Online shopping is killing a category that retailers have been relying
on for years - and now they're scrambling
Companies that sell impulse buys like candy,
mint, and gum to customers waiting near the cash register are scrambling to
find new solutions.
Companies that sell impulse buys like candy, mint, and gum to customers
waiting near the cash register are scrambling to find new solutions.
More people are ordering groceries and other products online, meaning
increasingly shoppers don't have the chance to be tempted by snacks in the
checkout line, reports Ad Age.
Even those who do shop in stores are more likely to utilize digital
grocery lists and have their face buried in their phones while waiting in line,
instead of making the split-second decision to add a candy bar to the shopping
cart.
As a result, companies like Mondelez, Hershey, and Wrigley are trying to
redefine what an "impulse buy" means in the 21st century.
The online impulse buy has become a major opportunities for these companies.
A 2013 Deloitte study cited by Ad
Age found that 92% of consumer packaged goods executives believed e-commerce
was a strategic sales channel, but only 43% thought their own companies had
clear, well-understood digital commerce strategies.
That has changed in the last two years, as companies have worked to make
their products viable impulse buys on the platforms shoppers are already using.
Mondelez now pushes social shopping with Facebook, a space that mixes
the power of specific ad targeting with a huge captive audience browsing the
platform. Hershey and Wrigley use Amazon Dash buttons to sell Ice Breakers and
Orbit gum. Hershey has worked with e-commerce companies including Amazon Prime
Now, Instacard, Peapod, and Amazon Fire.
Internationally, e-commerce impulse buys provide a huge opportunity as
well. Hershey's online chocolate sales in China are expected to triple in the
next five years, and Mondelez plans to increase total e-commerce sales to $1
billion by 2020, up from less than $100 million today.
Offline, the brands are discovering new areas where consumers are
susceptible to impulse purchases, such as shared office spaces, Dunkin' Donuts
checkout, and even Ubers, as part of an Uber Essentials test that ended in
early 2015.
Snack-centric companies' sales of sweets are already slipping as
Americans reduce their intake of sugary foods. As tastes change, so do shopping
patterns.
The future of the impulse buy may not be a chocolate bar next to the
cash register, but instead a protein bar bought with a single click online.
By Kate Taylor
Business Insider | 11 November 2015,
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