Grocery Guru Ep15: Purchase Decision Hierarchy

Join Andrew Grant and Darren A. Smith in the fifteenth episode of Grocery Guru. This episode discusses the purchase decision hierarchy, shopper map, analytic hierarchy process, and consumer decision tree... Whatever you call it, understanding how the shopper shops is key to category performance.

You Can Read the Full Purchase Decision Hierarchy Episode Transcript Below:

Darren A. Smith:

Welcome to episode 15 of the Grocery Guru with Andrew Grant. Andrew, how are you?

Andrew Grant:

Good morning, Darren. Yes. Very, very well. Thank you.

Darren A. Smith:

Good. Good. All right. Well, this week we're going to get stuck in straight away because I know you and I had a debate earlier about purchase decision hierarchy. What the hell is it?

Grocery Guru Ep15: Purchase Decision Hierarchy with Andrew & Darren

 

Andrew Grant:

Yeah, no, absolutely. The way customers decide what they're going to buy.

Darren A. Smith:

Okay.

Andrew Grant:

And a lot of commentators have said it's no longer relevant in the world of shopper insight. When a club card swipe can tell you everything you want to know about your shopper, category management's dead, isn't it?

Darren A. Smith:

Well... So it's also called customer decision hierarchy, consumer decision hierarchy. I like to call it shopper map because I think it gives you a map of how to shop something. And if you can't understand the map, you're not going to shop it or you're going to buy less of it.

Andrew Grant:

Yeah. But a lot of people would say, the minute you've got that club card or that loyalty data, you can see inside the basket and you can see what the shopper bought with what, when, from which part of the store, how often and how that links to his or her family situation. So why do you need to spend time at a flip chart, working out what the customer decision hierarchy is?

Darren A. Smith:

Because I think we need to know what decisions the shopper makes both before and at the fixture.

Andrew Grant:

Well, let's do a little test because I do believe that actually loyalty data is, as we kept going on about it, it's the future. And it can tell you a lot. There's one thing it can't tell you. So, Darren, I take you'd like a bit of wine?

Darren A. Smith:

Yes.

Andrew Grant:

I know you like to whine, but you do like some wine.

Darren A. Smith:

I like wine. Go on.

Andrew Grant:

Okay. So let's assume you are going on an essential journey to your local supermarket this afternoon.

Darren A. Smith:

Yep. Cool.

Andrew Grant:

And you're going to shop the wine aisle for the weekend.

Darren A. Smith:

Yep.

Andrew Grant:

Just do me a quick picture on a piece of paper of what you're going to buy.

Darren A. Smith:

Okay. Right, pen.

Andrew Grant:

Yeah.

Darren A. Smith:

Ready for rubbish drawing? Oh God, I feel like I'm back in art class at school. Now, this is what we buy as a treat. And I realized only six months ago, I've been saying it wrong for 20 years.

Andrew Grant:

What, Liebfraumilch? Oh, right.

Darren A. Smith:

Barolo.

Andrew Grant:

Okay. Right. That's interesting. You've drawn a bottle of wine.

Darren A. Smith:

Yes.

Andrew Grant:

So you're not in the market for a box of wine or one of those little miniatures that you used to be able to get on a train?

Darren A. Smith:

Not if I'm going this afternoon because it's Friday. No, for the family, who's the kids now drink wine as well. Kids in their 20's.

Andrew Grant:

So this is the bit where I think customer decision hierarchy is important because what a club card or a loyalty data can't tell you is that subconscious decision. You decided before, almost without thinking about it-

Darren A. Smith:

Yeah.

Andrew Grant:

... I'm in the market for a bottle of wine, not a five-litre box of wine.

Darren A. Smith:

Yep.

Andrew Grant:

You've made a subconscious decision. It's the same with cars. If I asked you to draw the next car you want,