Establishing impact of POS materials on in-store product selection
The research challenge
Products sold in a non-branded retail environment can be subject to several undesirable sales constraints: less shelf space, direct competition from competitor’s products, limited control over optimum positioning etc. To justify substantial investment, our client needed to understand whether roll-out of new POS materials would make a positive influence on purchase behaviour.
What we did
This was a qualitative research programme to provide deep insight; it included discrete observation of shoppers in stores, mini-discussions with selected shoppers on exit and face-to-face depth interviews with store personnel. Fieldwork was carried out before and after installation of new POS material across a number of days, which provided a control scenario against which we could assess changes in shopper behaviour. Our analysis was able to uncover the level of attraction shoppers showed towards the new products, to highlight the degree of sustained engagement with new products and to evaluate effect of new POS designs on desirability.
What we found
When shoppers first enter a retail store they visually evaluate the product categories on display, choosing which direction in which to walk. This gets repeated until they hone in on a specific area of interest and begin conducting a sensory evaluation of items on display. Finally, they carry out a more intensive hands-on evaluation of prospective purchases and it as at this stage that they study detailed product features. Our findings on this plus specific feedback on the impact of this on the POS materials were fed in to the development process for the final POS materials along with clear recommendations about which messages would be most valuable to the customer.
More Information
Richard Morland
Business Development Director
+44 (0) 20 7890 9811
richard.morland@gfk.com