'Largest Shopper Engagement Study' Launches

US-based POPAI, the global association for 'marketing at retail', is launching what it claims will be the largest syndicated qualitative study on shopper engagement in the world. The retail-level research will be used to develop a metric to gauge in-store merchandising effectiveness.

POPAI (Point of Purchase Advertising International) says its 'Marketing at Retail Initiative', dubbed MARI, will determine what displays, marketing materials and shelf layouts work best, along with why and how they convert shoppers into buyers.

UK-based SheridanGlobal Group will conduct the research, and MARI will field in the US this spring, with the first wave of results delivered in late 2009.

SheridanGlobal will conduct the research in stores, with shoppers equipped with special ClipCam glasses fitted with a micro camera to record a video of their movement and field of vision in-store. This is tracked along with their purchases and product interactions, and the video is then overlaid with consumer interviews, display audits and other information to measure impact, effectiveness, engagement and conversion.

So far, participants in the study include 7-Eleven, Ahold, Frito-Lay North America, Walgreens, Pepsi-Cola and North America Beverages.

'Marketers and retailers are gathering shopper insight data and factoring that information into their strategic marketing plans which culminate in-store, where as many as 70% of all purchase decisions are made,' said POPAI President and CEO Dick Blatt. 'The MARI project will deliver qualitative findings regarding what displays are most effective and more importantly why, among display type and in-aisle location. The possibilities are limited only by the retail environment.'

The approach was validated in proof-of-concept tests conducted during phase one in 2007 in the US and the UK, and this year in a four-retailer MARI study in the Netherlands.

Web sites: www.POPAI.com and www.sheridanglobal.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.