Broaden your THINKING about REACHING your audience

Supermarket

When was the last time that you ran to the store to purchase some cold medicine? Was that the only purchase that you needed to make? If so, did you choose your local retail pharmacy or supermarket to make that purchase? Consumers shop in a variety of different retail outlets based on individual needs. Accessibility to products is an essential factor in the consumer’s purchasing decision. This is a key reason that shoppers are making purchases in a variety of channels.

Let’s say that you were grocery shopping at your favorite supermarket, and you remember that you needed to replenish your stock multivitamins. Chances are that you would then go to the OTC aisles of the supermarket, find your multivitamins, and place it in the shopping cart along with your other grocery items. This would save you a second trip to another retailer. Product accessibility and convenience are significant factors when consumers make choices about shopping locations.

Progressive Grocer Magazine stated that in 2014, total supermarket sales reached $638,338 billion. And how much are they purchasing on an average trip? According to the Food Marketing Institute, the average sale per customer transaction in 2014 was $29.90. Making a stop to the supermarket can entail picking up a gallon of milk, replenishing your eye drops, or − on the other end of the spectrum − taking care of your entire grocery list. Either way, consumers are shopping the aisles of supermarkets, every day.

Food retailers are increasingly being identified as health care destinations. They are focused on creating a “whole health environment” with health and nutrition programs offered in-store. Supermarkets have increased the number of prescriptions they fill each year for the past 5 years, as well as expanding patient care services, with pharmacists and dieticians taking the lead. In-store wellness offerings – including heart-healthy coaching, nutrition counseling for diabetes management, and smoking cessation programs – are driving consumer traffic to the supermarket.

The Rx EDGE network includes a significant number of supermarket retailers. Adding these types of outlets to your store list allows you to gain more brand exposure in your target markets. For their health and personal-care needs, consumers shop the major pharmacy retailers, but they are also shopping in other channels. So why not reach your target audience in supermarkets, as well as in the major chain drug stores?  Leverage the full value of the retail channel as a part of your media mix.