Every year, European dairy companies alone produce above 10 million tons of cheese, of which fresh cheese counts for 35%, medium-hard cheese stands for 25% and another 20% is hard cheese. Europe trades half of its cheese within the EU whilst exports outside of the EU accounted for only around 8%.
The UK is traditionally one of the biggest cheese importers whilst Germany, Netherlands and France are the biggest cheese exporters. In turn, Switzerland produces the biggest chunk of cheese, which is imported to the EU.
Even though product preferences and consumption patterns differ across countries and regions, cities, catchment areas, we see similarities in general shopping behaviours. As for other categories, shoppers tend to require:
- sufficient (but no) overwhelming choice (brands, types, flavours…)
- logic segmentation (sub-segments together)
- ease in orientation (category and sub-segments)
As in many other FMCG categories, the width of selection is relevant but to find the ideal mix between depth and width is a challenge. Category Managers and Buyers are struggling with this for “centuries”.
The value of brands in the aisles or the service counter
In a category with a relatively high share of private label products, strong brands’ value becomes evident when looking at the way people shop the category. The cheese shopper navigates towards the category within the store and navigates within by looking at the products themselves. As the cheese category tends to be more cluttered than other categories (e.g. small packs, different shapes, …), shoppers use brands to navigate the dairy shelf. Hence, well-designed primary and secondary packaging does help customers make a faster decision. This counts for traditional brands but also private label.
Additionally, navigation signs can help shoppers find the products faster, but the most impactful way is to keep sub-segments in one place to ease the search phase. As shoppers tend to get an overall orientation in a horizontal matter while searching specific products vertically, the subcategories should be placed in intuitive blocks.
The occasion influences in-store behaviour.
As also seen in other categories, the consumption occasion influences the behaviour at the point of purchase. The concept of consumption occasion describes the when, where, how and with or from whom the product will be consumed.
A shopper expecting guests or preparing for a romantic evening (special need) tends to navigate towards the service counter. Alternatively, he or she searches for the speciality cheese on the shelf. In contrast, a stock-up shopper in Central Europe aims towards sliced and pre-packed cheese.
A special need shopper might stop by in the wine section and search for a good wine match. A stock-up shopper continues to buy dairy products before moving on to the next category noted down on the shopping list.
As we see, the occasions are one of the main factors for the in-store journey. We assume that only every fifth makes use of the majority of the shop floor. Whilst one out of ten shoppers go in and out using very little floor space. Four out of ten shoppers use shortcuts. They know what they want, and they know where they get it.
From Consideration to Grab: Key Factors
Once the shopper is about to choose, the following factors might influence his or her choice:
- added values (lactose-free, bio/organic, reduced fat/fat-free, plant-based/vegan …)
- brand, non-brand/private label
- frequency of purchase the (sub-)category
- preferences (goat, cow, cured, fresh, smoked …)
- provenance (local/regional, fresh-from-the-farm, DOP, …
- price (economy, mainstream, premium, promotion)
- sub-segment (hard, soft and semi-hard cheese, blue cheese, cottage cheese, and cream cheese/spreads…)
Their importance differs across countries and regions, retailer and shop-types, individual shoppers, shopping mission, and even product types. Yet, it is crucial to start understanding subtle differences by observing shopper behaviour. Observing shoppers in-store, we recognized the following:
- checking the freshness of Camembert or Brie by slightly squeezing or sniffing at the packaging
- Cottage cheese checked by shaking the pack to assess the product’s consistency and creaminess
- spend more time buying premium, or luxury cheese than a daily consumed cheese
Autopilot versus Pathfinder
As observed in other categories, the frequency of buying a specific subcategory does influence the time spent in front of the shelf. The same counts for the service counter. The decision to buy the standard gouda brand and pack size is made in split seconds. In comparison, the decision to buy a speciality cheese will usually take more time as the shopper is searching for more information (e.g. ingredients, production process).
In the first example, the decision making is on auto-pilot with little to no conscious processing. A retailer or producer can influence decision making by offering special deals that motivate shoppers to buy more of the same product.
On the other hand, less often shopped sub-categories can be brought into the focus by highlighting or framing them to make them stand out in the shelf. Alternatively, clear communication of the consumption occasion can increase the products’ relevance, stimulating additional purchases (e.g. grapes, wine, salty snacks, ham).
Generating and applying such simple but powerful insights allow producers and retailers alike to develop better packaging, category navigation and in-store communication. Using Mystery Shoppers, retailers can benchmark their offer with their relevant competitors in the catchment area while using in-store and online research to determine the category’s role, improve the price and promotion communication and can become the icing on the cake to your activation strategy – or as the Romans say “Come il cacio sui maccheroni“.
