Hasta La Creative!

For all the talk about shopper marketing in recent years, much of the impact remained shrouded in mystery for marketers — including how people really responded to their offers, how well retailers implemented their promotional plans, and even basic sales results.

Thanks to the increasingly ubiquitous smartphone, that’s changing fast, and with it, the stranglehold conventional retailers had on shopper data and analytics. A host of startups and conventional research players have assembled big, six-figure panels of consumers to track the intricacies of the in-store experience, from what they buy to what products are on the shelves, how they’re merchandised, and how shoppers respond to what they see.

Big retailers themselves are also supplementing their own conventional loyalty or customer-relationship management programs with mobile shopper panels, too, said Michael Stich, chief innovation officer of WPP’s Rockfish. He said at least four major U.S. retailers, which he declined to name but include players in the club, mass and drug channels, are building such panels.

Continue reading at AdAge.com