Shopper Marketing 101: Making Brand Shopper Ready

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Shopper Marketing 101: making brand shopper ready

Mussoorie – a city in the hills of Northern India has a famous eatery called ‘Lovely Omelette Centre’. It is a small joint on the mall road, which, according to many customers, serves the best omelettes in India. Various media brands like India Today, Lonely Planet, and Hindustan Times, have all recognized it as the place with the best omelettes in the country. This recognition is proudly displayed on the main cooking counter, which is visible from the street. Inside the outlet as well, one can see the framed images of the rave reviews of the omelettes by these publications. The owners, Rashid and Khurshid, are adept at making special cheese omelettes, though simpler ones cooked in oil and butter are also available. The recommended ritual is to enjoy these omelettes with a cold drink (carbonated beverage, preferably a cola), to derive the best taste experience.

Small retail store in Mussoorie, demonstrating various shopper marketing 101 principles

Due to the uniqueness of the city, the clientele for ‘Lovely Omelette Centre’ is diverse, ranging from the local residents, to the massive boarding school students’ community, and tourists. All unanimously recommend this as the one eat-out place you must visit, if travelling to Mussoorie. The shop started in early 1900s as an egg store, and gradually, around 1975, moved into retailing omelettes. The store itself has a limited seating capacity, but it is not uncommon to see customers standing outside the shop and savouring the omelettes. The owners, though, have special love for the student community. During the school ‘outing’ (i.e., when the boarding school students are allowed to go out of the school premises and visit the city) days, they put a board outside the shop indicating, that only students would be served on that day (at a discount). This helps them serve all the students who come to their outlet on their solitary day out of school.

This creates a sense of reassurance and trust for the customers—that the shop owners are not the typical retailers keen to maximize revenue. It is very usual to see them cook their famous omelettes in the same manner, beating the eggs thoroughly, and adding turmeric, cheese, etc., in the right proportion, and at the right time, even if there is a long queue waiting. The owners do not hasten their cooking process to meet the demand; thus, continuing to maintain their quality.

The success of ‘Lovely Omelette Center’ can be attributed to some basic actions that are resulting in an experience that the shoppers are raving about. Firstly, the owners identified a relevant need, and tapped into the insight linked to the need – snacking / a hunger quick fix for tourists, students, and locals, who are out shopping on the mall road and need to recharge. Based on the need, the shop evolved from selling eggs to omelettes – a product that could provide a quick hunger fix to these mall road visitors. The strategic location of the outlet, with good visibility on the mall; the visible red-colored store branding; stacks of egg trays piled outside; relevant point of sale material, talking about the rave reviews that their omelettes have received (outside and inside the store); and even the fragrance of freshly cooked omelettes;– all create a sense of anticipation, and literally egg the shoppers to take a break from the tiring walk, and treat themselves to some delicious omelettes and soft drinks. The merchandise and shop layout, thus, enables the shoppers on the road to become acquainted with what is on offer, and hence, entices them to walk and make the omelette purchase. The product itself, served on plates and trays with accompanying beverages in bottles, makes the consumption process easy, and enables the owners to deliver the hunger-fix proposition meaningfully. With cheese omelette being the hero product, they offer a good variety of omelette types (masala omelette with chili, butter omelette, omelette toast, etc.), thus, meeting the specific omelette type needs of the shoppers, and in the process, laying out the full range options for them. This takes care of groups that come in where not everyone would want to eat the same