There are few occasions when a shopper enters a store intending to purchase only one item. Because shoppers don’t purchase products in isolation, it’s essential to understand category interaction (other products purchased with your item or category) through a shopper’s perspective, rather than focusing on one category as a mutually exclusive element of the store. A glimpse at interaction through the shopper’s eyes is critical to shape strong strategies around pricing and promotion, merchandising and consumer marketing.
As the products in the basket with a particular item change, so often does the buyer. To illustrate, we examined the range of buyers that purchase staples from the fresh meat department and the meal starters aisle.
Meal planning often begins with the meat department. Nielsen Perishables Group research on the meat department consumer decision process shows people often shop with specific meal preparation in mind, and then decide on the protein type. Cuts of meat that can be used in many different meals and can be prepared quickly – such as ground beef, boneless skinless chicken breasts and pork chops – are among the highest-selling products in the meat case.
So, what’s in the basket with these important versatile quick cuts of fresh meat, and what can they tell us about the consumer?
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