Shopper Journey and Retailer Insights for Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin

The Challenge

Ever wondered the nuanced ways COVID reshaped the customer buying journey? The curious team at Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin sought to unravel the unknowns of the post-COVID customer experience. Their goal? To leverage data-driven insights and craft a strategy that prevents “leakage” throughout their customers’ journeys and position them in a way to turn those lost prospects into verifiable leads. Identifying opportunity leakage historically has increased revenue opportunity by 30%-90%. This means that when marketers possess the necessary information to target individuals within the sales funnel who might otherwise be slipping through the cracks, the impact can be substantial.

How are they quantifying impact?

🚀 Dramatically increased marketing effectiveness

🚀 Improved product messaging

🚀 More effective retailer communication

🚀 Aisle & Shelf specific organization

🚀 Improved awareness and positive word-of-mouth

🚀 Store locator and in-stock availability

Kimberly Koh, Consumer Insights Director, recognized the invaluable importance of capturing journey-driven insights on a granular level. To her, every aspect of the customer journey represented a touchpoint where their brand could engage with the customer—each touchpoint an opportunity to guide them further into the sales funnel.

Where do buyers make their purchasing decisions along their shopping journey? Does this decision point ever shift? What are the influencing factors at play?

To answer all these key questions, they hired Gold Research, an award-winning customer journey mapping and research firm, to uncover the nuances driving conversions and impacting leakage.

The Solution

With the goal of building an enduring framework for their channel marketing strategy, we collaborated to develop a research approach precisely tailored to align with their objectives. Our research was designed to provide these key insights:

🔒Clear understanding of the shopper journey, decision process, and influencing factors

🔒Opportunities for growth uncovered and prioritized

🔒Business impact and improvement of identified KPIs

The DFW team understood that by leveraging our Online Shopping Journey, In-Store Shopping Journey, and Ethnographic Research, we could reduce inefficiencies in their marketing efforts and improve their overall category performance.

We started by virtually interviewing a group of targeted shoppers using an in-depth, approved discussion guide to learn more about customers’ online shopping experience using the screen sharing functionality. Then, we performed “shop-along” interviews using an extremely detailed discussion guide to capture in-store/in-aisle insights. Each approach was strategically performed in the channel and store agreed upon.

Following up both hands-on experiences, our team employed a retail ethnographic survey which engaged 100 specialty food retail shoppers via a mobile-guided survey in a non-invasive, non-interruptive manner.

To round out our research objectives, we developed and executed an online quantitative survey which asked 800-1,000 shoppers post-purchase questions regarding their in-store experiences from the beginning to the end of their shopping journey.

The Results

In light of their team’s dedication to understanding the nuances of their customers’ journeys and shopping experiences, together we were able to:

✅ Develop strategies to improve overall category and brand marketing impact

✅ Strengthen retail partnerships through data-driven consumer insights

✅ Reduce marketing cost inefficiencies

✅ Identify ways to improve market share long term

Without their team’s curiosity and willingness to dive into the details, the depth of understanding and actionable insights we gained would not have been possible. Now, they can look forward to less leakage, stronger customer relationships, and a better foundation for making strategic business decisions.

Testimonial:

“At Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, our mission is to help drive demand for Wisconsin dairy products, particularly the great cheese produced in our state – all in service of our dedicated dairy farmers. An important part of helping us achieve this mission is to understand how consumers shop for cheese and how we can make Wisconsin a part of that process and story.

Our initial hurdle was identifying a partner capable of accurately discerning our customers’ sentiments, thoughts, and decision-making processes within the dynamic setting of post-COVID, omnichannel shopping. When we met with Gold Research, their expertise in CPG and shopper journey mapping was immediately apparent. They thoroughly understood our KPIs and deciding to work with them was easy. They helped us create a strategic research plan that gave us a full circle view of the customer experience and the shopper insights we were seeking.

In my role at Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, my objective is to leverage data-driven insights to help guide strategic decisions for our marketing teams, ultimately working to elevate Wisconsin dairy and our position within our category. The Gold Research Team was instrumental in helping us achieve our goals for this research and was also a pleasure to work with. Their insights have armed us with knowledge that will not only inform our current strategies but also help shape future decisions, ensuring continued success and growth.”

– Kimberly Koh, Consumer Insights Director, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin