Zeroing in on shopping behavior patterns and understanding signals of purchase intent helps brands improve purchase likelihood. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by using third-party apps. Apps move with consumers when they travel, providing brands with real-time, real-world information on what drives these consumers to purchase and how to best leverage those opportunities.
Purchase intent is the probability that a consumer will buy a product. However, this figure isn’t static. A consumer can shift from “very likely to make a purchase” to “not likely at all” in a matter of moments—and vice versa. Brands that can effectively reach a consumer when their purchase intent is high will be the most prepared to leverage in-store behavior, and in turn, increase sales. By monitoring the growing trend of consumers using mobile in the store, brands get to travel with consumers as they shop and help guide those consumers to their products.
Understanding the Probability of Purchase Intent
While the term “purchase intent scale” sounds highly scientific, it’s quite simple. It takes the stages of purchase likelihood into account and charts them to help determine ROI on a marketing program. Usually, these levels fall into one of the following categories:
- Certain: The consumer intends on making a purchase from the brand immediately.
- Most likely: The consumer has a positive perception of the brand and will probably make a purchase.
- Probable: The consumer is in the market for a similar product and will either purchase from the brand or a competitor.
- Not likely: The consumer is not in the market for the product currently or is loyal to another brand.
- No chance: The consumer will not make a purchase.
The ability to move a consumer up the list is what will help a brand determine their marketing ROI. It also tells brands where to focus their efforts, as it’s much more manageable for brands to get a consumer in the “probable” category to purchase than the “no chance” category.
Shopper Behavior Patterns to Look for in Determining Purchase Intent
Third-party apps can offer many ways for brands to discover critical in-store behaviors which could indicate the consumer may make a purchase. These apps can also be used to leverage these behaviors to increase the likelihood of a purchase. When apps incentivize purchases, like in the case of Shopkick—a shopping rewards app— it encourages consumer use, which can provide valuable information on in-store behavior which includes:
- In-store engagement: Through UPC scanning, brands gain essential information on in-store engagement. By measuring the engagements received through UPC scanning, brands can refocus marketing campaigns, improve shelf space to increase product visibility, and understand the popularity of a specific category of products.
- Rewards vs. discount value: With a third-party app, brands can determine what customers value more when purchasing products; rewards programs or discounts. Often, consumers find rewards more appealing as they offer an emotional return from receiving points or perks for these purchases. Rewards can increase customer loyalty, unlike discounts which frequently only provide one-off purchases.
- Digital campaign insights: Some shopping apps offer rewarded video, where retailers can test out new marketing campaigns to determine how engaging they are to consumers. By measuring view times and watch rates, brands can determine precisely how engaging these videos are and even perform A/B tests to decide what content to use on larger campaigns.
- Incremental sales lift: By using a shopping app which offers rewards, brands can see how that marketing effort impacts sales in real-time, allowing them to pivot campaigns and improve them as necessary.
- High-opportunity areas: Third-party apps allow brands to determine which retailers and locations provide them with the most sales. While this is a key performance indicator often available in quarterly retailer reports, third-party apps can provide this information faster, ensuring brands can plan inventory properly to maximize sales potential.
These are just a few of the many metrics available through third-party apps, all of which provide major opportunities for brands to manage their marketing. When a brand knows exactly how consumers are interacting with products in the store, they can create campaigns that use these insights to the best possible advantage.
By understanding these behaviors, brands can influence and drive that purchase intent to improve sales.
These apps offer insights on real-time shopping behavior patterns which show brands exactly where consumers are on the purchase intent spectrum. By understanding these behaviors, brands can influence and drive that purchase intent to improve sales. Brands can also leverage this information to connect with consumers in the right places, at the right time, and improve their marketing ROI by making more informed decisions.
Shopkick allows our partners to gain meaningful insight into in-store customer behavior, which they can use to improve sales in the shopping aisle and online. To learn more about the features our program provides, contact us.
Image courtesy of Syda Productions
