Mondelez: Cracker consumer and shopper assessment
Know the shopper ‘butter’
RITZ is a top-selling cracker brand, but Mondelez was still interested in discovering other ways to enhance the assortment and unlock category growth. They realized it was time to start digging into shopper data to better understand who the RITZ shopper is at Walmart and assess the need for varying forms, flavors, and sizes in the brand.
Enhancement through customer-centric collaboration
Mondelez kicked off their cracker insights project with the following objectives:
- Identify the Walmart cracker shopper and their behavior
- Uncover the role of the RITZ portfolio with Walmart shoppers
- Define key outputs needed for success
- Align on key questions to ask Walmart shoppers
- Leverage cross-functional teams to help solve the problem (Insights & Analytics, Brand, and Sales)
First, they turned to Shopper Behavior to zero-in on what crackers customers are purchasing. The key findings Mondelez discovered:
- Carrier crackers—ones that complement a snack, like RITZ—have the highest penetration and drive shopper interaction
- Each cracker subcategory meets a unique shopper need—entertaining, snacking, etc.
- Delivery and pickup are driving growth—80% of these shoppers are Walmart loyals
Shopper Behavior also revealed there is exclusivity by size for RITZ shoppers—and they are loyal to flavors, too. With these insights Mondelez was better equipped to answer questions about pack types and flavors.
A conversation with cracker customers
Next, they asked the right audience the right questions with Customer Perception. To examine how shoppers interacted with RITZ across sizes and flavors, Mondelez asked the Walmart Customer Spark Community questions like:
When you think of crackers, what brand comes to mind?
Are you aware that RITZ has different flavors and have you purchased any?
Feedback revealed a strong attachment to the brand. The key takeaways were:
- Walmart shoppers think about snacking, taste, and texture when asked about crackers
- Crackers are a versatile snack with many uses
- Shoppers leverage omnichannel opportunities to purchase crackers at Walmart
- RITZ is the signpost brand for the category
- Walmart shoppers who buy RITZ enjoy flavor variety
Carrier crackers for the win
Data and insights from Shopper Behavior and Customer Perception showed RITZ crossed over several need states—like entertaining, snacking, or as an ingredient for a meal—that solidify its role in the category. This helped Mondelez pivot their longer-term plans with their Merchant to keep the customer at the center of the conversation and maintain RITZ as the standout carrier cracker.
Building off the success of the cracker insights project, they used Walmart Luminate to focus on the Cookie category, OREO, and Chips Ahoy!.
The key takeaways were:
- Convert in-store shoppers to omnichannel ones—a potential $269M opportunity
- Target opportunities to win the holiday season with cookies
- Leverage online exclusives and Walmart Connect activations to drive shoppers to walmart.com
Explore the Mendelez case study to see in detail how Customer Perception and Shopper Behavior helped unlock category growth.
References:
Proprietary First-Party Data, Walmart Luminate 2023
©2023 Walmart Inc. All rights reserved.
