What can we expect next year? While we may not have a crystal ball, we can take stock of this past year to help uncover industry trends that will impact 2022 marketing strategies.
In Part 2 of this series, we look back at industry insights from GroundTruth’s 2021 Lean Series to look forward to what we can expect in 2022 in the retail, CPG, and restaurant verticals.
From foot traffic trends and industry analyses we can better understand:
Missed part 1 of the Year in Review? Check out the blog here to get insights into the automotive and travel industry to help inform future campaigns.
The “Work from Anywhere” Revolution Changed Cafe Culture and Restaurant Patronage
Taking a look back at our 2021 Lean: Restaurant/QSR Brief, we can see that work-from-home trends have changed normal foot traffic patterns which are likely to continue in 2022. The shift in coffee shop and QSR dining visitation at the beginning of 2021 reveals how much these changes affected surrounding QSR’s restaurants, and coffee shops that rely on corporate workers’ patronage.
2022 Prediction: As traditional work environments expand and stabilizes, a growing number of remote workers will likely continue to work out of cafes, homes and offices. These changes will still drive demand, just at different times throughout the week. Not only has the “work from anywhere” culture changed where work gets done, it has changed when people snack and fuel up and will continue to do so in the years to come.
2022 Marketing Strategy: To accomodate and adapt to foot traffic trend changes, restaurants will need to continue being flexible especially when it comes to offering curbside pickup and food delivery options. Expectations surrounding sanitation practices, contactless payments, and online ordering will give an edge to those businesses that are able to offer and market these options.
Differing work schedules and tricky capacity limits will require restaurants to think beyond traditional services. For example, restaurants should be monitoring foot traffic trends to optimize business hours and employee scheduling in order to better accommodate capacity limits and customer wait times.
Having a strong social media presence that reaches core audiences and regular customers will also grow in importance in 2022 for real-time engagement and promotions.
Interested in getting a real-time pulse on 2022 foot traffic trends? Check out GroundTruth’s Foot Traffic Tracker for foot traffic trends by category, state, zip code, custom timeframes, and more.
Don’t forget to download The Lean Insights Brief: Restaurant/QSR for a comprehensive look at 2021 restaurant trends to help inform 2022 campaigns.
The Retail Industry is Revitalizing from 2021 into 2022
Since shoppers didn’t get the chance to do much in-person shopping in 2020, a resurgence of foot traffic to shopping malls skyrocketed in 2021.
Holiday shopping predictions from GroundTruth’s 2021 Holiday Strategy Guide revealed that the 2021 holiday season had a strong presence of in-person and online shopping. While digital media still played a major role in the purchase funnel, the in-store experience continued to be a priority for shoppers. Digital media as a channel can prompt shoppers to browse online, and then ultimately check out however they prefer.
2022 Prediction: Hybrid buying behaviors will continue to grow in popularity in 2022. Because of this, we know that some shopping trends that will stay for 2022 include convenience features such as QR codes to scan and purchase items, virtual try-on, buy-online, curbside pickup, and same-day delivery. Consumers are also increasingly bouncing between apps, websites, and in-person shopping for inspiration, ordering, and fulfillment.
2022 Marketing Strategy: Simply put, don’t rest on your laurels. Hoping that consumers will come to you could negatively impact your business and give your competitors an opportunity to lure them away. Consider implementing these techniques to win over retail customers in 2022:
Boost Brand Awareness: Focus on Cross-Channel Targeting to reach core audience groups across multiple screens. Measure the impact of marketing campaigns on driving visits to brick-and-mortar stores.
Increase Consideration: Leverage tactics like Custom Audience Targeting or Conquest Targeting to help reach loyal patrons or gain share of market from competitors.
In-Stock Targeting: With direct insight into stores’ inventory, dynamically turn media on or off based solely on your product availability at nearby surrounding stores. Drive shoppers to stores with in-stock inventory to ensure that they get their shopping done in time and maximize media spend.
On-Premise Targeting: Reach consumers on the retail lot or within a specific store to incentivize them to purchase a particular item once they’re through the door.
Location Audience Targeting: Reach shoppers based on past behaviors to stay top-of-mind during the last-minute dash. If driving them online, include a dynamic countdown for shipping cut-offs to help build urgency and promote conversion. If driving them in-store, messaging limited-time offers or in-store availability of in-demand items are effective strategies.
Make sure your brand is reaching the right audience, from the right location. Check out GroundTruth’s full range of omnichannel targeting capabilities and see what location targeting can do for you.
Don’t forget to download The Lean Insights Brief: Retail for a comprehensive look at 2021 retail trends to help inform 2022 campaigns.
CPG Industry Trends: Challenges Will Continue Into 2022
Supply-chain issues have truly made buying the everyday items we need much more challenging.
In the first half of 2021, total U.S. media ad spending grew by 32% year-over-year to reach $130 billion. In fact, GroundTruth data from The Lean Insights Brief: CPG reveals that for the first time in July 2021, the number of ‘repeat visitors’ outpaced ‘new visitors’ to retailers since July 2020.
2022 Prediction: With the continuation of supply chain shortages, those 2021 marketing investments to get consumers back into stores and increase brand loyalty are at risk in 2022.
GroundTruth is combating the supply chain challenges by providing a new feature to our technology: the In-Stock Product feature. Click here for more information about GroundTruth Local Ads.
Don’t forget to download The Lean Insights Brief: CPG for a comprehensive look at 2021 CPG trends to help inform 2022 campaigns.
Industry Trends 2022: The Future is Bright
Although Retail, CPG, and Restaurant businesses are constantly shifting, there are still so many opportunities for them to thrive despite a new and always-evolving consumer landscape.
GroundTruth is committed to providing critical insights into the latest visitation trends and audience data that represent true buyer intent. Make sure to leverage these tools to help stay ahead of these 2022 industry trends. For example, brands can use our foot traffic tracker to analyze consumer behavior, our omnichannel platform that offers 360 degree targeting, and our in-stock local ads to help customers locate their favorite brands – even during a supply chain setback.
Missed the first part Part 1 of our Year-in-Review blog series? Check out Part 1 to learn more about Automotive and Travel Industry Trends and to get insights into 2022 predictions and marketing strategies.
