Research-based insights bring candy merchandising recommendations.
Wrigley and Mars Chocolate North America are driving sales and increasing shopper engagement by working with retailers to implement their Transaction Zone Vision.
Since launching the program in 2015, the companies have used research-driven insights to help retail partners boost sales at checkout through channel-specific recommendations.
To help their partners leverage the Transaction Zone Vision to its fullest, Wrigley and Mars Chocolate have developed proprietary tools to analyze retailers and build customized merchandising recommendations, intended to:
- Satisfy the key Refresh, Reward and Remind™ Need States
- Optimize category adjacencies
- Maximize conversion of incremental, basket-building items
“We know as industry leaders in front end merchandising that we have to invest in insights that help our retail partners build their baskets and leave a lasting positive impression on their shoppers. By investing in the Transaction Zone Vision, we have provided our retailers a framework that guides them in how best to satisfy their shoppers’ needs by offering choices,” said Tiffany Menyhart, director of U.S. category management at Wrigley. “These customized programs are helping our partners maximize sales across all categories at the front end.”
Retailers Finding Success
Over the past year, more than a dozen retailers across channels have begun working with Wrigley and Mars Chocolate to bring these insights to life and are seeing tangible results.
For example, a national grocery retailer recently used Wrigley and Mars Chocolate’s recommendations to test a redesigned self-checkout and subsequently saw need-state items experience a 20% dollar sales lift. The test indicates strong growth in unit sales and household penetration, as well as basket size.
Wrigley and Mars Look to Release Additional Insights in 2017
With shopping environments and behavior continuously changing, Wrigley and Mars Chocolate continue to invest in global research to develop relevant insights retailers can apply across transaction zones. The companies’ next phase of global research, currently being tested within the U.S., will help retailers better understand shoppers’ behavior while in line, or “queuing,” and maximize conversion during that part of the shopping trip.
“Jewel/Osco is working with Wrigley to leverage their Transaction Zone Vision insights to understand shopper behavior in the queue and how to best merchandise impulse categories to create positive shopping experiences, drive conversion and generate incremental sales,” said Jeff Hancock, assistant sales manager, candy at Jewel/Osco. “When we partner with Wrigley, we know the program will be best-in-class and developed from both global and local insights that directly benefit our shoppers and total business.”
“We’ve found that as part of the Transaction Zone Vision, shopper need states continue to be essential to drive conversion, which impacts how retailers set up their Front End,” said Shaf Lalani, vice president, customer experience at Mars Chocolate North America. “Our goal is to tie the shopper insights to the retailer’s specific strategy. It’s these types of insights we are continuously investing in for our partners. We look forward to launching additional findings as we move into 2017.”
Mars Inc. recently announced its intent to combine the two segments to create Mars Wrigley Confectionery. The combination will help deliver greater value to customers, and enable the segment to address consumer trends and insights holistically in what is increasingly seen as one global confections category.
