Cater to cautious consumers
When it comes to seafood, consumers are skittish. It can seem to them like the negatives outweigh the positives when it comes time to purchase. They worry about where the seafood was caught and how it was packed and shipped, if the fishing methods used were sustainable or contributing to ocean depletion, and how to cook the seafood once they get it home. But consumers also know that seafood consumption can bring a wealth of health benefits.
And consumers arent the only ones who benefit when they purchase seafood. Though it might be one of the smallest categories in the store, it represents an incredibly high basket ring for retailers because seafood consumers also tend to purchase high-margin items such as cheese and wine, says Tom Sunderland, vice president of marketing for Seattle-based Ocean Beauty Seafoods Inc.
Address their concerns
Retailers could persuade shoppers to buy more seafood by addressing their concerns and emphasizing the positives associated with consuming fish.
\"Consumers want to know that the fish and seafood products they purchase are fresh and free of any contaminants or spoilage,\" states \"Fish and Seafood Trends in the U.S.,\" a June 2013 report from Packaged Facts, a division of Rockville, Md.-based MarketResearch.com.
On its website, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that 91 percent of all seafood consumed in the United States is imported. This reality can be very concerning to consumers who worry that other countries do not have high enough safety standards for catching, storing and shipping fish meant for human consumption. These fears could be justified, as some seafood imports have been found to be tainted with waste, chemicals and antibiotics, states \"Fish and Seafood in the US,\" a September 2013 report from Euromonitor International, Chicago.
In addition to concerns about their own health, consumers are worried about the environments health.
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honestly and openly identify the seafoods country of origin.
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ignore consumer concerns about sustainable fishing practices.
\"Buyers want to know that they are not contributing to species depletion, and they are also concerned about whether the retailers they buy from source from ethical purveyors,\" states \"Fish and Seafood – US,\" an October 2013 report from global market research firm Mintel.
In a survey conducted by Mintel, seven out of 10 respondents who bought fish within the previous three months stated that their purchasing decision was influenced by whether or not the fish was endangered/came from healthy stock.
How could retailers help consumers overcome any apprehension they have about buying seafood?
A proactive approach that aligns the retailers seafood with the consumers desires could be the best way to generate confidence. For example, Euromonitor International reported that Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market launched an in-store color-coded sustainability program for wild-caught seafood in September 2010. Seafood initially was given a red, yellow or green color, based on the color-coded sustainability ratings of its partners, Monterey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute. The retailer committed to phasing out all red-rated species by Earth Day 2013, but beat its own deadline by a full year.
What it really comes down to in the end, though, is trust, Sunderland says. Consumers need to trust that the store theyre shopping at is doing the right thing, and retailers need to find a way to clearly communicate to their shoppers why they can be trusted.
Make them want to cook it
Once the consumer trusts her retailer of choice, the next barrier to a seafood purchase is a fear of cooking it.
\"For most Americans, fish is not an everyday food and they are afraid to cook it,\" Sunderland explains. \"This creates an uphill battle for retailers who are trying to sell it. So anything a retailer can do to reduce this fear is important.\"
Retailers could employ a variety of ways to reduce that fear of cooking. For example, how-to videos on social media pages and retailer websites and free recipes could generate interest and demonstrate the relative ease with which consumers can cook fish, Mintel shares.
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find a way to reach customers and allay their fears about cooking fish.
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underestimate the selling power of well-executed packaging.
\"Seafood needs to be tasted in order to win the hearts of consumers,\" adds a spokesman for Pacific American Fish Co., Vernon, Calif. \"Retailers that incorporate a regular demonstration program are more likely to encourage shoppers to try new seafood items and help build buzz around new changes.\"
And price can be another barrier to purchase. Nearly a third of survey respondents say fish is too expensive compared to other entrée choices, Mintel reports.
This price sensitivity makes private label fish and seafood much more attractive to the consumer. Indeed, between 2008 and 2012, private label alternatives to branded fish and seafood products rose from under 4 percent of total sales to more than 30 percent of total sales, states Packaged Facts, citing data from Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI).
But consumers might still need an extra incentive to purchase this relatively more expensive product. In 2012, many retailers held back from passing higher prices on to consumers by either freezing prices or lowering prices with frequent sales, Packaged Facts reports. And some retailers invested in their seafood departments by installing new display cases, adding new signage and training their staffs to work with customers to find a good bargain.
And dont underestimate the power of plain packaging, Sunderland states. With frozen fish, for example, instead of an opaque plastic bag with the image of the fish on it, see-through packaging lets the consumer see exactly what she is purchasing.
\"Its sensible; its what consumers are used to when shopping for beef, pork and poultry; and it helps to reduce unnecessary waste,\" he adds.
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Tracking seafood matters Traditional traceability is viewed as useful for record-keeping, point-in-time auditing and correcting problems after they happen, but enhanced traceability enables companies to monitor and analyze the seafood supply chain in near real-time to proactively prevent problems, reduce waste and improve supply chain performance and product quality, explains Phil Werdal, CEO of Trace Register. One way that an enhanced traceability system can benefit retailers is by reducing seafood shrink. According to Werdal, the USDA estimates that 9 percent of all seafood retailers buy is lost to shrink before it is sold to the consumer. For a retail chain with $100 million in seafood sales, reducing that waste to even 8 percent translates into an annual savings of $1 million, he says. An enhanced traceability system allows retailers to monitor the age of their seafood and work with vendors to supply seafood that is only four or five days old, enabling the retailer to manage shelf life better and reduce shrink. Enhanced traceability can also provide retailers with a way to verify seafood sustainability claims by capturing sustainability information from each seafood product as it arrives and measuring its compliance with program requirements, Werdal says. Retailers can then deliver feedback to suppliers that are delivering non-complaint product. And when a retailer puts an enhanced traceability program into place, that retailer can then share the data they receive with the consumer. This ability to share creates an open and honest atmosphere between the retailer and the customer. |