Nielsen: How Finding Connections Across The Store Can Boost Sales

Rapid changes in technology are transforming lifestyles—and shopping habits. As people lead busy lives driven by greater connectivity, they increasingly look for seemingly disparate qualities when deciding what to add to their baskets. Their desires for convenience, fresh foods and budget-friendly options are shifting store dynamics. So some products and aisles are battling long-term struggles while others are thriving. Now, more than ever, the path to brand and store growth requires a thorough understanding of the entire store. 

Retailers and manufacturers have traditionally examined product performance and built strategies using views focused on only an aisle or department. But this is not how shoppers see the store. The isolated view makes it difficult to understand how one part of the store affects another. Through a traditional lens, for example, the recent growth of fresh products like deli-prepared chicken or value-added vegetables and the flat or declining sales of center-aisles staples seem to indicate that certain products are “stealing” sales from one another. But this perception is limiting and based on unfounded assumptions.

The fact is, we’re all total store shoppers. For example, the average shopper spends nearly 80% of his or her grocery dollars on center-store products. And even the most fresh-focused shoppers only spend around 30% of their grocery dollars on fresh. Since shoppers use all of the aisles in the store to solve everyday needs, retailers and manufacturers need to better understand how shoppers connect the dots across aisles for meal solutions and everyday eating occasions.

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