Georgia-Pacific: Identifying an inflation-fighter pack
Listening to the customer to meet changing behaviors
Through shopper feedback and insights from Walmart Luminate Charter, Georgia-Pacific pinpointed consumer needs and launched a new pack of paper plates aimed at helping price sensitive and upmarket consumers.
What the customer wants
They launched a survey through Customer Perception that delivered insights into consumer purchasing behaviors:
- 40% of consumers were trading up to packages with larger item count
- 37% of consumers reported trading down to a smaller item count
- 60% of consumers switched to a lower price band of products
- 42% of consumers changed where they were shopping to get a better price
This feedback guided and reinforced early findings from the Performance in Detail and Switching reports in Shopper Behavior:
- Price sensitive consumers were generally trading down in price band and pack size for a lower absolute price point
- Upmarket consumers were trading up to multipacks with higher absolute price points but better unit value
- The total category was losing consumers penetration and household count with price sensitive customers, but gaining upmarket consumers
Most importantly, these results highlighted an anomaly. A new segment of aspirational price sensitive consumers who were heavy purchasers of the category was discovered. They were trading up like upmarket consumers but were still sensitive to higher prices. Using these insights, Georgia-Pacific pivoted and released a smaller 25-count pack. This new offering was priced to capture trade up from price sensitive consumers while also capturing trade down activity from upmarket consumers—a win-win.
Building on consumer understanding
The data and direction provided by Customer Perception and Shopper Behavior brought the voice of the consumer to Georgia-Pacific’s inflation-fighter pack. Better yet, they revealed a clear path to action:
- Understand the category and consumer – Identify how inflationary pressures are changing consumer behavior and the impact to category risks and opportunities
- Meet consumer needs through the right assortment – Determine assortment gaps, identify target consumers, define the roles items play in the assortment, and determine the right stores
- Quantify the size of the prize – Attract and retain households, draw customers to the premium product segment, and promote trade up behaviors
- Track performance – Determine if items are delivering on the metrics above
With deeper understanding of Walmart shoppers and their changing behaviors in challenging economic times, Georgia-Pacific is better prepared to adapt and drive long-term product adoption. Explore the Georgia-Pacific case study to learn more.
References:
Proprietary First-Party Data, Walmart Luminate 2023
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