Study consumer shopping behavior

According to the relevant data, we know that Chinese consumers in the purchase of consumer goods, usually in a few different brands after the choice, generally speaking, rarely always buy a particular brand. The finding is both challenging and opportunity for brands looking to win the favor of Chinese shoppers. A good understanding of the consumer's real shopping behavior is the key to Success .

Market research is to get a shopper's recollection of past experiences or the prospect of future behavior.

Bain combined with Kantar Worldpanel a deep research into the real shopping behavior of 40,000 Chinese households buying 26 fmcg categories, and summed up a far-reaching view of the relevant enterprises and brands.

Important discoveries

In most cases, when consumers buy a particular category of products more frequently, often tend to try more brands, we call it "multi-brand preference" behavior, that is, in the same place of purchase or consumer demand, consumers are "half-hearted", they tend to choose a different brand in the same category. High-frequency buyers in these categories, the 20% consumers of a category or brand, also show a "multi-brand preference" behavior.

But that doesn't mean shoppers don't pay attention to brands. Our experience in the Chinese market and many years of cooperation with different customers shows that brands have always been an important factor in consumer shopping decisions. A series of studies in the Food category and Non-food categories showed that more than 60% of consumers rated brands as an important factor to consider when buying a product. While Chinese consumers believe that brands are important, the meaning of the brand in actual shopping is not just a single brand.

Although the "multi-brand preference" behavior is more common in China's consumer goods industry, but we still find that consumers show "brand loyalty" in buying a few categories, that is, in the same place of purchase or consumer demand, consumers even face a lot of brand choice, they still "crème", insist on choosing a specific brand. In our study of infant formula, baby diapers, beer, milk, carbonated beverages and chewing gum categories, consumers tend to buy only a handful of brands. Even as consumers buy more frequently, they will remain loyal to a handful of brands rather than buy more.

We note that there are two main factors contributing to the shopper's "brand loyalty" behavior, the first is that these categories have a higher brand concentration (ie, the top three brands in the category have a higher share of the market): for example, in the category of beer, milk, carbonated beverages and chewing gum, the number of brands usually available to shoppers is relatively concentrated; The second is daily habitual consumption: in the milk and beer category, high frequency buyers often buy the same brand out of habit.

Research background

China's gross domestic product (excluding inflation) has grown by an average of 10.5% per cent over the past 5 years, with household disposable income (excluding inflation) growing at an annual rate of 13.3% per cent, to $75,800 trillion in 2011, according to Euromonitor information consultancy. As Chinese shoppers have more disposable income, China is now overtaking Japan as the world's second-largest FMCG market, after the US.

Understanding the needs of Chinese shoppers and the dynamics of categories is critical to the growth of major consumer goods companies in this important market in China. This newspaper is looking at and studying Chinese shoppers in a whole new light, restoring and presenting their real shopping behavior in a clearer way. The findings of the report provide consumer goods companies with in-depth analysis of shopper behavior, which is currently a relatively blank in the Chinese market.

The analysis of shopper behavior is richer and more solid, and the formation of a more profound view. Unlike simple questions about past buying experiences and future buying intentions, Kantar Worldpanel a professional scanner for each sample home, tracking their actual daily purchases through standard scanning processes. In total, we analyzed the complete shopping records of 40,000 urban families in China in 2011 in 26 major categories, and came up with several important, real-time, and surprising conclusions. These conclusions have important guiding significance for consumer goods companies and retailers who want to pursue sustained growth in the increasingly competitive consumer goods market in China. The study is a sample of 373 cities in most regions of China, covering all urban levels and various types of families *.

(* Note: The city level of Kantar Worldpanel is divided and determined according to the administrative level of the Chinese city.) Among them, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are the first-line cities, 24 provincial capitals as well as Shenzhen, Dalian, Qingdao, Chongqing and a few developed prefecture-level cities, 228 cities are three-tier city, 322 municipal and county-level cities are four, 1,300 counties are five-line cities. The above division are not included in Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang and Hainan Province. The study involved 373 cities as representative samples of all 1,877 cities. )

The shopping channel We have studied also reflects China's diversified access options today, including the booming modern distribution channels in first-tier cities (hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores, etc.), the traditional distribution channels (grocery stores, small stores, etc.) that are common in modern small cities, as well as the emerging but fast-growing e-business channels in China. In addition, whether older shoppers buy shampoo at a large supermarket in Guangzhou or a young shopper buys instant noodles at a grocery store in Mianyang, the buying behavior of families is monitored.

Our analysis focuses on 26 important categories in China's FMCG industry, covering four major areas of beverages, packaged food, personal care and home care, which account for more than 80% of the overall size of China's fast-moving consumer goods market.

The guiding significance of the brand

The findings of this study have far-reaching impact on brand marketing, and any brand that wants to succeed must first understand the category it is in and the real behavior of consumers to buy these categories, which will help the company develop a reasonable brand development strategy.

The category of "multi-brand preference" behavior:

Brands are important to Chinese shoppers, but that doesn't mean they often think of a particular brand. In the category of "multi-brand preference" behavior, consumer goods enterprises must grasp the two key links that are important to the brand strategy: first, make sure your brand enters one of the alternative brands in the category; second, the retail terminal through effective store marketing activities to guide consumers in the alternative list of the final purchase of the brand.

A high frequency purchaser of a brand is often the high frequency purchaser of its competitor. Consumer goods companies should not invest too much in brand-high frequency buyers, because the high frequency buyers of brands tend not to be loyal to a particular brand when buying a category with a "multiple brand preference" feature.

The shopper's view of a brand is important, and more importantly attracts them to finally choose the brand at the retail terminal. In the Chinese market, successful brands are often adept at winning new consumers day after day. Throughout the 26 categories we have studied, leading brands with higher market share have, without exception, higher brand penetration (i.e., the proportion of households that buy a particular brand). At the same time, we also found that these leadership brands do not necessarily have a higher repeat purchase rate (that is, shoppers who bought the brand two or two times a year) accounted for the total shopper ratio or wallet share (that is, the shopper's spending on a particular brand accounted for the total cost of the category). These successful brands, as always, maintain excellent executive power at the retail terminals, working closely with retailers to ensure that brand penetration is continuously enhanced by attracting more consumers through effective store marketing activities.

To build a link between a brand and a particular place of purchase or consumer demand through online activity supplemental offline activities. Through online activities, such as media advertising, to enhance brand awareness, so that consumers can think of a brand when shopping, and the brand into its "multiple brand preference" alternative list. (In contrast, offline activity,

In-store promotions, for example, can help motivate consumers to make final purchases. )

First focus on the target area to establish the appropriate market size, and then an orderly expansion. Only by reaching the right market size can the brand ensure the execution of the retail terminal at all times. The establishment of an appropriate scale in the target region is therefore a sine qua non for success.

Asking shoppers what they want doesn't necessarily help the brand win more consumers, because they don't always know what they really want when they're not shopping. What the brand has to do is to focus on understanding and analyzing the real shopping behavior of consumers and how successful competitors can guide more consumers to buy the relevant actions.

Brand Loyalty behavior Category:

For "brand loyalty" category, even if the market has a lot of brands to choose from, consumers still tend to insist on buying their favorite brand. In this case, the important strategy that the brand should take includes: first, clear the target market segment, and let more target consumers try the product of the brand;

Establish brand loyalty through a number of targeted marketing and PR activities. These activities include commercial advertising, social media, celebrity endorsement, etc., designed to further enhance the loyalty of brand faithful shoppers.

At the same time, to ensure that brand shoppers can easily find their favorite brand in the retail terminal, but do not need every moment in the sales terminal into the store marketing activities.

Report Body

Our results clearly show the real shopping behavior of Chinese consumers, which will help consumer goods companies to develop a more reasonable brand strategy, so as to achieve its performance in China's rapid growth in the market. Our experience in working with customers in China shows that Chinese consumers attach great importance to brands. Bain once launched a laundry

Studies of shui, hair conditioner and body care products show that more than 60% of the shoppers surveyed listed the brand as an important factor to consider when buying a product.

While Chinese shoppers believe that branding is important, the brand does not mean a particular brand in their mind when it comes to actual shopping. This conclusion is fully confirmed by consumer data on the frequency of the first three brands of each category (Figure 2). For example: In 2011, the average number of Chinese households buying yogurt category was 16.2 times, and the average number of three leading brands was only 4.6, and the low frequency of purchases proved that Chinese shoppers did not often think of a particular brand. This fact may be at odds with the perception of most brand marketers.

Since 2007, Bain has been conducting research on shoppers ' behavior in different consumer goods categories. The results showed that shoppers ' behavior could be categorized as "brand loyalty" and "multiple brand preference". The different shopping behavior that consumers show, often depends on the category they buy. Consumers in the purchase of "brand loyalty" category, purchase the same category 10 times, there will be seven or seven times to select the same brand, and consumers in the purchase of "multi-brand preference" category of behavior, in the same situation is accustomed to choose a number of different brands. Of course, consumers in different countries may also show different shopping behavior when they buy products of the same category.

We found that customized brand strategy and execution mode for different consumer behavior is an effective way of brand development.

The characteristics of "multi-brand preference" behavior

In the 26 categories of this study, the vast majority of consumers in the purchase of most of the category has shown a "multiple brand preference" behavior. When consumers increase the frequency of buying a product of a particular category, they tend to choose more brands in the category (Figure 3).

As we delve further into these categories of high frequency buyers, we find that these category of high-frequency buyers are more "half-hearted" than the average buyer, who are often willing to try more different brands (figures 4 and 5). In 2011, China averaged 6.2 brands of biscuits per household, while the high frequency buyers in the biscuit category bought as many as 10.4 brands. Also such as the facial tissue This category, the average shopper in the past year in the mean number of purchases for 6.7 times, usually hovering between 3 to 4 brands alternately. High-frequency buyers have an average purchase rate of up to 14 times, while the number of brands they choose increases to 5 to 6.

Our research also shows that in a category that shows "multiple brand preference", a brand's high frequency purchaser is often the high frequency purchaser of its competitor.

Take China biscuit market leading brand Oreo as an example. Kraft Group has taken a number of initiatives since the introduction of Leo to China in 1996, and has succeeded in attracting more new consumers to try and buy their products. First, Kraft, in order to cater to Chinese tastes, reduced the sugar content of cookies, to promote sales; second, the introduction of small packaging products (such as mini-Oreo), not only in line with Chinese consumers on the size of the cookie preference, but also reduce the unit price, so that more Chinese consumers can afford; In addition, Kraft also introduced green tea, Ice cream and other local flavors of Oreo.

American consumers are accustomed to eating cookies with milk. To enable Chinese consumers to learn this tradition, Kraft has launched media ads and various marketing campaigns, such as the recruitment of 300 college students as Oreo brand ambassadors to promote brand and brand culture.

By 2008, Oreo had become China's best-selling cookie brand and doubled its sales in 2009. For brands in the category of "multi-brand preference", Kraft's approach is worth drawing attention to improving brand penetration rather than trying to push up the loyalty of existing consumers. However, Oreo high frequency buyers in the Oreo contributed about 60% sales, but also for the major competitive brands respectively contributed to the 25到35% sales, in fact, Oreo high frequency buyers will be up to three-fourths of the biscuit expenses contributed to the other biscuit brand (Figure 6).

This phenomenon is prevalent in the category of other "multiple brand preference" behaviors. For example, in the laundry supplies category, leading brand engraving of high-frequency buyers for the carving card contributed more than half of the sales, but also for the various competitive brands contributed a lot of sales, brand high frequency buyers will be two-thirds of their clothing and detergent expenses tribute

Dedicated to other brands (Figure 7).

So how do brands benefit from high-frequency buyers in the category of "multi-brand preference" behavior? Our advice is not to limit marketing activities to the high frequency buyers of your brand, hoping to further increase their loyalty, as it is virtually impossible. Instead, it is wiser to grasp the dwelling in the category of high frequency purchasers. Our experience with consumer goods projects around the world shows that the most effective way to attract the category of high frequency buyers is to focus on specific channels or occasions to conduct marketing campaigns.

The characteristics of "brand loyalty" behavior

We find shoppers showing "brand loyalty" in a few categories--that is, the number of brands they buy in the category has not increased significantly as consumers have increased the frequency of buying a category.

For example, in the infant formula, the number of brands selected by consumers has not increased with the increase in the frequency of their purchase, and its high-frequency buyers in the past six months, the average purchase frequency of 13.4 times, average consumer purchase frequency of 7.1 times. However, the number of brands chosen for the two differences is not large-1.8 and 1.5, respectively.

Contrary to the category of "multi-brand preference" behavior, in the category of "brand loyalty", a brand's high-frequency purchaser is more loyal to the brand and rarely chooses other competitive brands. In the case of infant formula, the high frequency buyers of the US and the courtiers contributed 40% of the sales to the US, and they contributed a whopping 85% of the infant formula to the US, while the cost of the competition was very low (Figure 9).

This is similar to the help Pampers in the baby diaper category, more than half of the sales come from its high-frequency buyers, who contribute less than 6% per cent of their competitors, while helping the high frequency buyer contribute to the brand's 80% baby diaper expenses.

Why are baby formula and baby diaper shoppers showing such "brand loyalty" behavior? According to Bain's research on the baby category, we found that baby shoppers generally lacked the incentive to change brands. Because babies who are consumers of products do not provide feedback on the pros and cons of a product, shoppers usually have fewer

There are reasons to actively replace the brand. In addition, moms generally agree that sticking to a brand at a particular time is good for your baby's health. It is common for a hospital or clinic to recommend a particular brand to his or her family at the time of birth, after which they tend to buy the brand. So some of the leading infant formula

In addition to the distribution through the sales team responsible for retail channels, but also send a dedicated team through the hospital channel to the target consumer brand promotion.

In addition to infant formula and baby diapers, we also found "brand loyalty" in four other categories: milk, beer, chewing gum and carbonated beverages. We find that high frequency buyers in the brand loyalty category do not increase the number of brand purchases as their frequency of purchase increases. The main reason is that, when their consumption tends to be inertia, brand high frequency buyers will prefer to buy a brand they have always loved, and the brand will occupy most of their wallet share.

In addition to habitual consumption, high brand concentration is one of the factors leading to the behavior of "brand loyalty". Of these categories, the top three brands account for the vast majority of the market share (Figure 11). Because the choice of the brand is relatively concentrated, shoppers have a great chance to repeat the purchase of the same brand, in which case they often have to be loyal to a certain brand. For example, beer in China is a very high regional brand concentration category, on average, the top three brands occupy more than 60% per cent of the market share of each region, which is directly reflected in the number of brands selected by shoppers: in 2011, the average number of brands purchased by each household in a beer-drinking channel was only 2.2.

In addition, limited choices in traditional channels also limit shoppers ' choice of more brands. In beer sales, traditional channels account for more than half of the market share of the second-to five-tier cities, with grocery stores, for example, which typically supply only 2 to 3 beer brands, far less than 6 or more of modern channel stores. Because such grocery stores are often the only shopping area nearby, shoppers often have to repeat the purchase of the same brand.