It’s 4pm. You’re pushing the trolley down the aisle with tired, hungry, and irritable kids. Want to know what’s for dinner tonight? Once upon a time, we were scratching our heads for dinner inspiration. Today, there’s an altogether happier answer to finding that quick and easy mealtime solution. It’s fast becoming known as your personal grocery assistant: the smartphone. In a 2012 survey, The Australian National Retailers Association found almost 40 per cent of people are using
smartphones and tablets to help them shop.
Taste.com.au has close to two million unique visitors per month, with almost 60 per cent of those viewers being the main grocery shopper. With all those recipes and ideas, it’s no wonder the site is such a success when you’re standing in the supermarket aisle making that 4pm decision.
Taste.com.au is not alone. According to Sprint Mobile’s Moment of Truth Survey performed by the Barkley advertising agency in the US, 61 per cent of smartphone-wielding millennials and 58 per cent of shoppers aged 36 to 65 use their smartphone to shop the grocery store.
Proving that age does not necessarily account for behavioural differences, the research found that shoppers most commonly use their phone to compare price (61 per cent of millennials and 63 per cent of older shoppers); make lists (54 per cent and 51 per cent) and research products (45 per cent and 42 per cent).
Using a plethora of apps developed for both the iOS and Android operating systems, shoppers are becoming more sophisticated when it comes to sorting through the aisles using their personal grocery assistants.
For example, Australia’s Scan2List app takes stock of what’s in your pantry; letting you scan all your favourites to create the ultimate master recipe and shopping list.
And for those looking for healthier options, apps such as FoodSwitch let you scan a product and access healthier alternatives for the family.
Recipes, ideas, and product reviews can all be accessed through mobile-optimised sites, apps, and other mobile-friendly interfaces, making mobile advertising a powerful and effective tool for brands to connect with a shopper on their way to purchase.
The trick for brands is to connect with shoppers in an indispensable way, such as taking ownership of the lunchbox, creating meals for under $10, providing a host of 20 minute fast meals, or even creating the app that tells you how to remove every stain.
Smartphones are creating app-ier shoppers and, because technology allows for superb ROI measurement, why not explore how your brand can harness these opportunities?
Try linking with, or advertising on, an existing platform or start creating your shopper’s very own indispensable app today.
Kirsty Dollisson is the GM of TorchMedia; an Australian shopper and transit media specialist that holds the exclusive rights to Woolworths’ instore media. Contact her on kirsty.dollisson@torchmedia.com.au or (02) 8404 3900.
This story is part of Inside Retails new shopper marketing newsbrief, Inside Shopper. Click here to subscribe.
