What constitutes an effective marketing approach for retail stores? Key points manufacturers should grasp for creating sales spaces.

The spread of COVID-19 has made it difficult to shop freely in stores as before, leading to a sharp increase in users of e-commerce and online shopping. Many people likely feel, "I bought online because I couldn't go to the store," but then thought, "Once I tried it, it was convenient and good," and want to continue using online shopping even after the pandemic subsides.

Meanwhile, the pandemichas brought significant attention to "essential workers" who support our daily lives and interact face-to-face with customers, such ashealthcare and welfare workers, and retailers handling groceries and daily necessities. Supermarkets, one such frontline setting, have also seen various changes in response to the pandemic. This time, we explain "the current state of retail" for manufacturers' marketing personnel. We introduce how to promote your company's products and services to meet evolving customer needs.

Understanding Retailers' Needs Leads to Creating Attractive Store Displays

No matter how much branding or promotion a manufacturer pushes, sales are often heavily influenced by reasons like "I picked it up because it stood out in the store" or "I bought it because it was on sale." Many manufacturer representatives, well aware of this reality, likely share the concern: "How can we collaborate with the people at the retail frontlines—our customer touchpoints—to develop targeted approaches?"

The best way to solve this challenge is to understand the needs and realities of the retail floor. This enables proposals that are easy for retail staff to implement or that they will want to implement. Here are some recent examples that offer hints.

The "Summer Solstice Curry Fair": A Win-Win for Manufacturers and Retailers

In June 2019, several supermarkets created dedicated display shelves labeled "Summer Solstice Curry Fair" to appeal to shoppers. The concept of "Summer Solstice Curry" originated from a social media trend promoting the idea that "eating curry at the summer solstice, a time of seasonal transition, boosts energy." A major retailer picked up on this movement and developed the campaign. The following considerations from the retailer's perspective likely contributed to the campaign's success:

・June has fewer seasonal events compared to other months, creating a need for hooks and themes to boost sales

・Curry can incorporate many ingredients, making it easy to simultaneously promote various fresh produce

・Grouping items under a campaign theme allowed manufacturers to create cross-category displays beyond just curry, incorporating beverages, alcoholic drinks, spices, etc., enabling a wide variety of offerings

Thus, the Summer Solstice Curry Fair offered significant benefits for retail stores. When store personnel receiving proposals from manufacturers think, "Ah, that makes sense. This kind of display would please customers, create an event atmosphere, and likely boost sales," or "Within this context, we could group and display various products together," the likelihood of the proposal being adopted increases.

COVID-19 has changed how customers shop.

Customers seeking "peace of mind" over "low prices"

The pandemic has also brought several changes to the retail landscape. For example, "evening customer peaks have diminished." This is likely due to a desire to avoid crowded spaces and the flexibility in shopping schedules afforded by lifestyle changes like remote work.

Additionally, some stores report "an increase in male customers due to remote work." These men, who previously rarely shopped at supermarkets, tend to purchase higher-priced items compared to the typical homemaker demographic. Men seem more inclined to think, "Since I'm here anyway, I might as well buy something a little better quality."

A hypothesis that can be drawn from these changes is that factors beyond the "price competitiveness" previously emphasized, such as special sales, are now being questioned. Many retail stores traditionally focused on stocking standout sale items and using time-limited sales to create a sense of extra savings, thereby attracting large crowds. However, with excessive crowds now difficult to manage due to COVID-19 countermeasures, more customers are thinking, "Rather than just 'cheap,' I want products and shopping methods that offer 'peace of mind.'"

Customers Deprived of the Joy of Choosing

Despite the pandemic preventing dining out, some retailers struggled with "stagnant prepared food sales." Why weren't prepared food sales growing, even as stay-at-home consumption increased? Investigation revealed that pre-pandemic prepared food sections operated buffet-style, displaying a wide variety of items like croquettes, yakitori, fried chicken, and salads, allowing customers to freely choose what they wanted.The pandemic forced a shift to a new style: each prepared dish was individually packaged and displayed. Consequently, the enjoyment of "choosing as much as you like from a wide variety of dishes" disappeared, leading customers to reach for prepared foods less often.

In other words, the previous layout offered the "joy of choosing," but the pandemic took that away. The challenge now is how to restore that "joy of choosing" while maintaining infection control measures.

It is crucial above all to accurately grasp these "changes in retail stores" and align our perspective with the challenges faced on the retail front lines. If we can do that, we can propose ideas based on the concept of what initiatives we can take to solve problems together, leading to new measures.

Are flyers ineffective? Outdated? The role of flyers goes beyond mere customer attraction

Another key element to consider in retail store strategies is the existence of "flyers." Recently, many stores seem to be discontinuing flyers and switching to digital approaches, citing reasons like declining newspaper subscription rates, the ability to advertise at preferred times and moments, or the capability to segment information based on customer preferences. Many people likely think, "Flyers are outdated" or "Young people don't even look at flyers."

However, for some stores, flyers serve a purpose beyond being mere "customer attraction devices." For instance, they can play a crucial role in "store operations." Fundamentally, a flyer is a tool that distills the core elements of store management, like "Today's top recommendation is this." In response, the retail floor staff will prepare accordingly: "Let's place the flyer featured items in an easily visible spot.""When customers visiting with this flyer ask questions, staff should be ready to answer immediately." In other words, flyers also serve as explanatory materials for staff in these stores. They provide direction: "We're highlighting this product today. Let's properly serve customers who come expecting it."

Thus, flyers possess a function that goes beyond merely "reaching customers" – they also underpin the store's service capabilities. Understanding these realities of the retail floor can help make conversations with store staff more focused and effective.

Even with increased e-commerce usage, physical retail locations will remain crucial "places of consumption."In fact, the experience of being unable to shop in stores may have led more people to rediscover the joy of shopping in physical spaces, potentially raising consumer expectations for stores even further. In response to this situation, manufacturers' marketing personnel are now expected to effectively understand the realities and needs of retail stores while jointly promoting the creation of attractive sales environments suited to the current era. We encourage you to consider promoting your own products and services from this perspective.