Shopper marketing: 3 steps to win over a customer

What is successful shopper marketing? It’s engaging the customer while she is shopping in such a way that she decides to take your product home with her.

Shopper marketing requires knowing your customer and making the shopping experience a positive one for her. Much like in a personal relationship, the attraction will be step by step. There are distinct stages a customer will have in engaging with your brand before her moment of truth in choosing it. These stages can be orchestrated by effective design and marketing strategies.

1. A Friendly Greeting

Your first step is to show that you’re an attractive brand that she would like to take a moment to get to know. This can be done through Point of Sales Materials (POSM) such as shelves, table displays, hanging displays, posters and a variety of in-store marketing displays.

The packaging design is also key to the image of your product. What does it say about your brand? Are the colors pleasant and attractive? Is the design unique so that it stands out and greets the customer as she walks by?

Effective POSM and packaging design are key ways to catch a customer’s attention in store and present an appealing first impression which can lead the customer to stop and consider your product.

2. An Attractive Personality

Once you’ve caught the customer’s attention, you want to inspire her to stop and pick up your product. In this respect, packaging design is key.

Do the words and colors on your packaging design convey a message or a spirit that attracts her? What is the personality that your packaging design exudes? Is it eco-friendly? Healthy? Colorful and full of vitality? Fashionable? Minimalistic? Serene?

Your product’s packaging design should speak to her — not just with words, but with color, shape, texture and creativity. The design and choice of color, shape, material, and font needs to exude a spirit that she wants to connect with.

Price is also an important factor. Is yours an attractive and reasonable price for the product’s image and function?

3. Meet Her Needs

To win over a customer, you need to know her like a friend. Friends know each other’s dreams, desires, needs, quirks, and habits. If you want to befriend your customer, you need to engage her on a deeper level. You need to know what catches her attention. What does she think about when she shops? What are her primary concerns and anxieties? What are her desires and needs?

Successful shopper marketing comes from understanding your customer — what drivers her purchases and what she values in life. Are environmental concerns important to her? Does she want a product that is more natural? What are her concerns for her family members? For herself? Does she desire premium goods that exude luxury and elegance?

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What kind of product would she want to have as part of her home life? Design the packaging, the POSM, and marketing campaign to attract her.

The design and message on your product’s package and the POSM should showcase the compelling traits of your product and persuade her to take it home.

Paradise Design is a leading design firm with 20 years of expertise in shopper marketing and is available to serve clients in any country. For more information, contact natalie (at) paradise-design.com.tw.