Following hot on the heels of our Lunch Truth no1 –food that feeds your mood, comes Lunch Truth no.2: MOOCH. SHOP. LUNCH.
We all know convenience is one of the biggest influences in retail, but what does it really mean when you unpack it... and it's not about closeness. What’s convenient today may be deeply inconvenient tomorrow.
Our bespoke research tells us that often it’s about what else is on our ‘mental lunchtime checklist’-findings here call into question received wisdom on A.I.D.A! How we decide what we eat for lunch isn’t a linear process, many other factors come into play, interrupting the customer journey, in fact we often mooch, shop, lunch.
‘I needed to collect a parcel from the Post Office so I went to M&S nearby and just had a mooch about, I kind of just grabbed a salad in the end’ 20 something London
Having nothing in the fridge to eat for supper that day can in fact be as big an influence on what we eat for lunch, as what we actually feel like eating. We’ll take convenient short cuts where possible, which is where retailers like Tesco’s, Sainsburys, Lidl even Esso come into play, whilst heading out to complete other essential shopping tasks -lunch is almost an afterthought rather than a key driver.
‘I picked up a meal deal from Esso as I was low on petrol in the morning’ : 30 something Manchester.
‘My wife gave me a shopping list with stuff for supper so I had to get a sandwich from Lidl, it’s easiest to just kill 2 birds with one stone’ 40 something Manchester.
Have we become a nation of lazy lunchers? Looking for time saving shortcuts, or is it just that are our days merging into one hard to plan, think about, let alone purchase set of meals?
‘I needed some bits and bobs for dinner, so I thought I’d wrap in all up in one go’ 20 something London
So with this multitasking mind-set at the forefront for consumers what does this mean for food and retailers in general at lunchtime? Should more people sell stamps and a sandwich (like McColl’s) or even offer key cutting & coffee, shoe repairs & soup.
Should more food retailers on the high street locate themselves next to the Post Office and dry cleaners to be in the optimum position for lunchtime traffic. What new combinations and customer Journeys can we imagine if we really aim to fit the consumer mind-set as they SHOP. MOOCH. LUNCH?
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Get in touch.
Smart brand thinking : nicolette@mimobrands.com
Clever research: helenn@monkey-see.co.uk
Look out for the next instalment of ‘The Truth About Lunch In 10 Bite-Sized Chunks’ coming soon. Lunch Truth no 3 : DEATH OF THE SANDWICH…