2024 Path to Purchase Live: Where Brands & Retailers Meet

This was my first year at Path to Purchase Live and it was a great opportunity to chat with both brands and retailers about critical topics in #commerce such as retail media, where growth is going to come from next year and consumer experiences.

We all know that consumers are feeling the challenges of our economy right now and we are right there with them as consumers ourselves. The Harris Poll shared some excellent data that showed groceries have increased 25% in 5 years and 59% of consumers say the quality of goods and services has been left behind rather than stayed the same. Consumers make ~35,000 decisions per day and they are looking for quality products that deliver value to their lives. And what they are saying is that experience matters. Nearly half of consumers are open to new ways of shopping and are looking for a reimagined shopping experience.

All of this data was incredibly interesting because it points to the fact that the old way of reaching consumers will not cut it anymore. They are smarter than ever before, do more research, are engaging on multiple platforms and want a tailored experience to them. What does that mean for brands and retailers? The way we operate internally and how we approach consumers needs to change. The world of casting a wide net with messaging is over and we need to use the data we have at our fingertips to better understand the consumer, what they want, how they want it and deliver it to them in a unique way that differentiates the experience. Sounds easy right?

There were a few themes I observed from the day:

🏢 In-store is not dead. In fact, it is ripe with opportunities for brands and retailers.

• 62% of consumers shop in-store because they can see what products are available and 53% shop in-store because they can discover new products The Harris Poll
• 79% of consumers are interested in retail stores blending more immersive technology into their space and 74% are looking for retail experiences that activate their five senses for a richer immersive experience The Harris Poll
• This also applies to GenZ with 82% saying they want to feel more comfortable expressing themselves and being with others IRL. And what are they looking for? 50% say a vibe!
• As Andrew Lipsman shared in his keynote "all the store is a stage." There are so many opportunities to infuse retail media as well as more digital experiences into the store. With engagement so close to the point of purchase, there is more brands can be doing in-store.
• A great quote from Curt Munk "ecommerce has fixed buying but broken shopping." There is still an element of shopping that consumers crave and we can't forget that. How can we bring the ease and convenience of online shopping in-store with great content and experiences.
• Another great Andrew Lipsman quote "the physical store is the next major media channel." This can come in the form of smart carts, virtual sampling programs, kiosks, cooler doors or virtual screens in the aisle. This will allow for the introduction of more creator content into the experience.

🤖#AI is not the solution to solve all problems but it is an enabler that will help propel the industry forward. It was an honor to share the “couch” with Todd Hassenfelt from Colgate-Palmolive and Liam Bucher from Kerry Foodservice to talk about all things #AI. Thank you Vizit for having me and Marc Hubbard for being a great moderator.

• 78% of consumers say what matters to them most is a product or service's overall quality and experience not if it uses AI
• We are moving from SEO to AEO or answer based optimization with AI being a large enabler of that. Instead of shopping for a specific snack you are searching by occasions such as “I am hosting a Super Bowl party what do I need to buy"
• Before implementing #AI in your organization be sure to understand what problem you are trying to solve and are asking the right questions before engaging with technology
• Most brands are using #AI for content or image development but some other interesting use cases are creating focus groups, live product testing or using it for brand and category research
• The thing to be asking is how will AI influence shopping in the future and with more AI selected products brands need to be laser focused on content and imagery to provide the right data for AI to pick up and present to consumers.💥Hot Take💥What happens when AI becomes the consumer!?

🔓 There are so many different factors that go into what moves units off of virtual and physical shelves. There was an acknowledgement from both sides of the fence that it is a joint effort from all teams but the most important priority should be the consumer.

• One of my favorite quotes from Costco was "our goal is to have consumers come in to the store buy the things on their list like milk, eggs and meat and accidentally buy a kayak." I think we can all relate to that!
• The relationship between brands and retailers with retail media should be to compliment and supplement the current efforts that are going on. Retail media like AI is not a singular strategy, but when used correctly at the right parts of the consumer journey can offer moments of discovery.
• It is important to have conversations about the nuances of the customer to identify where there might be partnership opportunities.
• Retailers need internal incentives as well as brands to help keep all teams involved marching towards a north star. What gets measured gets managed and that applies across brands and retailers.

📚 Alignment and education internally should be the first focus for brands and retailers. This is a theme that will never go out of style. I have often heard brands speak about having shared goals and bringing in different teams into the conversation, but it was great to hear the same efforts happening at the retailer.

• Retail media can act as a bridge with brand marketing. Both efforts should be working together versus against each other and can help create a connected experience for consumers.
• The challenge is that most media buyers speak a different language than merchants at a retailer and often sit in different areas of the business. A joint effort of education for merchants to understand the importance of retail media and how it can help their efforts will go a long way.
• Retail media and merchandising need to be in lock step because if they aren't it can create a disconnect for the consumer which ultimately ends up in a poor experience. It is IMPERATIVE that retail media networks and merchants share a unified front to the brand. This is something that The Digital Shelf Institute found in our latest #JBP report. The best in class approach is to have joint JBP conversations but if you can't the next best thing is to have a unified message from the brand and the retailer.

💪 Consumers are looking for value but that doesn't have to come from price - it can come from earning points or even saving time and creating a great experience.

• Gamification is an opportunity for brands to create a unique experience for consumers. There are 52% higher engagement rates with interactive content (Forbes) and a 22% increase in loyalty and 15% higher awareness for brands that have already gamified their customer engagement tactics (Stamp Me)
• When creating new experiences either in-store or online be sure to ask the question "how will this enhance the experience and the value I provide for my consumer."
• One of my favorite quotes from Chris Perry "If you don't have an ecommerce strategy you don't have a growth strategy" - eCommerce is a growth driver for brands and as consumer purse strings get tighter and competition increases it is more important than ever to understand which levers to pull to win.

🤝 We are going to see more and more partnerships and collaborations from brands, retailers and strategic partners in the industry because that is how we will all collectively win.

• One example is Best Buy partnering with CNET to integrate CNET recommendations into Best Buy channels. This brings recommendations to the point of purchase and provides a better customer experience.
• This is where the retailer merchant and the brand need to be together in the conversation to identify new collaboration opportunities, retailers must talk about customer activations with the brand in the room.
• In addition to JBPs, there is an opportunity for strategic quarterly check in's to piggy back ideas and create custom activations
• Ultimately you need to find a partner, unlock the data, and go!

I also had the opportunity to see some old friends and make some new ones. It was great running into some old J&J colleagues Cristina Marinucci & Heather Campain . An honor to be on a panel with Todd Hassenfelt & Liam Bucher , great to meet Andrene Dos Anjos and great to see Sri Rajagopalan , Peter V.S. Bond , Amanda Wolff , Paul Brenner & Chris Perry !

Huge shout out to Jessie Bove Dowd and team for putting on a great show!

#digitalshelf #content #commerce #omnichannel