Consider the location online and where they are when they buy
The world wide web is a big place. That is not news to you but you do need to ensure you know where your people are when they are online. There are many places they could purchase your products. Depending on your strategy this could be:
- Your website
- Amazon
- Other third party marketplace like well.ca
- Social media
- A retailer’s website
You will want to maximize the return on your investment and one piece of that puzzle is to focus your efforts online where you will reach the people who are most likely to buy. Each of these segments of the online market require a slightly different approach and it can be similar to managing multiple retail customers.
Just the same as selling in bricks and mortar, success is not just about making great products to sell, it is about selling the great products you make. To help you do this we have designed a new SKUFood C.A.R.T. process specifically for e-commerce. We have been learning a lot about this channel and invested the time to develop our proven process for this channel.
You can maximize the opportunity when you put the resources and effort into selling your products in a different channel. In the first segment of our C.A.R.T. process for e-commerce we ask the question ‘Where do they shop?’
You can figure out where they ‘hang out’ online
One of the biggest benefits of selling online is the ability to learn and interact with the people buying your products. That is a much bigger challenge in the retail environment.
Before you even start to sell you need to know which applications preferred by your target market. You can determine some of this with demographics. Overall, keeping in mind we cannot generalize with all consumers, baby boomers and generation X would be on Facebook, Millennials and generation Z are on Instagram and younger consumers are on TikTok.
There are many other places for people to be online. If you have a very specific target market, such as people who are foodies, there are also forums, chat rooms and other places where people interact and get information.
You can always measure the response you get from posts and paid advertising online. The response and level of interaction are good indicators for you that you are in the right place, or not. For example, if you post a recipe on Facebook and get many comments about the results you know people are there and interested in your product. If you post the same recipe on Instagram and have little to no reaction this is one indication Facebook is a better place to invest resources. Online is about action and learning from the results.
Creating an online presence and posting are things that can be done by almost everyone. These two things are important, but success online does not end with posts. There can be an incredible level of sophistication to promoting and selling online. With the right knowledge, you can determine a lot about the consumers who visit your website or interact with your posts. I am not an expert but I do know it is important to have the right level of sophistication in your digital marketing efforts. The use of cookies to track consumer’s online activity is employed by many online marketers.
Consider where they are when they shop online
When your products are listed with a retailer, you know consumers are in the store or on the retailer’s website when they buy. You can focus your efforts to in store specials, theme displays or other tactics in the store to drive sales. When people shop online, they could be anywhere they have an Internet connection.
This can be helpful to you when you are trying to get their attention. Perhaps your target market are parents of young children. You can communicate with them online and use video to position your product as the solution to getting breakfast for their kids in their busy lifestyle. They might be checking their Instagram in the morning and be motivated to buy.
If you have any questions or help figuring out how to get your product online or in the virtual shopping cart you can always call me at (902) 489-2900 or send me an email peter@skufood.com.
We are adding more industry updates and interesting ideas to your SKUFood newsletter. Hopefully you have heard me say this before and that it resonated with you in your business.
“Success in this industry is not just about making a great product to sell; it is about selling the great products you make”
Peter Chapman
If you see things happening let us know so we can share them with our community. We also want to hear if you find this helpful and benefits your food and beverage business!
Maple Leaf Foods release 2020 sustainability report
We know sustainability continues to be a priority for customers and consumers in the food and beverage industry. There are lots of stories about new packaging and other initiatives to improve our impact on the planet. Maple Leaf Foods are a great source of information on how to do this. They have embraced the initiative throughout the organization and from the outside looking in, they appear to be making positive change.
SIAL Canada planning content event for 2021 and in person for April 2022
The past 14-16 months have really changed how we do business in the food and beverage industry. Trade shows were a big deal and they have been replaced with online events. Despite efforts to evolve the trade show floor into a virtual experience the decision has been made at SIAL to focus on content virtually in 2021 and plan for an in person event in Montreal in April 2022.
I am curious to hear what you think of virtual vs. in person. We are making plans at SKUFood to service both opportunities. We see more content delivery online and more networking/motivation/team building in person. What do you think?
Food Waste
The app Too Good To Go is trying to tackle food waste and has just entered the Canadian market. Food service is unpredictable, the app allows people to purchase "surprise bags" of food at 1/3 of the retail price at the end of the day that otherwise would have been thrown out.
