Getting Into the Mind and Heart of Consumers on the Sales Floor

For businesses, brand awareness is vitally important as customers won't consider your brand if they don't know about it. However, it is more important to be in the mind and heart of the consumer at the time of purchase.

For retailers and manufacturers, it is important to know the five stages of customer awareness:

1. Completely unaware: A person who doesn’t know they have a problem and, therefore, doesn’t know you or your solution.

2. Problem aware: A person who knows they have a problem, but doesn’t know there are solutions to that problem.

3. Aware of the solution: The person who is aware of the problem knows that there are solutions but has not yet opted for one and also does not know your product.

4. Product aware: A person who already knows about your product but isn’t totally sure it will solve their problems. You have to work on objections.

5. Fully aware: Finally, the person who has a lot of information about your product and is about to buy but needs one last push.

Knowing the awareness level of a customer is very important before launching a rebranding or marketing campaign. Segmentation plays an important role in showing the right message to a potential customer. You have to be clear about what kind of people you are going to impact with your products, solutions and ads. It will be key to efficiently communicate your value proposition and your purpose.

The concept of conscious consumption has gained great importance. Above all, it means buying more selectively and being attentive to the social and ecological conditions of production for each product. By shopping less frequently and being more quality conscious, you will acquire longer-lasting products for your home.

In this context, GS1 Mexico carried out the 1st Edition of the Study of Purchase Awareness on the Sales Floor (CCPV). Food is the product category most purchased by Mexicans in supermarkets, at 92% percent, followed by hygiene and beauty (80%), home care (78%), and non-alcoholic beverages (61%).

For the Mexican consumer, the most important factors when choosing a product at the supermarket are quality, lowest price, promotions, and product availability. Other differentiators that influence the purchase decision are the brand, whether the product is made in Mexico, and whether it is environmentally friendly.

The CCPV study seeks to position itself as a reliable source of information about the most relevant product attributes for Mexican consumers when making their purchases, from sustainability, social responsibility, diversity and inclusion, to more traditional elements, such as price, quality, Made in Mexico, brand and availability, to support suppliers’ decision-making process in the consumer, retail, wholesale, and marketplace industries.

The 2022 Study of Purchase Awareness on the Sales Floor surveyed more than 1,000 people from different generations (baby boomers, Generation X, millennials and centennials), socioeconomic level, age, geographic region and gender, on the reasons and product attributes that they consider when making a purchase, which is the most important, and how much more they would be willing to pay to acquire it (price elasticity).

Throughout the research, it was observed that product quality and price are not single players in the different segments but require differentiators that directly influence whether to buy a product or not, in addition to strengthening the brand-consumer relationship. With these insights, companies will be able to efficiently and accurately outline their sales, marketing, communication and customer service strategies, among others, as well as strengthen their branding, image, reputation, and connection with their audiences.

Other important insights from the CCPV study are:

1. People over 66 years old, to a greater extent, buy products in the categories of home care (97%), alcoholic beverages (47%), and pharmacy (44%).

2. Regarding differences according to socioeconomic level, in the AB socioeconomic category, more shoppers purchase pharmaceutical items (45%), alcoholic beverages (56%), and fashion/footwear (28%). In contrast, fewer people in socioeconomic level D buy pharmaceutical items (21%) and alcoholic beverages (14%).

3. Men buy more alcoholic beverages, with a difference of 17 points (females: 18% / males: 35%). 

4. Older people, as well as people with a higher socioeconomic level, have higher consumption patterns in the categories of pharmacy, alcoholic beverages and fashion. 

5. Consumption by category is similar across the country; however, more people in the northern region buy alcoholic beverages (36% of consumers), compared with the southern region (19%). 

6. The Top 5 reasons consumers choose a supermarket for their shopping are proximity (20%), prices (20%), promotions (15%), product variety (14%), and product availability (14%).

7. For socioeconomic levels AB, supermarket size (42%) and shopping experience (38%) are the relevant factors for purchases at that point of sale as compared to other socioeconomic levels, while for people between 35 and 44 years old, having a wide variety of payment methods (47%) is a key element to buy their products at that store, as compared to the other age groups.

With the 1st Edition of the Study of Purchase Awareness on the Sales Floor, GS1 Mexico reinforces its commitment to provide insights for proper strategic planning and decision-making by different actors in the retail, wholesale and e-commerce segments as well as presenting a view of Mexican consumers in the moment of truth: the purchase.