How leading FMCG brand understood shopper behaviors with YouGov

Business challenge

Hong Kong shoppers are increasingly exploring grocery options available in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), including popular chains like Costco and Sam's Club, leading to decline in domestic shopping. To win back these customers, the brand needed to understand their travel patterns to the GBA - how often and for how long they're visiting, as well as their bulk grocery purchases and preferred shopping methods.

Solution

YouGov leveraged its industry-leading panel in Hong Kong to target respondents who had travelled to GBA cities for grocery shopping in the past 3 months. This approach helped the brand to understand the incidence of Hong Kong residents visiting GBA cities, specifically those engaging in cross-border grocery shopping.

The research sample size was large enough to segment the audience by travel purpose: general, grocery focused, or packaged food (category specific) and shopping mentality (motivations and buying behaviors).

The analysis revealed distinct behavioral differences across general travel, overall grocery shopping, and specific packaged food purchases. These insights meant the brand could develop tailored strategies for each segment, enhancing the impact of its marketing efforts.

Business outcomes

With the granular findings from the research, the brand identified why shoppers were bypassing local stores and used this data to tailor product offerings, promotions, and marketing activities to make the brand more attractive within Hong Kong.

Additionally, understanding the preferences of GBA shoppers allowed the brand to create targeted strategies to attract new customers. This data-driven approach positions the brand to recapture market share in Hong Kong and potentially expand into the lucrative GBA market, capitalizing on the cross-border shopping trend.