Wrigley & Mars Share Results of 'Transaction Zone Vision' Program

CHICAGO — Wrigley and Mars Chocolate North America are driving sales and increasing shopper engagement by working with retailers to implement their Transaction Zone Vision. The pair launched the initiative in 2015.

According to the companies, new results from the program are helping retail partners use research-driven insights to boost sales at checkout through channel-specific recommendations.

Transaction zones are locations where shoppers actually purchase their goods and services. To help their partners leverage the Transaction Zone Vision to its fullest, Wrigley and Mars developed proprietary tools to analyze retailers and build customized merchandising recommendations in order to:

• Satisfy the key "Refresh, Reward and Remind Need States";
• Optimize category adjacencies; and
• Maximize conversion of incremental, basket-building items.

"We know as industry leaders in front-end merchandising that we have to invest in insights that help our retail partners build their baskets and leave a lasting positive impression on their shoppers. By investing in the Transaction Zone Vision, we have provided our retailers a framework that guides them in how best to satisfy their shoppers' needs by offering choices," said Tiffany Menyhart, director of U.S. category management at Wrigley. "These customized programs are helping our partners maximize sales across all categories at the front end."

More than a dozen retailers began working with Wrigley and Mars Chocolate to bring these insights to life over the last year, and are seeing tangible results, the companies said.

One national grocery retailer used the recommendations to test a redesigned self-checkout. Subsequently, need-state items experienced a 20-percent dollar sales lift. The test indicated strong growth in unit sales and household penetration, along with basket size.

As shopping environments and behavior are continuously changing, Wrigley and Mars said they are continuing to invest in global research to develop relevant insights retailers can apply across transaction zones. Their next phase of global research is currently being tested within the United States and is intended to help retailers better understand shoppers' behavior while in line, or "queuing," and maximize conversion during that part of the shopping trip.

"Jewel/Osco is working with Wrigley to leverage their Transaction Zone Vision insights to understand shopper behavior in the queue and how to best merchandise impulse categories to create positive shopping experiences, drive conversion and generate incremental sales," said Jeff Hancock, assistant sales manager, candy, at Jewel/Osco. "When we partner with Wrigley, we know the program will be best-in-class and developed from both global and local insights that directly benefit our shoppers and total business."

Added Shaf Lalani, vice president, customer experience at Mars Chocolate North America: "We've found that as part of the Transaction Zone Vision, shopper need states continue to be essential to drive conversion, which impacts how retailers set up their front end. Our goal is to tie the shopper insights to the retailer's specific strategy.

"It's these types of insights we are continuously investing in for our partners. We look forward to launching additional findings as we move into 2017," Lalani said.