Effie Case Study: Build a Better Basket at Dollar General

Hershey’s “Build a Sweeter Easter Basket” campaign tackled a sensitive shopper situation: Candy is an impulse buy, but at Dollar General, shoppers tend to stick to their shopping lists because they need to. They are shopping on a tight budget.Luckily, insights showed that Dollar General shoppers – nearly 70% of them – use their smartphones before shopping. The shoppers are looking for inspiration on social networks and ways to save before making that list. With Easter being such a big season for the brand, Hershey rolled out a fun digital experience that got Hershey products on the list early.For Hershey, Dollar General represents a lot of volume. Per the “2014 Hershey Dollar Shopper Overview Report,” shoppers who purchase Hershey products account for nearly half of all Dollar General sales, and they represent 22% of all Dollar General shoppers. And during Easter, candy makes for 64% of seasonal sales across all retailers.The “Build a Sweeter Easter Basket” campaign scored big with a virtual tool on Dollar General’s website that enabled shoppers to drag, drop and mix in candies of their choice and make an Easter basket that fit her budget. Users could save and print that basket to bring to the store. Digital banner ads and social media posts (Dollar General shoppers like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pre-shop) drove traffic to the “Build a Perfect Easter Basket” experience at Dollar General. The site also shared tips on Easter entertaining and carried a coupon for $1 off Easter items when at least $5 of Hershey candy was purchased. In-store signage directed shoppers to the Hershey candy to help secure purchases.Hershey saw Easter candy sales improve by 25% at Dollar General for the holiday and gain 4 share points in the category. The goal was a 15% bump in sales and a 1-point share gain. The newer digital focus clearly helped influence Dollar General shoppers much earlier in the planning phase as the click-through-rate of the digital experience was more than 20% and consumers spent north of five minutes of time on the page.

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Solutions & Innovations (January-February 2024)