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Purvita Chatterjee

MUMBAI, April 29

IN a bid to unravel the minds and moods of its consumers, the Rs 270-crore Shoppers' Stop has undertaken a study to invade the mind space of its shoppers.

Its latest campaign released through Contract Advertising is based on an internal market research study across all its stores through a dipstick study provided by ORG-MARG.

After segmenting its shoppers into four different slots (the convenience shopper, the value shopper, the image shopper and the experience shopper), the chain has focused on the different moods of its shoppers as they enter the store.

Claims Mr Ajay Kelkar, Customer Care Associate and Senior Marketing Manager, Shoppers' Stop, "We have realised that people with different moods end up shopping differently. In our present campaign, we have shifted our positioning from focusing on retail space to the mind space of our consumers."

According to the study undertaken by the retail chain, the moods could be several. A person could be in the `power mood' or the `relaxed mood' or the `action mood' or the `traditional mood' or the `romantic mood' or the `party mood'.

The power mood could be typical of one who is dynamic, efficient, brisk, focused and driven by results. His life is dominated by meetings, presentations, negotiations, briefings, discussions and power lunches. Typically, he could be someone owning laptops, cell-phones, digital diaries, leather briefcases, credit cards and the like.

Following this brief, Contract has developed an advertisement targeting this particular individual. The copy reads: `If you'd followed your childhood dream of being a pilot, then you could have worn the same thing everyday. But you didn't.'

This message is followed by a mention of the offerings at the stores - formal shirts, blazers, watches and leather satchels, claiming, "We've got everything you need to get dressed for a day at work. At prices that make good business sense."

Likewise, the action mood is about one who is active, energetic, tough, sporty and aggressive. Someone who is into trekking, rafting, camping, go-karting, rock climbing and possessing items like a Swiss army knife, back packs, waist pouches and sleeping bags. Targeting this particular individual in the `action mood', the ad reads: "If you get lost, they'll need a description of what you were wearing." Highlighting the offerings catering to this mood, Shoppers' Stop informs that it provides cargo shorts, safari jackets and books, its advertisement saying, `We have got everything you need to complement your mood for adventure. It's our prices that play safe.'

Apart from the various moods of its consumers, the chain has also segmented its shoppers on the basis of shopping behaviour. For instance, there is the convenience shopper who has less time, wants everything under one roof, a range with width and depth, instant solutions for gifts and expects to do the annual shopping at one shot. Then there is the value shopper who wants value for money (more for every rupee), quality assurance, peace of mind, and benchmark offerings. The image shopper is into labels, needs to know the latest trends and is brand-conscious while the experience shopper is one who wants attentive and personalised service, ambience, personal advice on clothing and relieves tension by passing time at the store.

In its research across at its stores, Shoppers' Stop has also matched each need-based profile to certain demographic profiles based on sex, age and marital status. It has arrived at the following types: Convenience Dad, Convenience Mom, Bachelor Convenience, Miss Convenience, Value Mom, Value Dad, Miss Value, Bachelor Image, Miss Image, Teeny Bopper Image, Experience Mom, Experience Dad, Teeny Bopper Experience.

Without changing its baseline (`Feel the experience while you shop'), the purpose is to have new communication which links merchandise with the mood of the customer. According to Mr Kelkar, "We are expecting growth between 10 and15 per cent of our turnover through our mood theme campaign."

In the past, Shoppers' Stop has based its campaigns on themes such as open spaces and international experiences. "We have allocated an ad budget of around 2-3 per cent of our turnover on marketing expenditure this year," adds Mr Kelkar.

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