New Orleans, LA — The new original research by the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association™ (IDDBA) examines the Consumer Decision Tree. IDDBA commissioned Datassential to explore and define the core buyers, their decision-need states, mental cues, and preferences. The study looks at how different in-store stimuli can trigger a purchase or cause the consumer to abandon one or to switch.
Understanding the buying triggers for dairy, deli, and bakery department consumers can be a real challenge. The combined factors create a Consumer Decision Tree that consumers use when they shop, compare, and analyze purchase decisions. It all gets wrapped up in shopping influences, taste preferences, motivations, emotions, and purchase drivers. Most consumers make their buying decisions automatically and don’t stop to think about why they choose one item over another or make a choice at all. This combination of conscious and unconscious factors makes up the Consumer Decision Tree and the ultimate selection of what goes in the shopping basket.
Key findings include:
Variety: an indicator of freshness & quality
Variety does more than just provide shoppers with additional options. To consumers, variety can also be an indicator of freshness and quality; stores that offer a wide range of deli / bakery options are thought to care more – and are thus assumed to also carry fresher and higher quality products.
Better Information
As a whole, delis & bakeries today could do a much better job displaying signage and product information. Deli / bakery areas often don’t capitalize on their opportunity to attract shoppers who are passing by; signage tends to be sparse and uninteresting, and products are frequently poorly labeled (if labeled at all). Consumers also want information to make better decisions – including freshness indicators, ingredient statements, and nutritionals.
Speed of Service: ensure adequate staffing
Don’t make consumers wait. Although they are already in the store, potential deli / bakery buyers are NOT necessarily a captive audience. If things are moving too slowly, shoppers will simply walk away. In fact, other than pricing, “long lines” are a number one cause of aborted deli / bakery purchases.
Pre-slicing: a catch-22 (that’s easily remedied)
Shoppers want a faster and more convenient experience at the deli. Pre-slicing meats and cheeses each day can help to accomplish this, but there’s an important tradeoff to keep in mind: if consumers aren’t told how recently those items were sliced, they may perceive them to have been “sitting around” and thus less desirable than retail packaged products found in the regular grocery aisle.
To address this, deli retailers who pre-slice their meats and cheeses should label those products as “sliced fresh this morning” or use a similar type of freshness indicator – thus offering shoppers convenience, while also providing an assurance of freshness.
Additional topics / themes you’ll find in the report…
- The Decision to Buy
- Deli Decisions: Meat, Cheese, & Prepared Food
- Bakery Decisions: From Breakfast to Dessert
- Converting Browsers to Buyers
- Increased Visitation
- The Pricing Proposition
- Non-Shopper Perspectives
- Appearances Still Matter
- Eye-Catching is the Catch
- Freshening up the Freshness Proposition
- FYI: Informed Shoppers Expect Information
- Service Serves a Purpose
- Knowledge is Power
- Time is Money (Lost)
The report will be available Summer 2012.
About IDDBA:
IDDBA is a nonprofit membership organization serving the dairy, deli, bakery, cheese, and supermarket foodservice industries. Member companies enjoy many benefits and services including the annual seminar and expo, leading-edge research, training programs, management tools, and an annual trends report. For more information, contact IDDBA at 608.310.5000 or visit our Web site, www.iddba.org.
Source: International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association
