Assignment 12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

 Segment- My segment are moms. My first interviewee is a mom of 2, one boy one girl. My second is a mom with 1 boy and my third is a mom of a little girl, but also looks after her sister’s kids when she’s at work. 

Interview Summary- After the interviews, I learned that my customer’s needs are most salient when they preparing food for their entire family (them, their significant other and children and any other family that may be over) or when their children begin to cry because of hunger. The first mom I talked to (one boy, one girl) said her children are picky and they do not like the same things so sometimes it’s difficult for her to buy foods that overlap, so she usually buys whatever her individual kids like and tries her best to buy what they both like. I discussed with her the ability for her to buy smaller portions of the foods each of her kids like, rather than buying larger portions of each and she showed interest. Though she showed concern of how much time that would take out of her day to portion out what each of her kids want, she did consider that to be better than forcing her kids to eat things they did not like. The second woman I interviewed said her boy is not picky and same with her husband, therefore it is easy for her to buy any food, but I brought up the idea of having prepped ingredients for meals, easily accessible to her and she thought that would be a good reason for her to go to a new grocery store, rather than her usual ones (it will still be hard to complete with larger grocery stores). The third woman said she only has one child, but ends up looking after 3 because she looks after her sister’s children. She feels overwhelmed and it’s hard for her to cook for herself, since her kids pallet isn’t up to the level of sophistication of adults. When she cooks dinner for her family, she keeps it simple and I noticed it would still be difficult to compete with the established stores, but I offered the opportunity of her and her husband taking cooking classes together on the nights they have off. She perked up at the thought of alone time with her husband and some breathing room from all of the chaos. I stressed to all three the environmental benefit of my grocery store concept and they all seemed to like that they are doing good. 

When all 3 become aware of their need to feed their families, they consider grocery stores they already know, in their area. In this case, Publix, Target, Walmart were what all 3 women said they go to most. These are grocery stores they have known since they were growing up and what is most familiar to them, they do not talk to friends and family or search into Google, since they are familiar with the process/locations.

Conclusion/How I would describe the segment-

I learned that people like their patterns of what grocery stores they go to and they usually do not break from that. Especially evident in moms, they like going to stores where they know have exactly what they want, what their kids want and what their significant others want. My concept may not be everyone’s preference, and they still might want to go to their usual spots, however they can use my grocery store concept as a way to supplement their grocery shopping experience. When I mentioned what other benefits my idea has to offer to refute their concerns, they thought it was a good way to draw people away from larger stores, into mine. This segment could also be more drawn if there is an adjusting period from one grocery store to another.