In-Store Retail Marketing (trade promotion) is the lifeblood of the supermarket and for brands. These create Trial and Repeat Purchase AND create all important Impulse Sales. You know impulse, all of those items you purchased that were not on your shopping list!
Pretzel Crisps VP of Marketing Perry Abbenante, for Pretzel Crisps knows retail marketing, he was the Senior Grocery Director at Whole Foods Market headquarters in Austin, Texas and was responsible for national buying and merchandising. Do you think he can tell us how to transition promotional ideas into Innovative Retail Marketing Strategies? You bet!
Perry recently gave us advice on Winning New Product Launch Tips so know I want him to give us the secrets for great In-Store Promotions… not only strategy but some tactical examples of what he does with the Pretzel Crisps brand to drive sales at the point of purchase.

Overall Retail Marketing Strategy and Tactics

How Do You Get Penetration - Gaining New Shoppers To Buy The Product?

Perry says "When you have a relatively new product, get placement or display outside of your normal department is a key strategy. In our Activation Markets, we get our staff on the ground to get placement outside of the deli where we are normally merchandised. This tactic helps to attract new people that have never seen your product."

Frequency - Or Getting Existing Customers To Buy More Often Is The Lifeblood Of Consumer Foods. Give Us Some Examples Of How You Do This?

"Pretzel Crisps® is a multi-use product. So in addition to being a great standalone snack, it's great for dipping and can be paired with meat, cheese, fruit, veggies. An example of this is the Tortellini Delight, Slider on a Pretzel Crisp, which shows we are a great base for an appetizer. Our demos show people how to use it in more than one way. Social Media helps us engage with our customers on our multi-use capabilities, look at our Finger Food Friday recipes on Facebook . Each week, the recipe posts give our 250,000 plus followers a new way to use our product differently."

Pantry Loading - getting existing customers to purchase more during a given shopping trip Helps to block the competition. How do you use promotional price points to get more Pretzel Crisps in the consumers pantry?

Perry says "It is all about the price point. Most retailers have accepted the multiple price point mantra. So a 2 for $5 is more effective vs. $2.49 each. If you have a 2-for, you will almost guarantee every customer will buy the multiple."

Tell Us What You Feel Are the 3 Steps to Developing Winning In-Store Promotions

Trade Commitment - getting the maximum number of shoppers near your brand.

"It all starts with having a relationship with retail buyers, supporting their important merchandising programs. Too many brands fail to ask "what is important to you as a retail buyer"? If a certain promo is important to the retailer, support it! The retailer may then be more inclined to support you in the future! Don't be "all about me… be all about us!"

Stopping the shopper - Big, Colorful and Simple.

Perry tells us that your in-store displays need to be big enough to attract attention. He suggests arranging the display based on the colors of the packaging and create vertical or horizontal blocks. They have provided a variety of photos to illustrate Big, Colorful and Simple .
Perry says "Additionally, you should have an assortment of your best sellers on display. Absolutely make your display shop-able! What does this mean? Well, can you grab multiple bags or products without the display falling apart? Always be cognizant of store volume when you build a display. Your display should be able to survive several hours of shopping before a refill is needed."
Now, customer count is something a store may not give you since this is very proprietary. So consider visiting the store several times and count people within a 2 or 3 hour period. It is called field research, it may not be fun but it sure returns great benefits of increased knowledge of your customer.

The Reason to Buy - Your Product Needs This!

Focus on discount related claims - it has to be a compelling price point. Not the lowest but compelling and relevant to the consumer. If you were your consumer, what would incentivize you as a price point… just be honest with yourself in this question.
Promotional mechanism claims - Partner with another brand. Buy something and get something free. Perry mentioned "We had a promotion that was buy 2 bags of Pretzel Crisps® and get a container of hummus free that was very successful. So whatever your product, look for brands that have synergy to yours and contact them to see if you can partner on co-promotions."

Final Thoughts from Perry

"In-store promos are a key element of a successful brand. Without them the brand will fail" according to Perry. I tell clients don't get into the trap of believing you will save money by avoiding the investment in retail promotions. You won't save money… you will lose shelf placement.
Perry advises, "Off shelf promos and TPR's (Temporary Price Reductions, that tag on the shelf) this combo drives volume. You don't need a really big discount for a TPR. Sometimes just a $.20 price reduction does it because the tag attracts attention… you will get "Lift" and the buyer needs to see Promotional Lift".
Lift? Jargon? Now you need to know what this means.
Perry, tell us in simple terms what Promotional Lift means? "So if you normally sell 10 units a week and you sold 20 units on promotion, you have a promotional lift of 10 units and a lift percentage of 100%. Buyers also have another term you need to know, called Raised Base.
Buyers want to see your promotional lift translate into higher non promotion base sales. So in our example, if we had a promotional lift of 10 units per week, the buyer might want to see your post promotion base sales increase to 13 to 15 units per week. This raised base shows conversion of new customers with your promotions."
And don't we all want more customers and increased sales?