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Context

With the growth of e-commerce and the plethora of options available to shoppers today in terms of e-retail market / platforms therein, shopper journeys are becoming increasingly complex. The client, a prominent alcoholic beverages brand, therefore needed to decode the complex web of shopper pathways in context of off-premise purchases, with a focus on e-retail and more. Specifically, journey drivers, key platforms and touchpoints, and platform perceptions, to inform their e-retail strategies further.

Challenge

  • Study conducted during peak Covid - we needed to therefore pivot to a fully online / remote research model

  • Simulated online shopping rarely captures real life behaviour and concerns, we need to find a way to capture live shopping journeys, as they evolved over minutes, hours, or days

Approach

7 days mobile based self ethnography, followed by in-depth, retrospective interviews

We chose to recruit and speak to those who were likely to have a purchase occasion for beer coming up in the next few weeks at the latest, so we could follow along on a real life purchase journey as opposed to simulating one

Outputs

Through an engaging 1.5 weeks of following shoppers' journeys via their self ethnography outputs, and follow up interviews, we identified 7 shopping need states specific to beer (and cider). We dived into each of these to map out the journeys undertaken - step by step, screenshot by screenshot, using the interview details to fill in gaps and surface up say-do gaps where needed. Through these, and a strong contextual understanding of shopper perceptions, we were able to deliver a pin pointed view of opportunities in e-retail.

7 distinct need states that trigger shopping journey and create distinct contexts

7 distinct need states that trigger shopping journey and create distinct contexts

Sample of journey for one of the need states

Sample of journey for one of the need states

Dedicated pointers along e-retail platforms to call out key opportunities and misses

Dedicated pointers along e-retail platforms to call out key opportunities and misses

Dedicated pointers along e-retail platforms to call out key opportunities and misses

Dedicated pointers along e-retail platforms to call out key opportunities and misses

Impact

✔️ Client went onto subsequently commission further quantitative work following the success of this research

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