An Idiot)
It is so easy to forget how biased we all are. For the purposes of this article, I’m focused on how biased we become related to the work that we do every day.
You spend 80 hours of every week focused on one or two or a few categories. You’re able to name every major brand and their average retail price and approximate market share. You can describe each brand’s equity and performance difference. You can even accurately recreate store modulars from memory.
You, my friend, have developed very specialized knowledge.
But you must never forget that you are no longer your category’s average shopper.
If your category is similar to ones we’ve studied, odds are some of the following generalized statistics apply (I’ll use ‘she’ to perpetuate the assumption that most shoppers are female):
She spends less than 20 seconds in front of your shelf when shopping.
She has unaided recall of only 4 brands and this only increases to 7 brands with aided recall.
She has only bought 2 different brands in your category in the past 12 months.
She quickly gets confused about what advertising and what claims are associated with different brands.
She wants the store to have a ‘broad assortment’, but defines this as ‘carry the few brands I care about.’
She can’t make a compelling argument for why the store brand isn’t good enough for her.
She can accurately recall a few brand blocks on the modular, but most of the shelf is just a blur because she hasn’t looked at it in a long time.
She describes her product preference as a habit, not loyalty.
In reality, a significant share of shoppers in any given category is pretty darn ignorant about the category.
However, this immediately makes sense when we do the math.
Let’s assume in a given year the average shopper buys products from 150 different categories at a mass merchandiser. Let’s further assume it takes just 15 minutes to really understand a category.
Those that have sat through full-day orientations when joining a new company know I’m probably being pretty generous when it comes to category education.
With the constant introduction of new products, let’s also assume that most categories require regular re-education as the types and qualities, and variants of products change.
Summing it up, this shopper would have to invest 2250 minutes of research (that’s approaching 40 hours) to really understand all the categories she buys. And this assumes perfect recall of all the information she’d gain across all those categories.
Do you have any reason to believe your category would be significantly more likely to get more attention or be a higher priority than those other 149 categories?
So let’s just admit it…our shoppers are probably idiots and don’t care about our category nearly as much as we do or as much as we wish they did.
DOES IT MATTER IF MY SHOPPER IS AN IDIOT?
Lack of knowledge can be both a curse and a blessing.
THE CURSE: I’ve seen many companies place too high of expectations on what their shoppers already know and what they’re willing to learn. The product probably has a value proposition that isn’t immediately apparent or appreciated. And lots of sales are lost because so few shoppers will make the investment to learn enough to be convinced to buy the product which is necessary to actually experience the value.
Ignorance is the enemy of complex, premium product offerings. And it takes a lot of time and money to educate the masses.
THE BLESSING: I’ve seen many companies benefit from shopper ignorance as well. They typically have done the work to understand what key elements trigger a purchase and what pops up as barriers to purchase.
Or they might prey on ignorance to capture purchases they don’t deserve.
These products create an easily understood, focused message that says as little as possible, but still says what the shopper needs to hear. This works particularly well in categories where other products are shouting lengthy and confusing messages that remind the shopper how ignorant she is.
Often, being the simplest solution…being the product shoppers can most readily justify buying…is the best way to attract the masses.
SO WHO IS SMARTER…YOU OR YOUR SHOPPER?
Do you have a complex proposition that requires significant investment on the part of the shopper? Are you confident shoppers will make that investment? Are you doing everything you can to make them want to learn more?
Or could you further simplify your proposition to capture more of those shoppers not interested in becoming category experts? Can you be the first to reach shoppers by focusing your message on a few key pressure points? Can you win their purchase decision before they decide to learn any more about another category?