Driving Grocery Sales and Brand Awareness

New research from Chicory and the Path to Purchase Institute validated that as shopper behaviors have evolved, in-recipe, contextual commerce is a major growth opportunity for the grocery industry. 

Online grocery shopping is now deeply ingrained in the routines of consumers. An impressive 7 in 10 shoppers engage in online grocery shopping on a weekly basis. They no longer rely solely on traditional in-store experiences or manual meal-planning tools. Eighty-two percent to 85% of consumers browse food blogs and recipe sites for meal inspiration or reference online recipes while shopping, with more than one-third doing so often or always. 

Brands and retailers are using contextual commerce to capitalize on these consumer trends, successfully reaching grocery shoppers off-platform and driving brand loyalty. Here’s how …

Targeting shoppers using relevant content and offerings 

Personalization matters: more than 30% of Gen Z (and 26% of Millennials) said they were more likely to click a link if it was personalized to their browsing or shopping history. However, there’s an assumption that you need consumer data for personalization. In reality, effective personalization focuses on the relevance of the content surrounding the ad and the ad itself, ensuring the message resonates with the viewer’s current — not past — behaviors. 

Leveraging contextual commerce, brands and retailers can deliver highly relevant, curated meals or product bundles to convenience-seeking consumers. This alleviates the consumer from the burden of meal planning and promotes larger basket sizes. We discovered that 65% of online shoppers (and 58% in-person) buy complementary items when shopping for ingredients for a recipe, like a cupcake tin alongside baking ingredients — and this is more common among Gen Z and Millennials. 

Simplifying the online shopping experience 

Ease and convenience are the top reasons why people shop online, and nearly three-fourths of shoppers care about the ease of completing a transaction. The right contextual commerce platform will guarantee a simple add-to-cart and checkout process for your customers — one that seamlessly extends your brand’s digital experience. 

The top reason consumers don’t shop online is that they prefer to shop in-store (41%), but another 12% are deterred by fears of online data security issues. Invest deeply in building customer trust through a strong digital presence, and when mapping out your advertising plan, prioritize privacy-conscious advertising strategies, like contextual commerce, which uses zero first-party data to target consumers.

Tapping into the meal-planning mindset 

Contextual commerce allows brands to engage shoppers right before the point of sale when they’re in an active mindset. This mindset is key to driving conversions. Fifty-two percent of consumers have recently made one or more online purchases via contextual commerce. 

Unlike impulse purchases in other shopping verticals, grocery items are usually bought as part of a larger shopping trip, making it imperative to reach shoppers when they’re thinking about their entire list or gathering meal inspiration. In doing so, brands can influence purchases both online and in-store — 78% of consumers report that they are more likely to buy a brand in-store after seeing it in an in-recipe ad. 

Driving Sales and Awareness Using Contextual Commerce

Contextual commerce drives purchases and builds brand affinity. After seeing a contextual commerce ad, 78% of consumers remember the brand the next time they’re shopping and consider purchasing from that brand. Furthermore, 79% say that contextual commerce ads positively impact their perception of the brand, validating the effectiveness and non-intrusive nature of contextual advertisements.

To learn more about contextual commerce and how Chicory can help your brand reach ready-to-buy shoppers, visit Chicory.co.