Can studying the “customer path” improve operational effectiveness?

Pascal Bianchi — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:43:00 +0000

Everyone is talking about the crisis - but the distribution chains deal with it on a daily basis, and have been since well before it became a hot media topic, in the summer of 2008.

Purchasing power has certainly been declining more quickly since last summer, resulting in ultra-fast changes in consumer behaviour. “I don’t have the same budget, so I can no longer purchase the same things in the same quantities, I no longer respond to the same criteria, I favour other products instead of my regular purchases, I prefer certain products for various reasons, etc.”

In this environment, stores have to work hard to adapt. They must react quickly, at least as quickly as their competitors, or risk irretrievable loss of their commercial positions. One thing is certain: market shares have never been as hotly contested as they are today, and pricing strategies are no longer always enough.

Therefore, being able to rapidly analyse changes in consumer behaviour has become a strategic necessity, in order to better offer this disoriented consumer what he needs at the right time and at the right price.

Where do they go? What do they do?

Customers who enter a store are subject to a multitude of influences during their visit. Sales area design, traffic areas, informational items, communication elements (signage), etc., are all customer relation interfaces.

What exactly happens when they enter the store?

Which aisles do they prefer and why? Do they – still – follow the path imagined by the sales area design experts? What determines their choices? Does signage influence their path through the sales area, or is the customer’s trajectory more subconscious as he pursues a predetermined goal? Do consumers seek to first satisfy their primary reason for visiting the store? Do information, new offers, in-store advertising locations, aisle head displays, product promos, etc. affect their decision to purchase particular products? If so, in what way and to what extent?

People who manage business and marketing departments ask all these questions – but do they have the financial and/or technical tools to answer them correctly?

Clearly, what was true yesterday is even more, true today: Better understanding the “customer path”, better understanding customers’ habits, what they deem important, the major factors in their decision-making process, will all lead to a better understanding of what, exactly, in the sales area can influence their choices. So do studies of the customer’s path and more generally CRM studies increase operational effectiveness? Personally, I am convinced of it! What about you?

An article that I think is very useful, published on the CSC agency site

ActiSKU - Tag - Shopping Mission

Can studying the “customer path” improve operational effectiveness?

Everyone is talking about the crisis - but the distribution chains deal with it on a daily basis, and have been since well before it became a hot media topic, in the summer of 2008.