"Digital has changed the shape of the Shopper Journey model": Shripad Kulkarni

One aspect of life that has been highly impacted because of digital and social media is the shopping experience. Percept Media, in association with Netherland's based Point Logic, has just released the research findings of its study on 'The Transformed Shopper Journey'. The single source research aims to find a new framework for Mar-Com planning.

The research covers 15 distinct categories, 3600 media habits for 55 touch-points, while analysing the relevance of each of these media touch-points. The TG was kept strictly from the Sec A & B class of eight major cities that included Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad. The methodologies used were CAPT CLT (computerized central location test where respondents were brought into one particular place to answer questions about their shopping habits), online surveys (because online was seen to be more relevant to the TG) and in-depth interviews in the eight cities. The findings of the research will be used to launch a new tool for optimisation of a 360 media mix.

One of the key findings is that digital media has transformed the traditional 'purchase funnel' into a new 'Shopper Journey Model'. The earlier pyramid structure meant that a certain number of people were aware of a brand, while a smaller number actually considered purchasing it. An even smaller segment of that would actually prefer it to others till, finally, a very small number of people would actually make the purchase.

In the digital age however, it is the cyclical (or even spherical) shopper journey model that is more prevalent. And while the traditional stages of evaluation, consideration, awareness and purchase remain at this stage, one can also enter into a parallel cycle of exploring for the best value and do more research about the product and brand, because of the digital platform. Now, shoppers continuously evaluate which brand to buy, where to buy, when to buy or how to buy, throughout their journey.

The research further shows the change in consumer behaviour in different sectors like holiday packages, apparels, toiletries and cars. The pre-shopping stage (when shoppers are still considering buying a product) is usually longer in apparels while it decreases in favour of the active shopping stage (when shoppers are serious about buying and get into a 'hyper active' phase involving active information search, seeking advice, discussions with friends and family, noticing ads for the category) for holiday packages.

"The study has meta drivers for each of these categories. What makes people buy into these brands? Maybe peer review, maybe style and trends. It also has the suitability of media for each of these drivers, like quality or trust in the company. Then relevance of media touch-points along with the shoppers' journey," added Kulkarni.