August 7, 2025 • 21 mins
Retail media is rewriting the rules of marketing, and Cyndi Loza is here to break it all down.
As Senior Editor at Path to Purchase Institute, she shares what brands need to know about AI, shopper behavior, and why in-store still matters more than you think. Cyndi also reflects on her journalism roots, defining influence, and navigating work-life balance as a parent and professional.
Episode Highlights
- How retail media is reshaping the marketing funnel
- What shoppers really want in-store
- The role of AI in measurement and optimization
- Why social content is showing up in TV ads
- Advice on career growth, failure, and finding your voice
Connect with Cyndi Loza on LinkedIn
Connect with Path to Purchase Institute on LinkedIn
Learn more about Path to Purchase Institute
Want more from SheSpeaks?
* Sign up for our podcast newsletter HERE! *
- Connect with us on Instagram, FB & Twitter @shespeaksup
- Contact us at podcast@shespeaks.com
- WATCH our podcast on YouTube @SheSpeaksTV
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
One thing I found interesting and I think it
speaks to the importance of thein-store environment is there
are various in-store activationsthat encourage shoppers to
locate a product in-store oronline and think about buying it
.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome back to the show.
Hope you're all having a greatweek so far.
So if you're like me, youprobably make a few trips to the
grocery store each week.
Maybe it's a Walmart or aTarget or a Publix or a ShopRite
.
But have you ever thought abouthow those stores and the brands
on the shelves, like Hershey orCampbell's, how those retailers
(00:48):
, the stores and the brands workto get your attention while
you're shopping?
That's what's called shoppermarketing.
It's a type of marketing thatfocuses on the in-store
experience.
It looks at how products areplaced and they're promoted and
they're packaged to influencewhat you might buy.
It's all about reallyunderstanding how we shop and
(01:13):
using that to guide what wemight see in the store, how we
move through the store and whatends up in our shopping carts.
So today's guest is someone whoknows that world quite well.
I'm talking with Cindy Loza.
She's the senior editor of Pathto Purchase Institute and she
covers the evolving space ofwhat's called retail media, so
(01:36):
what happens within a retailstore to get people to want to
go into those stores and buyproducts there, and how brands
are using artificialintelligence, social media and
in-store strategies to connectwith shoppers.
She also shares some insightsfrom a recent study that her
(01:58):
team conducted on how shoppinghabits are shifting and what
that means for people like youand I who are shopping.
We also talk about her careerjourney and how she got into
this very interesting field.
I think after hearing Cindy'sstory and Cindy's insights, you
will walk into a store with avery fresh set of eyes and a
(02:21):
better understanding of howbrands connect with shoppers
like you and I.
So with that, I'm going to letyou hear my great conversation
with Cindy.
Here we go.
Cindy, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Well, I'm looking forward totalking with you.
We're going to get into theresearch part of what you do,
(02:43):
but you know how much I lovesome research, so I'm excited to
talk with you, have ouraudience learn more about who
you are, what you do and alsothis amazing research report
that you just recently shared.
So let's start with yourcurrent role.
You are the Senior Editor forPath to Purchase Institute, also
known as P2PI.
(03:04):
For those who may be familiarwith that, who are listening,
what is P2PI?
For those who are not familiarwith it, and who do you serve?
Speaker 1 (03:13):
The Path to Purchase Institute is a publication and
member-based organization that'sbeen serving the needs of the
commerce marketing community formore than 30 years now, and we
do this in a variety of ways.
We have share groups, on-demandeducational courses, webinars,
newsletters and our website,pdpicom.
Our website hosts thousands ofin-store and digital images,
(03:37):
some of them taken by me so youmight see my children next to an
end cap.
But we also have campaign casestudies, proprietary research
reports, news stories andin-depth profiles on more than
30 leading retailers in the USand Canada.
We also stage in-personindustry events.
I serve on the editorial teamas senior editor.
(03:57):
My day-to-day varies and looksdifferent depending on the time
of year, with what editorialproject we have going on
research report on the field orin-person event we're gearing up
for, but I'm involved in a lotof the retail media-focused
editorial projects andcontribute to the editorial
strategy and content for p2picom, as well as the events we host,
(04:19):
which also includes RetailMedia Summit, retail Media
Summit Canada and our fall event, p2p Live and Expo.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So for those who are listening who may not be as
familiar with what retail mediameans, can you just give a quick
explanation for them of what isretail media?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Well, it's hard, you know, it's something that's kind
of hard to define.
And then some people are tryingto define what commerce media
is too.
Looking at the commercemarketing space these last few
years, so much has happened andI believe a lot of it is a
result of the meteoric rise ofretailer media networks lot, but
(05:05):
it's hard to ignore when you'reconsidering the evolution of
the commerce marketing spacethese last couple of years.
I joke with my colleagues thatin the current landscape that
we're in, the only thing I'mcertain of is death, taxes and
retail media's continued growth.
One example when I firststarted at PDPI I came to
understand CPG brandorganizations had teams for
trade, brand and shoppermarketing.
Brand marketing used mass mediato work the top of the purchase
(05:29):
funnel, shopper closed the saleat the bottom and, to quote our
old editorial director, neverthe twain or budget shall meet.
That's just not the caseanymore.
We know that While retail medianetworks early on might have
been primarily seen as lowerfunnel plays, they can be
leveraged for upper funnelobjectives too, especially as
(05:49):
some have since expanded theirofferings with CTV and offside
solutions.
All that said, cpg brands arere-evaluating their internal
organizational structures.
In our recent trends report,nearly a third of CPG brand
marketers told us they recentlyrestructured or implemented
organizational remapping toovercome silos, and nearly half
(06:13):
told us they're either in theprocess or have plans to do it.
Of course, that's just oneoutcome from these last few
years.
In the same report, we found amajority of CPG brands pointing
to AI technology as the nextfrontier or up-and-coming area
within the retail media space.
No surprise there, because weprobably didn't come out of any
(06:33):
conference this or last yearwithout hearing about AI, and I
think it'll be interesting tosee the impact it has within the
space when it comes to thingslike audience segmentation,
campaign optimization andmeasurement and reporting.
At our P2P Live event inNovember, we're actually going
to have a session on how AIshopping agents are transforming
(06:54):
the consumer journey andrewriting the path to purchase,
and I'm excited about thatbecause it's going to be led by
Carrie Masters, an industryanalyst who I follow and I'm
really excited to meet in reallife.
Measurement continues to be ahot topic amongst the commerce
marketing community and it willcontinue to grow in importance
as more retail media networksand related partners enter the
(07:17):
space.
Now we have travel medianetworks and financial media
networks.
I think there's been somesignificant efforts to
standardize measurement byorganizations like the IAB, but
hurdles still need to be jumped.
In another recent study that wedid and fielded, we found CPG
brands and organizations andagencies had different
(07:40):
definitions for incrementality,for example.
There are other areas we'refollowing, of course, like CTV
streaming, gamification, socialadvertising.
In fact, when we asked CPGbrands and aging professionals
which marketing channels wereimportant to them recently,
social advertising was deemed atleast very important, if not
(08:01):
extremely important, by morethan 90%.
We surveyed there with retailmedia.
So, lastly, I'll just say thatwe are always keeping a close
eye on the in-store environmentand it'll be interesting to see
how in-store retail mediaevolves and CPG brands and
retailers and how they weave itinto their marketing mix.
(08:22):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That is amazing to see how much the social
advertising has grown, because Iremember not that long ago you
would have a conversation withthe marketing team and you'd be
going through what are all theactivities we're going to do?
And television above the linetelevision always got the most
(08:46):
attention.
And then you know some of theother channels and all the way
down on the bottom of the agendawas digital media, digital
slash social, and now it'salmost inverted right.
And not that brands aren'tdoing television spots, but it
(09:07):
has changed and evolved so muchin terms of how that's done and
even thinking about how socialcontent now is being used in
above the line television spots,which is such a change.
Back in the day when I workedat a big brand, in a million
(09:29):
years we would never considernot doing the big production for
the television spot that youhad a very regimented way you
did that.
Now brands are getting reallycreative and innovative and
using social content frequentlyfor those some of those, those
(09:53):
above the line television spotsand in other places as well.
It's so interesting to see thatevolution and sounds like it's
consistent with the report thatyou released that said that
social advertising retail mediaare very much important in terms
of what people say they'regoing to be spending budget on
(10:14):
and what they're going to befocused on.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yes, and I'm personally.
I have an eight-year-old and afive-year-old and I can't tell
you how often they come to meduring the days showing me their
YouTube videos and how a littleyou know, like a child is
playing with a certain aspecific toy that they want, and
they may want to make sure thatI get that exact toy.
All the way to my husband, whowe follow, an influencer for
coffee.
(10:36):
His name's James Hoffman, andif he endorses a product we go
and buy it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
I will say you can go down a rabbit hole on coffee
influencers.
I mean, it makes the coffee Imake at home look like not at
all interesting compared to whatthey're doing.
Well, I want to talk a littlebit, if we can, about this
research that P2PI recentlyreleased that was dedicated to
(11:03):
retail media.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthis report?
It was about the evolution ofthe in-store shopping experience
.
So what happens when I'min-store, like at any kind of
retail that I might be in?
I know there's some reallyinteresting information in there
and there's a lot ofinformation in there, but can
(11:24):
you maybe give us two to threehighlights that you thought were
really interesting?
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yes, I'd love to.
So we surveyed a thousandshoppers in February to get
their perspectives and insightson the in-store shopping
experience.
This is actually our fifth yeardoing the survey, which we
produce in partnership withGreat Northern In-Store.
The report had so many goodinsights and we dive even deeper
to see how those we surveyedanswered, based on things like
(11:50):
generation, gender and householdincome, in the full report
available to P2PI members on thewebsite.
Some findings just validatedwhat we suspected.
Shoppers surveyed, for example,who use retailer mobile apps
while shopping in-store, told usthey use the apps often to look
for coupons and promotions,reference their shopping lists,
(12:12):
wayfinding or check productavailability.
Shoppers also continue to tellus they primarily shop in-store
to interact with productshands-on, avoiding shipping fees
.
The ability to look forpromotional offers and the
instinct gratification thatcomes with shopping in-store
also drives consumers to shop inphysical locations, and that's
(12:35):
consistent with what we've seenin the past.
One thing I found interestingand I think it speaks to the
importance of the in-storeenvironment is there are various
in-store activations thatencourage shoppers to locate a
product in-store or online andthink about buying it.
Specifically, we ask surveytakers how often seeing or
(12:56):
hearing types of products,displays or messagings inside
stores encourage them to locatethe product in-store or online
and consider purchasing.
We found that a variety oftactics encourage a majority of
those surveys to do this, atleast some of the time.
This includes informational orinspirational content on TV
screens, temporary seasonaldisplays, large displays of
(13:20):
products at the front of thestore and displays at the end of
the aisle, displays nearcheckout.
Content on TV screens andin-store audio are especially
more likely to encourageshoppers to locate the product
online and consider purchasing.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I will say that just as a shopper.
That does not surprise me.
It does surprise me a littlebit some of the reasons that
people still say they want toshop in-store, because we did a
lot of surveying during COVIDand then after COVID and
definitely found that thereasons that people were wanting
(14:00):
to be in or not wanting to bein store had evolved a bit.
I think because we all got somuch more used to buying things
online when COVID happenedbecause that was one of the key
options.
We had Some of the hurdles thatmaybe existed before that the
people maybe just didn't feel ascomfortable buying certain
(14:21):
things online.
They got way more comfortabledoing that and the convenience
factor we found is the thingthat really was dialed up.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Well, I could just add to what you were mentioning.
Anecdotally, I can say thatconvenience is still very
important and I feel really seenand heard with your comments,
because my son was born on May2020, that the height of you
know shutdowns and everything.
So I remember being so littlewith with him and thinking,
(14:51):
being so thankful for going toTarget and be able to pull up
where I don't have to take himout of his, his car seat, but
also not go into a store rightand be able to get his formula
and his diapers and the thingsthat I needed.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Yeah, I think there's some universal experiences
there for parents of youngchildren.
So, moving to a different area,I want to take a step back, if
we can, and talk a little bitabout how you got started in
your career, because you arebasically in still in somewhat
that same field that you startedin, journalism.
(15:25):
So can you talk about what drewyou to journalism, why this was
the area that was interestingto you and how it's kind of held
your interest all these years?
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Yes, definitely.
Well, it's held my interestbecause there's just so much to
talk about, right, you know youcan just really go down a deep
rabbit hole with all the youknow the complexities of
commerce, marketing space, but Ido still consider myself a
reporter.
Yes, you're right, justcovering a specific industry, I
think.
Joining the P2PI editorialstaff early on, I knew there was
going to be a learning curve.
(15:57):
I had to get up to speed on theworld of shopper marketing,
merchandising and P2P.
But I embraced the challengeand I'm so happy I did.
And I have to say that I alsowouldn't have gotten so far or
up to speed as quick without thehelp and support of those at
P2PI.
Shout out to PatriciaMilonowska, our Director of
Retail, and Tim Bender, ourexecutive editor, for all their
(16:21):
support since I started in dayone now have a child in college.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
She's in a communications field and one of
the things that they are talkinga lot about is what is the
(16:46):
future of journalism?
What is the future, what doesthe future hold for young
students who are interested injournalism?
Going out into the world?
What do you think someone whois starting, and maybe early in
their career, or thinking of acareer, in journalism, what
should they know about?
What skills are important forthem now if they're going to be
(17:09):
coming into this field?
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yeah, I think that it's definitely important to
have a curiosity, that's reallyimportant to ask lots of
questions.
Also, I would say that you know, when I first started, I
started at the College ofCommunications and it's now been
renamed to the College of Mediaa lot.
(17:36):
But also, you know, there'sjust so much information out
there and making sure you verify, I think, has been probably
more important than ever.
You know that the informationthat's out there.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I think that is excellent advice.
I mean, it seems to me that insome ways, the job is so much
harder because it's like tryingto drink out of a fire hose.
There's so much informationcoming at you.
How do you know, how do youdetermine or coming up with the
right set of questions to yourpoint about curiosity, coming up
(18:05):
with the right set of questionsto determine what is really
important to focus on while allof this stuff is coming at you.
I think that's such good advice.
This podcast stuff is coming atyou.
I think that's such good advice.
This podcast Women of Influence.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I was hoping you could share with us what
influence means to you.
Yeah, so I think influence tome and I don't know if I'm wrong
but it means kind of likeinspire or encourage or help
move the needle.
I think that I work in a lot ofthe proprietary research
reports that I produce or helpproduce with P2PI and I hope
that in the work that I do Ihelp as far as inspire but also
(18:43):
help kind of validate some ofthe things that are out there or
help give statistical guidance.
You know, I think that's kindof what I would hope for my
career, the work that we do.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I love that definition.
That's why I love asking peoplewhat their perspective is on
influence, because everyone hasa slightly different element in
terms of how they think about itand, given your background, I
think it sounds like one of thethings that's important to you
is really being able to have thedata to back up what your
(19:19):
perspective is or what you'retalking about, and when you have
that data, it helps influence.
And I think maybe that's theconnection I'm hearing when
you're talking about influencewith the validation of
information, and I could notagree with you more.
So my last question for you ifyou could go back and tell the
(19:41):
young Cindy that was justgetting started in her career
one piece of advice, what wouldthat be?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It would be.
Don't dwell too much onmistakes.
Learn from them and move onquickly.
Something that I've learnedrecently is that having a
perfect work-life balance isn'tthis tier or permanent status or
state that you achieve.
Sometimes my work requires alot of attention and sometimes
my family does, and it ebbs andflows and that's all right as
(20:12):
well.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I think we remember when we get something wrong and
we can really marinate in it,and I can't tell you how
important it has been for me inmy career to recognize that
failure is actually part of theprocess.
I wish I understood thatyounger and earlier in my career
(20:36):
.
It definitely would have saveda lot of heartache.
Well, cindy, thank you so muchfor spending this time with us.
I am grateful for your insightsand I am excited for people to
hear all your great thoughts andthe research and advice.
Great Thanks again for havingme my pleasure.
One thing I found interesting and I think it
speaks to the importance of thein-store environment is there
are various in-store activationsthat encourage shoppers to
locate a product in-store oronline and think about buying it
.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome back to the show.
Hope you're all having a greatweek so far.
So if you're like me, youprobably make a few trips to the
grocery store each week.
Maybe it's a Walmart or aTarget or a Publix or a ShopRite
.
But have you ever thought abouthow those stores and the brands
on the shelves, like Hershey orCampbell's, how those retailers
(00:48):
, the stores and the brands workto get your attention while
you're shopping?
That's what's called shoppermarketing.
It's a type of marketing thatfocuses on the in-store
experience.
It looks at how products areplaced and they're promoted and
they're packaged to influencewhat you might buy.
It's all about reallyunderstanding how we shop and
(01:13):
using that to guide what wemight see in the store, how we
move through the store and whatends up in our shopping carts.
So today's guest is someone whoknows that world quite well.
I'm talking with Cindy Loza.
She's the senior editor of Pathto Purchase Institute and she
covers the evolving space ofwhat's called retail media, so
(01:36):
what happens within a retailstore to get people to want to
go into those stores and buyproducts there, and how brands
are using artificialintelligence, social media and
in-store strategies to connectwith shoppers.
She also shares some insightsfrom a recent study that her
(01:58):
team conducted on how shoppinghabits are shifting and what
that means for people like youand I who are shopping.
We also talk about her careerjourney and how she got into
this very interesting field.
I think after hearing Cindy'sstory and Cindy's insights, you
will walk into a store with avery fresh set of eyes and a
(02:21):
better understanding of howbrands connect with shoppers
like you and I.
So with that, I'm going to letyou hear my great conversation
with Cindy.
Here we go.
Cindy, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Well, I'm looking forward totalking with you.
We're going to get into theresearch part of what you do,
(02:43):
but you know how much I lovesome research, so I'm excited to
talk with you, have ouraudience learn more about who
you are, what you do and alsothis amazing research report
that you just recently shared.
So let's start with yourcurrent role.
You are the Senior Editor forPath to Purchase Institute, also
known as P2PI.
(03:04):
For those who may be familiarwith that, who are listening,
what is P2PI?
For those who are not familiarwith it, and who do you serve?
Speaker 1 (03:13):
The Path to Purchase Institute is a publication and
member-based organization that'sbeen serving the needs of the
commerce marketing community formore than 30 years now, and we
do this in a variety of ways.
We have share groups, on-demandeducational courses, webinars,
newsletters and our website,pdpicom.
Our website hosts thousands ofin-store and digital images,
(03:37):
some of them taken by me so youmight see my children next to an
end cap.
But we also have campaign casestudies, proprietary research
reports, news stories andin-depth profiles on more than
30 leading retailers in the USand Canada.
We also stage in-personindustry events.
I serve on the editorial teamas senior editor.
(03:57):
My day-to-day varies and looksdifferent depending on the time
of year, with what editorialproject we have going on
research report on the field orin-person event we're gearing up
for, but I'm involved in a lotof the retail media-focused
editorial projects andcontribute to the editorial
strategy and content for p2picom, as well as the events we host,
(04:19):
which also includes RetailMedia Summit, retail Media
Summit Canada and our fall event, p2p Live and Expo.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So for those who are listening who may not be as
familiar with what retail mediameans, can you just give a quick
explanation for them of what isretail media?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Well, it's hard, you know, it's something that's kind
of hard to define.
And then some people are tryingto define what commerce media
is too.
Looking at the commercemarketing space these last few
years, so much has happened andI believe a lot of it is a
result of the meteoric rise ofretailer media networks lot, but
(05:05):
it's hard to ignore when you'reconsidering the evolution of
the commerce marketing spacethese last couple of years.
I joke with my colleagues thatin the current landscape that
we're in, the only thing I'mcertain of is death, taxes and
retail media's continued growth.
One example when I firststarted at PDPI I came to
understand CPG brandorganizations had teams for
trade, brand and shoppermarketing.
Brand marketing used mass mediato work the top of the purchase
(05:29):
funnel, shopper closed the saleat the bottom and, to quote our
old editorial director, neverthe twain or budget shall meet.
That's just not the caseanymore.
We know that While retail medianetworks early on might have
been primarily seen as lowerfunnel plays, they can be
leveraged for upper funnelobjectives too, especially as
(05:49):
some have since expanded theirofferings with CTV and offside
solutions.
All that said, cpg brands arere-evaluating their internal
organizational structures.
In our recent trends report,nearly a third of CPG brand
marketers told us they recentlyrestructured or implemented
organizational remapping toovercome silos, and nearly half
(06:13):
told us they're either in theprocess or have plans to do it.
Of course, that's just oneoutcome from these last few
years.
In the same report, we found amajority of CPG brands pointing
to AI technology as the nextfrontier or up-and-coming area
within the retail media space.
No surprise there, because weprobably didn't come out of any
(06:33):
conference this or last yearwithout hearing about AI, and I
think it'll be interesting tosee the impact it has within the
space when it comes to thingslike audience segmentation,
campaign optimization andmeasurement and reporting.
At our P2P Live event inNovember, we're actually going
to have a session on how AIshopping agents are transforming
(06:54):
the consumer journey andrewriting the path to purchase,
and I'm excited about thatbecause it's going to be led by
Carrie Masters, an industryanalyst who I follow and I'm
really excited to meet in reallife.
Measurement continues to be ahot topic amongst the commerce
marketing community and it willcontinue to grow in importance
as more retail media networksand related partners enter the
(07:17):
space.
Now we have travel medianetworks and financial media
networks.
I think there's been somesignificant efforts to
standardize measurement byorganizations like the IAB, but
hurdles still need to be jumped.
In another recent study that wedid and fielded, we found CPG
brands and organizations andagencies had different
(07:40):
definitions for incrementality,for example.
There are other areas we'refollowing, of course, like CTV
streaming, gamification, socialadvertising.
In fact, when we asked CPGbrands and aging professionals
which marketing channels wereimportant to them recently,
social advertising was deemed atleast very important, if not
(08:01):
extremely important, by morethan 90%.
We surveyed there with retailmedia.
So, lastly, I'll just say thatwe are always keeping a close
eye on the in-store environmentand it'll be interesting to see
how in-store retail mediaevolves and CPG brands and
retailers and how they weave itinto their marketing mix.
(08:22):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That is amazing to see how much the social
advertising has grown, because Iremember not that long ago you
would have a conversation withthe marketing team and you'd be
going through what are all theactivities we're going to do?
And television above the linetelevision always got the most
(08:46):
attention.
And then you know some of theother channels and all the way
down on the bottom of the agendawas digital media, digital
slash social, and now it'salmost inverted right.
And not that brands aren'tdoing television spots, but it
(09:07):
has changed and evolved so muchin terms of how that's done and
even thinking about how socialcontent now is being used in
above the line television spots,which is such a change.
Back in the day when I workedat a big brand, in a million
(09:29):
years we would never considernot doing the big production for
the television spot that youhad a very regimented way you
did that.
Now brands are getting reallycreative and innovative and
using social content frequentlyfor those some of those, those
(09:53):
above the line television spotsand in other places as well.
It's so interesting to see thatevolution and sounds like it's
consistent with the report thatyou released that said that
social advertising retail mediaare very much important in terms
of what people say they'regoing to be spending budget on
(10:14):
and what they're going to befocused on.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yes, and I'm personally.
I have an eight-year-old and afive-year-old and I can't tell
you how often they come to meduring the days showing me their
YouTube videos and how a littleyou know, like a child is
playing with a certain aspecific toy that they want, and
they may want to make sure thatI get that exact toy.
All the way to my husband, whowe follow, an influencer for
coffee.
(10:36):
His name's James Hoffman, andif he endorses a product we go
and buy it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
I will say you can go down a rabbit hole on coffee
influencers.
I mean, it makes the coffee Imake at home look like not at
all interesting compared to whatthey're doing.
Well, I want to talk a littlebit, if we can, about this
research that P2PI recentlyreleased that was dedicated to
(11:03):
retail media.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthis report?
It was about the evolution ofthe in-store shopping experience
.
So what happens when I'min-store, like at any kind of
retail that I might be in?
I know there's some reallyinteresting information in there
and there's a lot ofinformation in there, but can
(11:24):
you maybe give us two to threehighlights that you thought were
really interesting?
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yes, I'd love to.
So we surveyed a thousandshoppers in February to get
their perspectives and insightson the in-store shopping
experience.
This is actually our fifth yeardoing the survey, which we
produce in partnership withGreat Northern In-Store.
The report had so many goodinsights and we dive even deeper
to see how those we surveyedanswered, based on things like
(11:50):
generation, gender and householdincome, in the full report
available to P2PI members on thewebsite.
Some findings just validatedwhat we suspected.
Shoppers surveyed, for example,who use retailer mobile apps
while shopping in-store, told usthey use the apps often to look
for coupons and promotions,reference their shopping lists,
(12:12):
wayfinding or check productavailability.
Shoppers also continue to tellus they primarily shop in-store
to interact with productshands-on, avoiding shipping fees
.
The ability to look forpromotional offers and the
instinct gratification thatcomes with shopping in-store
also drives consumers to shop inphysical locations, and that's
(12:35):
consistent with what we've seenin the past.
One thing I found interestingand I think it speaks to the
importance of the in-storeenvironment is there are various
in-store activations thatencourage shoppers to locate a
product in-store or online andthink about buying it.
Specifically, we ask surveytakers how often seeing or
(12:56):
hearing types of products,displays or messagings inside
stores encourage them to locatethe product in-store or online
and consider purchasing.
We found that a variety oftactics encourage a majority of
those surveys to do this, atleast some of the time.
This includes informational orinspirational content on TV
screens, temporary seasonaldisplays, large displays of
(13:20):
products at the front of thestore and displays at the end of
the aisle, displays nearcheckout.
Content on TV screens andin-store audio are especially
more likely to encourageshoppers to locate the product
online and consider purchasing.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I will say that just as a shopper.
That does not surprise me.
It does surprise me a littlebit some of the reasons that
people still say they want toshop in-store, because we did a
lot of surveying during COVIDand then after COVID and
definitely found that thereasons that people were wanting
(14:00):
to be in or not wanting to bein store had evolved a bit.
I think because we all got somuch more used to buying things
online when COVID happenedbecause that was one of the key
options.
We had Some of the hurdles thatmaybe existed before that the
people maybe just didn't feel ascomfortable buying certain
(14:21):
things online.
They got way more comfortabledoing that and the convenience
factor we found is the thingthat really was dialed up.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Well, I could just add to what you were mentioning.
Anecdotally, I can say thatconvenience is still very
important and I feel really seenand heard with your comments,
because my son was born on May2020, that the height of you
know shutdowns and everything.
So I remember being so littlewith with him and thinking,
(14:51):
being so thankful for going toTarget and be able to pull up
where I don't have to take himout of his, his car seat, but
also not go into a store rightand be able to get his formula
and his diapers and the thingsthat I needed.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Yeah, I think there's some universal experiences
there for parents of youngchildren.
So, moving to a different area,I want to take a step back, if
we can, and talk a little bitabout how you got started in
your career, because you arebasically in still in somewhat
that same field that you startedin, journalism.
(15:25):
So can you talk about what drewyou to journalism, why this was
the area that was interestingto you and how it's kind of held
your interest all these years?
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Yes, definitely.
Well, it's held my interestbecause there's just so much to
talk about, right, you know youcan just really go down a deep
rabbit hole with all the youknow the complexities of
commerce, marketing space, but Ido still consider myself a
reporter.
Yes, you're right, justcovering a specific industry, I
think.
Joining the P2PI editorialstaff early on, I knew there was
going to be a learning curve.
(15:57):
I had to get up to speed on theworld of shopper marketing,
merchandising and P2P.
But I embraced the challengeand I'm so happy I did.
And I have to say that I alsowouldn't have gotten so far or
up to speed as quick without thehelp and support of those at
P2PI.
Shout out to PatriciaMilonowska, our Director of
Retail, and Tim Bender, ourexecutive editor, for all their
(16:21):
support since I started in dayone now have a child in college.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
She's in a communications field and one of
the things that they are talkinga lot about is what is the
(16:46):
future of journalism?
What is the future, what doesthe future hold for young
students who are interested injournalism?
Going out into the world?
What do you think someone whois starting, and maybe early in
their career, or thinking of acareer, in journalism, what
should they know about?
What skills are important forthem now if they're going to be
(17:09):
coming into this field?
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yeah, I think that it's definitely important to
have a curiosity, that's reallyimportant to ask lots of
questions.
Also, I would say that you know, when I first started, I
started at the College ofCommunications and it's now been
renamed to the College of Mediaa lot.
(17:36):
But also, you know, there'sjust so much information out
there and making sure you verify, I think, has been probably
more important than ever.
You know that the informationthat's out there.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I think that is excellent advice.
I mean, it seems to me that insome ways, the job is so much
harder because it's like tryingto drink out of a fire hose.
There's so much informationcoming at you.
How do you know, how do youdetermine or coming up with the
right set of questions to yourpoint about curiosity, coming up
(18:05):
with the right set of questionsto determine what is really
important to focus on while allof this stuff is coming at you.
I think that's such good advice.
This podcast stuff is coming atyou.
I think that's such good advice.
This podcast Women of Influence.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I was hoping you could share with us what
influence means to you.
Yeah, so I think influence tome and I don't know if I'm wrong
but it means kind of likeinspire or encourage or help
move the needle.
I think that I work in a lot ofthe proprietary research
reports that I produce or helpproduce with P2PI and I hope
that in the work that I do Ihelp as far as inspire but also
(18:43):
help kind of validate some ofthe things that are out there or
help give statistical guidance.
You know, I think that's kindof what I would hope for my
career, the work that we do.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I love that definition.
That's why I love asking peoplewhat their perspective is on
influence, because everyone hasa slightly different element in
terms of how they think about itand, given your background, I
think it sounds like one of thethings that's important to you
is really being able to have thedata to back up what your
(19:19):
perspective is or what you'retalking about, and when you have
that data, it helps influence.
And I think maybe that's theconnection I'm hearing when
you're talking about influencewith the validation of
information, and I could notagree with you more.
So my last question for you ifyou could go back and tell the
(19:41):
young Cindy that was justgetting started in her career
one piece of advice, what wouldthat be?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It would be.
Don't dwell too much onmistakes.
Learn from them and move onquickly.
Something that I've learnedrecently is that having a
perfect work-life balance isn'tthis tier or permanent status or
state that you achieve.
Sometimes my work requires alot of attention and sometimes
my family does, and it ebbs andflows and that's all right as
(20:12):
well.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I think we remember when we get something wrong and
we can really marinate in it,and I can't tell you how
important it has been for me inmy career to recognize that
failure is actually part of theprocess.
I wish I understood thatyounger and earlier in my career
(20:36):
.
It definitely would have saveda lot of heartache.
Well, cindy, thank you so muchfor spending this time with us.
I am grateful for your insightsand I am excited for people to
hear all your great thoughts andthe research and advice.
Great Thanks again for havingme my pleasure.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.