We’re often asked to create an innovative program that’s going to “move the needle.” While that’s important and a measure of success, the needle often goes back to the place it began once the program has ended. To be truly innovative, we need to create programs that not only push the needle, but also keep it moving forward.
Shopper marketing has come a long way in creating solutions that meet shoppers’ immediate needs — whether it’s an instant coupon, helping them navigate the aisle or offering stock-up deals that may take the competition out of the running for a while. While these solutions put us into the shopper’s considered set, have they created the desired relationship? Will they be the tiebreaker versus the competition every time?
The fact is, both retailers and brands are looking for the same thing. They may not see eye-to-eye on everything, but they agree that true success is about creating long-term loyalty with shoppers. Long-term loyalty is the tiebreaker. With long-term loyalty, it’s not just about “the deal” or “the offer” or seeking out the retailer with the “hottest sale of the season.” It’s about choosing the product or the retailer that makes the shopper feel like, “Hey, you guys understand me.”
Sounds easy, right? While there are many ways we can show shoppers we understand them, there is one area in particular that we have found has a high correlation to shopper loyalty. That area is balance: helping shoppers balance their lives.
Over the years, time and again, our research has found that “living a more balanced life” comes through regardless of the overall topic. This has led us to believe that if brands and retailers could help shoppers live more balanced lives, they would be rewarded with increased shopper loyalty.
This idea drove our most recent study, Balance and Building Loyalty. Our goal was to help retailers build loyalty to their stores through greater insight into our mutual customers, the shoppers.
The Meaning of Balance
In “the age of the individual,” people have developed personalized sets of wants, needs, and values that they use to make everyday decisions. Our perceptions and our behaviors are molded by the experiences we have and the relationships we develop.
Balance is a universal concept, but an individual accomplishment. Physical and mental health, family, friends, work, play, food, and religion are common examples of things we strive to balance each and every day. Nevertheless, many of us struggle with this. For some men, working a ten-hour shift means missing dinner with their wives and children. For a working mom, the combined demands of her job and kids make it hard to cook a family meal regularly.
In terms of shopper marketing, this “battle for balance” should be seen as a great opportunity for both brands and retailers. By forming relationships with shoppers that help facilitate their attempt to achieve balance, retailers as well as brands can develop trust and passion. In other words, helping shoppers achieve balance in life can result in shoppers being more loyal to the retailer and brand.
Our research found that respondents’ ideas of the “elements of balance” generally fell into four pillars: People/Relationships, Health and Wellness, Work, and the Environment (see chart one).
We represented each of these four pillars with a number of store attributes, including treatment of employees, availability of healthy lifestyle solutions, easy meal solutions, and environmentally friendly practices. These issues were then randomly mixed with traditional retail attributes (store cleanliness, customer service, competitive prices, location, etc.). This was presented to respondents, who then rated the attributes in terms of their importance in choosing a retailer (see chart two).
The results showed that balance attributes were significantly less important than traditional attributes. In honesty, we were not surprised. Prices, store cleanliness, convenient location — these attributes have been, and continue to be, the keys to a successful business. In other words, shoppers expect the traditional attributes, but the balance attributes are the tiebreakers that can build emotional loyalty (we are defining loyalty as a function of shopper satisfaction, frequency of shopping, and likelihood that the store is considered their favorite).
A Hierarchy of Shopper Needs
In our hierarchy of shopper needs, (see chart three) we show the role of balance attributes in relation to traditional attributes at retail. Generally speaking, retailers and brands must be successful at the base of the pyramid before moving up the levels. Attributes like “convenient location” and “competitive prices” are the cost of entry, and the first step towards getting shoppers to walk through the door. “Excellent customer service” and “clean store” are examples of store attributes that can differentiate a retailer through shopper/store interaction.
Once retailers adequately perform on these bottom two levels, they can focus on delivering the balance elements. Employee treatment, environmentally friendly products, easy meal solutions and healthy lifestyle solutions are examples of attributes that help shoppers satisfy one of the four pillars of balance.
To illustrate that our theory of balance has both bark and bite, we calculated loyalty metrics for two segments of shoppers at a national retailer, which we will refer to as Retailer “X.” The first segment represents shoppers who rate the retailer’s performance on balance elements below the national average. The second segment represents shoppers who rate the retailer’s performance on balance elements above the national average (see chart four).
Our results confirmed that the loyalty elements (shopper satisfaction, shopping frequency and likelihood of the retailer being their favorite) were significantly higher for shoppers who rated the retailer higher on balance elements. Specifically, satisfaction with the retailer increased by 56 percent, the frequency of shopping at least once a week increased by 39 percent, and the likelihood that Retailer “X” was listed as the favorite store increased by 74 percent.
Higher satisfaction, increased number of trips, and preference over the competition: this is what can happen when you deliver more than just the basics. In other words, to provide balance is to create loyalty.
Bringing balance to shoppers means being consistently engaged and present with them. Whether you’re a brand or a retailer, it means delivering not only on the functional but also the emotional elements for shoppers. Retailers and brands need to become open to employing new modes when it comes to traditional elements, as well. This starts with taking a more holistic approach to programming.
Understanding the balance attributes that build long-term loyalty is a key component to taking what may be a one-off program and turning into long-term brand-building plan. Innovative programs, therefore, may not always be a high-tech digital coupon or a pop-up store in the heart of Manhattan. Whether you’re a retailer or a brand, it could be a simple as demonstrating to shoppers that you care about your employees. If you succeed at that, you very well could be rewarded with loyal shoppers for years to come. 
