Grocery store visit

The paper ” Watching Some Consumers Do Shopping at Grocery Store” is a wonderful example of a marketing assignment. Watch some consumers do shopping. What aspect of the display/aisles seems to be most effective? How much time do consumers spend buying different products? How closely do they examine the packaging? Can you make any conclusions about the role of packaging? What, if any did you learn about consumer behavior?
Whilst visiting a grocery store, I witnessed that the consumers shopped more easily as compared to other stores which did not have a store layout as such. The aisles had the most effective because consumers could easily pick up brands off the shelves. The displays were there just to let the consumers know what kind of experience they can have once they purchase the products. The consumers spend quite a bit of time buying different products because they need to find out what price quotients were on offer and how they were able to extract the unique benefits of the products that were put up on aisles. They also have a very close and incisive look at the packaging domains because this is something that holds a great deal of significance for them. They find out how it can be useful to their day to day needs and what kind of advantages they can derive from the packaging that encompasses the product itself. I learned about consumer behavior that it is something which can tell a great deal about how brands need to be packaged, priced and positioned because it is for the consumers themselves that the products are being sold in the retail stores. How are the products grouped in a typical aisle? Can you look at the product displays and guess which brands are market leaders? What makes you think that? Which brands seem to be competitively much weaker? Why?
Products are grouped in aisles based on the product category. This means that the products which fall under a specific product category are arranged closely with one another. The competing brands are also closely placed with one another which allow the consumers to pick and choose a brand based on their understanding, prior perception, advertising, consumer promotions, etc. The brands which are the market leaders under specific segments include Kellogg’s, Tide, Kitkat, Marks and Spencer, Dettol and Coke to name a few. These represent different categories of products which have been arranged on the aisles for a better understanding and visual display of the consumers. These are easily the market leaders because their shelf presence is the topmost and my thinking has come about because I see a number of x-stands, banners and neon flashers in the store and outside of it as well. There are a few brands which are competitively weaker because they are lying on the shelves for their mere presence. They have to meet certain sales targets and be available to the consumers and that is the reason why they are on the shelves.

Do you notice any store brands? How many categories do they cut across? How prominently displayed are these brands?
There are the store brands present within the retail chain as well. These store brands are mostly comprised of the food categories and mostly frozen foods. Since the consumers always look for a cheaper option, these store brands work well and offer them what is required by them on a day to day level. There are other store brands within the snack category as well but these are not being aggressively positioned and targeted by the retail chain. This has meant that that the frozen food store brands are having the best possible mileage and giving the retail chain a name of its own self. The display for the frozen food category is very prominent as people throng this area of the retail chain more than any other. The store brands have actually given the retail store a share of voice that it would not have achieved had it given up on this idea.

Pick a product category. Write down the prices of the different brands in the category. What do you notice about the prices? Can you identify any differences in pricing strategies of different brands and companies?
The product category chosen is of chocolates which come under the food and other edibles. The Hershey’s chocolates are priced as the most expensive ones while the local chocolates have been at the other end, priced as much as four times lower yet at the same size as the Hershey’s chocolates. The prices are lower for the local brands because they are not that renowned and are thus bought less by the consumers. On the other hand, Hershey’s, KitKat, M&Ms, and other famous chocolates are comparatively higher in price and thus get purchased more often by the consumers (Kotler, Armstrong, Trifts & Cunningham, 2011). The pricing strategies used by the local manufacturers of chocolates are such that they want to penetrate the market by giving the consumers a cheaper option. However, this strategy is not working as per the store representative who suggests that the expensive and more renowned chocolates get sold more often than the local brands.

Any other comments? Any suggestions for the store manager? Any suggestions for the brand managers?
There are some suggestions for the store manager to implement them within the retail chain. This comprises of a better arrangement of products so that there is more visibility of brands that are on offer. It will also give a good idea to change the layout to have more adaptability for promotions and visual display. This will mean that the consumers will find it easier to roam through the aisles and pick and choose products as and when they like. It is important because they are continuously being monitored by the store staff as per their requirements. I would also like to comment on the neon flashers that are on display. These should be a bit brighter than they are at the present. It will make sure that the store showcases a good opportunity for brands to highlight what they are offering and what their intended messages are to the consumers who are visiting this retail store.