Winning the In-Store Purchase Decision Game

To read the full white paper, click on the attachment at right.Dating back to the 1950s, the Point of Purchase Advertising Institute, as it was then known, began to delve into purchase decision behavior and produced the POPAI Consumer Buying Habits Study. The insights at the time were groundbreaking as few, if any, companies were researching what was then considered below the line media. POPAI conducted the studies once a decade as the dynamics of shopping changed at a glacial pace in the opinion of most marketers. It was a world where channel blurring was unheard of, only three major TV networks existed and mobile marketing were ads on the sides of delivery trucks.As far back as 1988, POPAI’s research revealed that two-thirds of purchase decisions were made in the store. In 1995, the measure bumped up to 70%. Today in 2012, the widely quoted in-store decision rate from POPAI’s Shopper Engagement Study has reached an all time high of 76%. We all know that shoppers’ proclivities for finalizing purchase decisions in-store exist in a big way. But (I guess) it’s even in a bigger way than expected given today’s complex shopping landscape filled with multi-layered selling strategies, social media and shopper technology.It’s all great news actually since the most notable shift within the in-store decision rate is the increase in the level of brand decision-making at the point-of-sale. More than ever before supermarket shoppers are choosing their brands in the store, after they explore a broader consideration set, and draw on store inputs to guide their final selections.For the shopper marketing industry this means more opportunity than ever before but also that more is at stake for brands and retailers. Each SKU, in each category, on each shelf, and in each aisle is at the mercy of shopper distractions, abundant messages and a de-selection process of filtering out products that barely get noticed in the first place.Some categories do better than others at winning the purchase decision game. They capitalize on shoppers’ high levels of impulsivity or the ease with which they are shopped. Other categories struggle as they fail to engage or inspire while floundering new product introductions and falling short of trading up their takers.For these reasons alone marketing-at-retail needs to be as on point as ever. Many product groups continue to underperform amidst the challenges in-store and are in immediate need of tools and tactics to better guide shoppers’ decisions, grow their categories, and increase share of basket among wallflower brands.POPAI’s 2012 Shopper Engagement Study generated a vast, rich data set that is comprised of four sources:A census balanced sample of over 2,400 shopper interviews (geographically dispersed across 17 major US markets and 12 leading supermarket retailers that included Safeway, [Ahold USA’s] Stop & Shop, [Safeway’s] Vons and Winn-Dixie, among others), purchase receipts with over 33,000 items documented, eye-movement recordings and EEG data from 210 individual shopping trips, and an extensive audit of nearly 6,000 display units. This expansive, integrated research design resulted in the largest, most authoritative study of in-store purchase dynamics ever undertaken.Among the numerous data and insights gleaned from the initiative, five distinct measures of category performance emerged. When amalgamated, these indicators become a compass for shopper marketing opportunity.This white paper identifies each of these measures, discusses the performance and opportunities among a sub-set of high volume categories, and examines what these performance metrics mean for shopper marketing strategy.Five Measures of Category PerformanceEase of Shopping Score (ESS)Inspires Exploration Score (ISS)Category Conversion (“walk-away” rates)In-Store Decision RatesFixation Rates About the author: For more than two decades, Lily Lev-Glick has researched, explored and analyzed shopper behavior, purchase motivations and how retail environments impact decision-making. She has worked with brands, retailers, industry associations, shopper marketing agencies and point-of-purchase display companies to help them better understand category dynamics and shopper behaviors. POPAI’s landmark 1995 Consumer Buying Habits Study was conducted under Lily’s direction while she served as Director of Research for the organization. Most recently, she was engaged by POPAI to oversee its 2012 Shopper Engagement Study. She is the principal of Shopper Sense, a shopper insights consultancy located in New Jersey. Lily can be reached at lily@shopper-sense.com.

Winning the In-Store Purchase Decision Game

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