Impact

Potential to double revenues by influencing the shopper path-to-purchase.

Issue

A major producer of VMS (vitamins, minerals, and supplements), our client was present in various markets outside the US but with very low market share.

Globalpraxis was commissioned to evaluate the attractiveness of the opportunities in ten European and Latam markets and to answer the following key questions:

• What are the priority markets?
• What is the size of the opportunity?
• What are the key levers to capture the opportunity?
• How should we ensure alignment with local distributors?

Approach

Several key methodologies, mostly developed by Globalpraxis, were used to respond to the challenge:

• Market visits and interviews with top retail chains to assess the level of execution and competitive landscape
• Route-ridings with the distributor sales force to understand their effectiveness and efficiency
• Distributor interviews to assess capabilities and areas of improvement
• Online shopper surveys to identify the main points of influence along the path-to-purchase and the importance of each shopper occasion
• Online social research to evaluate the relevance of digitalization along the entire path-to-purchase

Outcome

The detailed online shopper study helped establish incidence levels of the category, brand awareness, regional and socio-economic trends, and relevant consumption channels. It also provided insight on the critical touchpoints along the path-to-purchase, giving an actionable understanding of shopper behavior. Influencing the shopper in the research phase, through both digital and traditional tools, combined with activation and advocacy at the outlet, proved critical. We were able to pin down the most effective communication methods, together with the most effective activation materials and promotions. We were also able to identify the relevance of each shopper occasion per country and the main commercial activities required, by both the company and their distributors, to capture the opportunities associated with each occasion.

In sum, we were able to develop and quantify a “fact-based” approach in countries and channels where very little information existed.