cciPanel gives retailers and marketers the scoop on what are today’s tobacco buying trends.
Management Science Associates (MSA), Paradigm Sample and Convenience Store Decisions teamed to present a free Webcast Thursday afternoon to discuss the habits of tobacco consumers at U.S. c-stores.
The Webcast will be archived and available for all people at csdecisions.com later this week.
MSA, Paradigm Sample and Convenience Store Decisions created the Convenience Consumer Insights Panel (cciPanel) to study the buying habits and information among shoppers at c-stores. The cciPanel just released a study from March 28 and April 12 of this year on c-store tobacco users to figure out what they are buying.
The following spoke and led discussions at Thursday’s Webcast:
– Sima Vasa, CEO of Paradigm Sample
– Trish Temmerman, marketing research director for MSA
– Lou Maiellano, tobacco industry consultant with TAZ Marketing and Consulting Group
– John Lofstock, editor-in-chief for Convenience Store Decisions magazine
The study focused on dialogue with 503 c-store shoppers who visited a c-store in the past 90 days through mobile technology to learn about their insights when buying tobacco products from c-stores. This included c-store shoppers in the 21 to 34-year-old age range.
The study results found that 22% of c-store shoppers purchased a tobacco product during a recent c-store visit. Almost all of the tobacco purchases (95%) were planned before buying, which shows that tobacco purchases are not usually impulse buys. Both Temmerman and Vasa discussed the statistics and results of the study.
Maiellano finished the presentation by talking about the importance of having consumer-focused marketing programs. He said there is a need to relate to the consumer and spend time with them for successful marketing.
“Our business should be driven by the consumer, but too often we forget this,” Maiellano said. “As a marketer, I want to know my consumers. I want to know them, court them and meet their needs. Technology is groundbreaking and it enables one to become intimate with the consumers.”
