How Retailers Can Give Parents the Greatest Gift of All: Time

With shoppers projected to spend over $50 billion this year across Mother’s and Father’s

Day 1,2, it’s no secret that retailers must develop and execute strategies that reward Mom and Dad, whether it’s through featured gift ideas or offering discounts on items needed to grill the perfect spread.

But what about the other 363 days of the year? How can retailers express their continued appreciation for some of their most valuable customers? From baby and personal care to meal planning and keeping in stock on other household essentials, in many homes, one parent has his or her finger on the pulse of the family’s consumption needs. For the remainder of this blog post, we will predominantly refer to that parent as “Mom”, since according to Gallup, 45% of women in married households are more likely to do the grocery shopping, compared to 37% of men (18% claim to do equally)3.

One common way retailers seek to reward Mom is through loyalty programs, with many beginning to offer unlimited delivery for an annual fee4. This convenience is the first step to giving Mom what she wants: time. Integrating auto-replenishment within one’s pre-existing loyalty initiatives, to reward her for her depth, breadth, and frequency of purchasing is a way to deliver this precious gift on a greater scale.

According to data from Replenium shopper research conducted in Q4 2021 through Kantar Marketplace5, Amazon Prime households with kids under the age of 18 are more likely to appreciate that a repeat shopping automation capability saves time, offers curbside pick-up, eliminates the chore of mundane shopping, and enables discovery of new products.

Current and past purchasing behavior is also indicative of the need to streamline shopping for this cohort. Among the same group of shoppers referenced above, 39% of those with kids have used Amazon’s Subscribe & Save in the past six months, compared to 24% of those without kids. HHs with kids are 2-3Xs more likely to use other, niche household subscription programs, compared to HHs without kids.

Not only are these shoppers more likely to have used services that enable repeat shopping automation, they are significantly more likely to have used them to purchase every major product group in a CPG retailer’s portfolio except Pet Care. Nearly one-third spend $101+ per month on these programs today, compared to 18% of households without kids doing the same.

So how can retailers weave the time-saving benefits of auto-replenishment into their loyalty programs and secure Mom’s cross-category repeat purchases in perpetuity?

• Utilize exclusive features that enhance the shopping experience and promote product discovery. Unlike many in-market subscription programs today, auto-replenishment is a full-basket – as opposed to a singular category solution that utilizes machine learning and behavior-based recommendations to deliver additional value to customers. The program can nudge Mom when it’s time to switch from a size 1 to size 2 diaper replenishment or provide her with a recommendation for toothpaste replenishment frequency based on the amount of toilet paper her household is buying. Recommendations are based on millions of customer transactions, as well as her personal shopping history. Additionally, retailers can also utilize holistic merchandising solutions to encourage Mom to auto-replenish everything she needs for “Taco Tuesday” – making “what’s for dinner?” one less thing she has to think about.

• Eliminate pain points associated with other in-market programs. As referenced above, many of today’s live subscription programs are limited in scope. Chewy’s Autoship program, which has been a massive success, growing 77% over the course of the pandemic and contributing to 70.7% of the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter sales (period ended January 30, 2022)6, can only deliver on the household’s pet supply needs. Amazon’s Subscribe & Save offers a wider scope of products, but there are often strings attached to receive discounts, require large pack sizes and no perishable products are included. If Mom wants to automate the majority of her shopping list, for the comprehensive needs of her household, these programs are a less efficient way to do so because of their limited offerings.

• Create offers that reward her replenishment milestones and grow her basket. For loyalty members who engage with an auto-replenishment program, the sky is truly the limit. Give her points for her Xth consecutive replenishment order or for reaching a targeted number of products on replenishment. Build personalized offerings that cater to her habits and entice her to expand her replenishment regimen from a morning personal care routine (think toothpaste, razors, skincare) to breakfast foods and vitamin & supplement categories.

Early market results from auto-replenishment leader Replenium indicate that a program deployed for a retailer’s full assortment could lead to 50% faster, online shopping sessions – giving parents the time back they desire to discover new products and spend time doing what they love most.

Contact Replenium to learn more about how your business could be up and running with an auto-replenishment program in the next 90 days.

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Recommended Reading:

1. Mothers Day Spending Will Reach $32 Billion, Here’s What Moms Want (forbes.com)

2. When is Father's Day in 2022? Everything to know about Dad's special day (msn.com)

3. Women Still Handle Main Household Tasks in U.S. (gallup.com)

4. All benefits | Walmart+ membership | Walmart Plus, Grocery Subscription: FreshPass | Albertsons, Boost Membership - Get Free Grocery Delivery & Gas Discounts - Kroger

5. Shoppers Demand Repeat Purchase Automation

6. Chewy unleashes the power of automatic reordering (digitalcommerce360.com)