Drive-to-store: how to generate in-store traffic? – Retail Strategy > Retail

Another year of digital transformation for retail in France. At least, for the media mix used locally to generate traffic in stores. With one victim: unaddressed advertising print (ISA). Its distribution – already weakened by the decision of distributors Cora and E.Leclerc to stop it in 2023, or by that of Carrefour to digitize 80% of its leaflets this year – could be severely limited in 2025, in the event of the Oui Pub system being generalized to the entire territory. In the experimental areas, only 10 to 30% of mailboxes bear the sticker indicating the household’s consent to receive leaflets and catalogs.

ISA: what alternatives?

Anticipating an increase in the distribution costs of the ISA and a decrease in its reach, brands are therefore reducing the amount of their investments in the media (-16.1% between 2022 and 2023 according to the Unified Barometer of the Advertising and Communication Market) and are seeking to regain the same level of addressability on other channels, as generating in-store traffic remains crucial.

“The physical store accounts for between 75 and 91% of sales, depending on the sector, and it is part of the journey for 60% of online purchases., explains Fabien Dutrieux, president of the drive-to-store Commission of the Digital Alliance and B2B marketing director of Bonial. Inflation increases consumers’ price sensitivity, which is the primary criterion for choosing a brand, ahead of the diversity of the offer, the physical proximity of the store, the shopping experience and the brand’s image. Those that have seen their sales decrease in volume are therefore making promotion a priority as a lever for in-store traffic.“. According to him, print, the flagship medium for promotion, could account for up to half of the advertising budget of brands and has survived until now because the latter were dependent on it. “But Oui Pub, the evolution of consumers’ digital uses and the increase in printing and distribution costs have been an opportunity for brands to pivot their model. Thanks to digital, they can better target promotional offers and gain in performance“.

The appeal of digital

A transition from offline to online which is not without friction, particularly within certain franchise networks for whom “historical channels are more anchored in practices, even if they are often more expensive“notes Benjamin Renaud, head of customer success at Visiperf, which notably supports Mazda in the management of the hundred or so dealerships in its network.We have doubled the digital share of our media mix in two years, from 20 to 40%, mainly with paid search (SEA) and social media. In support of our highlights, we also use DOOH or Google’s Performance Max tool, which automates the creation of the mix (YouTube, Maps, SEA, display) according to our current objectives.”says Vanessa Dobigny, the manufacturer’s communications and digital manager, who also still relies on outdoor advertising (OOH) and the regional daily press (PQR).

A legacy that is less common among new generations of brands: “On average, 70% of our spending goes to digital, mainly on Facebook and Google. It’s more when we only have one store in an area and less in dense areas like Paris, Lyon or Marseille, where we also do posters and PQR“explains Clara Bozon, CMO of Lunettes Pour Tous, a brand that manages 23 opticians. A network size that pushes it to favor the ultra-local, via social networks in particular: “They allow you to precisely reach a catchment area, with a significant reach in urban areas and a locally anchored message. In addition, you get results quickly, which allows you to optimize the campaign without wasting too much budget.“explains Florent Guilbaud, head of data marketing at the Coudac agency.

There remains a challenge shared by all brands: giving stores the flexibility to manage their own local media mix, and thus adopt the appropriate level of proximity. “We offer our dealers the option of purchasing packs that we create with Visiperf, in order to activate search, social or OOH campaigns within 48 hours, most often with additional pressure on certain areas.“illustrates Vanessa Dobigny. A logic also adopted by brands like Feu Vert, which offers its centers the opportunity to buy local campaigns on the Meta or Le Bon Coin ecosystem.

Towards a strengthening of the SEA

Although a few years ago he was still distributing millions of printed materials each year, Vincent Claisse, marketing and communications director of Feu Vert in France, has now halved this volume and digitized part of his investments with the help of the Resoneo agency: “Alongside national awareness campaigns and CRM activations, SEA represents a large part of our investments. In this context, we use PMax Store Goal, a variant of Performance Max dedicated to drive-to-store, to relay our offers on the Google My Business pages of our 350 centers and position them on Maps“explains the CMDO of Feu Vert. Élisabeth Ribeiro, head of search, shopping & display missions at Resoneo adds: “The challenge will soon be to A/B test omnibidding campaigns, i.e. bidding strategies aimed at generating in-store traffic. We also use the Local Inventory Ads format, which brings up the stocks and prices of each center in Google Shopping so that an Internet user looking for a product can see if it is available nearby.“.

Being referenced on search engines is also central to the strategy of Caroline Lapointe, CMDO of the Laf Santé group, a network which brings together, among others, nearly 300 Pharmacie Lafayette: “With comparators, SEA is the only advertising lever that we have the right to activate. In France, the network is dense, so proximity is the first traffic lever. And if e-commerce or click and collect are in their infancy, there is a real research online, purchase offline (ROPO) effect, with people consulting online opening hours, promotions on parapharmacies or even vaccination or screening services offered.“. In order to improve its local SEO, the group is raising awareness among pharmacists about the importance of online reviews, resulting in an average increase of 0.3 points in these reviews. But given the regulatory constraints imposed on its sector, one of Caroline Lapointe’s key assets remains its loyalty program: “We have two million registered members, which we segment via our Customer Data Platform and which we can activate via email, SMS or push wallet, whether to push prevention messages or digital discount vouchers, as part of promotional operations or anti-churn campaigns.”

Customer loyalty, the key to success

In a degraded economic context, retaining customers appears to be a prerequisite. In this sense, CRM data is essential for targeting messages and promotions and reaching dropouts or inactive people.We have never been so solicited for the implementation of CRM and relational programs“says Clémence Ballu, data-driven marketing partner at the VML agency, some of whose clients have successfully transitioned from the catalog to the relational program, starting with a famous furniture brand capable of precisely identifying its clients’ projects and suggesting new purchases using transactional data. “But an important lever for in-store traffic remains the physical shopping experience, particularly for engaging products or in sectors where people want to be surprised.“.

An experience that can also be reproduced during an advertising activation, using, for example, AR filters on social networks, or even… print! Because if unaddressed printed matter is deserting mailboxes, advertisers who send addressed mail to their customers stand out all the more easily, as noted by Mélanie Catheline, customer marketing director at Yves Rocher: “Our CRM is a major asset for creating in-store traffic. We tested the digitalization of mailings with under-25s, but it was not conclusive, because these populations are over-solicited online. Our paper mailings stand out in mailboxes, because no one writes to each other anymore, especially among young people!“.