Tag: virtual shopping

Road to growth: Understanding travel retail consumer behavior

Posted on by sandra

by Koen Philippaerts, New Business Development Manager at EyeSee

I just returned from visiting my family in Europe, and aside from having a nice holiday, I realized that the time I spent waiting on my flight changed my purchasing habits. In the duty-free zone: I found myself wandering around a product category I am not usually interested in, eating lunch when I usually eat breakfast, and purchasing some tech gadgets I did not intend to buy. 

Conde Nast Traveler’s article says that people travel the skies, rails, roads, and seas to tick off major bucket-list moments. So, shifting behavioral patterns and traveling go hand in hand, and a big part of that is the travel retail centers we visit along the way. It is where every journey begins and ends; it is a necessity, but it is also important for travel retail to be convenient, pleasant, and enjoyable.  

So, does it come as a surprise that Statisa predicts that the global travel retail market will reach 174.9 billion US dollars by 2030?

How is travel retail different?  

Travel retail centers are places where consumers are ready to try something new, and brands must be able to give their best and use the opportunity to introduce themselves to new customers, showing their loyal ones that their favorite brand goes where they go. 

A Statista survey shows that:

  • 48% of travelers think that a variety of products makes Duty Free a great place for shopping  
  • 47% of travelers say it is a great place to try new brands  
  • 45 % are more motivated to buy Duty-Free exclusives  
  • 43 % consider travel retailers a great place to buy gifts  

Unlike standard ones, travel retailers are one of the main distribution channels in the beauty industry (if beauty retailers are put aside). The main categories travel retailers feature are perfume and cosmetics, liquor, confectionery, tobacco, food & beverage, electronics, accessories (bags, watches, eyewear, etc.) 

 When consumers enter the duty-free zone, in most cases, they have some free time on their hands before onboarding starts. Nicely displayed brands will get anyone’s attention, and to be honest, probably some last-minute gift shopping will be part of spending that free time.  Unique display designs can help brands stand out in product displays, as Galvinet Whiskey did when they displayed their bottle as a museum artifact. It was beautifully lit and covered with a protective glass box. All of this was in line with “tradition” as one of their core values: they are Scotland’s oldest legal whiskey distillery. Not only that, from the front of the liquor bottle display stand to the back of the product packaging, the Roman numerals 35 are emphasized. Any Glenlivet enthusiast and collector would instantly know this means a rare bottle of liquor because it’s not in the brand’s collection.   

Graphic solutions are not the only way to shed light on more information in places where people have some extra time to kill. Sometimes that can be shop assistants who engage in further conversation with consumers. If out-of-the-box design solutions and shop assistants handling your brand’s key values sound risky, note that EyeSee has solutions for testing both.  

However, all of this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to possible brand touchpoints in travel-type environments. Purchases can be made on planes. There are also all sorts of marketing materials that consumers can pass by: from airplane magazines, brochures, and leaflets to much bigger ATL prints or on-screen ads. The possibilities are endless!

What can we learn from travel retail? 

There are many types of point of sales displays: 

  • Counter displays  
  • Free-standing display units  
  • Product displayed quickly units  
  • Light boxes  
  • Gravity feed display units  

The creative potential of these displays is limitless. Recall the enormous cardboard fence constructed from KitKat bars and the point-of-sale box brimming with an abundance of KitKats, a temptation to dive into. And the best thing about it is that it would work not only for travel retailers but in supermarkets too. 

Over the last couple of years, the market research industry has seen a steady rise in online context testing solutions such as virtual stores, which offer cost-efficient and fast findings but also boast very high validity. Apart from providing stable results even in changed circumstances, Virtual shopping has a very high correlation with real shopping behavior – as much as 0.8-0.9.   

EyeSee’s in-house design capabilities enable the customization of any type of virtual shopping environment. Furthermore, a multitude of pre-built, standardized shelves are already accessible across over 80 categories. State-of-the-art graphic solutions can be designed in 2D, 2.5D, and 3D models and provide high levels of consumer immersion that help produce authentic insights.

In conclusion  

Understanding consumer behavior in travel retail serves as a valuable compass for brands seeking inspired growth. The unique environment of duty-free zones, characterized by ample free time and consumer openness, offers an exceptional opportunity for brands to engage and leave a lasting impression.

Brands that understand and leverage these unconventional retail rules stand to unlock untapped potential and navigate non-standard points of sale successfully.  As the market research industry embraces virtual shopping solutions like EyeSee’s, the prospect of testing concepts and display designs becomes more efficient, cost-effective, and aligned with real shopping behavior, emphasizing the importance of staying ahead in an evolving consumer landscape. 

Are you eager to know more? Read Everything you didn’t know about the design of in-store displays.

    Pioneering HFSS research: Rethink promotion and positioning in store

    Posted on by sandra

    While most of the Western world is currently examining the relationship with HFSS (high fat, sugar, and salt) products, the United Kingdom is the first country to put in place concrete measures to reframe how we access and buy prepackaged goods belonging to the ‘less healthy’ categories.

    Currently, the measures cover location; no HFSS food and beverage can be placed in high footfall areas of an affected store, like checkouts, end-of-aisle units, store entrances, and designated queueing areas. By the end of this year, restrictions on promotions will come into force, while advertising regulations are scheduled for early 2024. It is only a matter of time before other countries follow suit; the impact on industry will be monumental.

    To help producers and retailers understand how to adjust, EyeSee’s just wrapped up a behavioral study looking into how product windows and different placements impact visibility and, ultimately, sales.

    We’ve tested two locations of the product window: at the end of the aisle (Cell 3) and a central position (Cell 2); and compared those to a situation with no product windows (Cell 1), where respondents were merely shopping snacks, chocolate, coffee, and tissues each in their respective main aisles.

    Here’s the breakdown of our main findings.

    One thing is certain – shelf windows do attract attention

    In our study, we set out to test the impact of product windows to help guide the options retailers and brands should consider  when rethinking location and promotions in physical stores. The tests included two common snacking categories – chocolate and salty snacks, as well as two adjacent categories not directly related to snacking – coffee and tissues.

    All respondents visited the four categories and were given a task to shop for a small gathering at home with some friends; following this, they were exposed to virtual stores and shelves.

    Using webcam-based eye tracking, we’ve found that in the tissues aisle, almost all respondents noticed the window regardless of the product positioning. It is prominent and stands out presumably due to the unusual placement of snacks and a surprise factor.

    In the coffee shelf, almost all see the more central window, but not all look at the window at the end. While in both host categories, the window in the middle also gets longer attention.

    Unexpected and non-food categories drive purchases

    Visibility correlates with purchase; what is not seen is effectively not bought. Our virtual shopping tests concluded that respondents are also willing to go beyond visibility and buy from the window.

    Overall, the middle window attracts more buyers and penetration, as well as purchases. Whether we look at total value or value per buyer, the middle window is more effective.

    Interestingly, the window in the non-food category has a larger share of shoppers. Potentially more shoppers buy where the placement is less expected.

    Positive effects on total category sales

    As it is now, retailers have most of the windows within their own aisle (Pringles in crisps, Belvita or Oreo in biscuits); the ‘TESCO Clubcard’ have a mix of snacking products in snacking aisles e.g. biscuit aisle or in the chocolate aisle; Waitrose offers are a mix of products outside aisles with snacks inside the window.

    However, our data shows that combining the sales from the main aisle of chocolate with the sales from the window helps the category. The window outside the snack or biscuit category goes some way to compensate for the main aisle in terms of visibility and sales. Even without promotions or special prices; simply by being there.

    More challenging news is that the host categories, in this case coffee and paper products, experience a decline in sales when attention is redirected to the window and having less facings.

    Conclusion

    The shopping environment plays an important part in the way products are marketed to us, with simple factors such as the location within stores significantly affecting what we buy. Removing out of aisle promotion locations puts pressure on reframing how shoppers shop and get engaged.

    Request the full study breakdown at [email protected]! If you are interested in more shopper case studies, check out our latest one on best pricing adjustment tactics for inflation.

      New pricing study: Reduce pack volume or increase price?

      Posted on by sandra

      By Saša Radojević, Sr Shopper Insights manager at EyeSee

      With almost 2/3 of households in the US living paycheck to paycheck, the additional pressure of inflation pushes consumers to prioritize, rethink and, in some cases, give up on purchases.

      EyeSee has just wrapped up the second wave of the pricing tracker in the US to identify how consumer behavior is shifting when exposed to different volume and pricing adjustment scenarios.

      The study included two separate samples to gain an in-depth insight into consumer confidence. One group (a sample of 3200 individuals) was exposed to virtual shopping exercises, while the other sample completed a conjoint exercise (a sample of 1650 individuals). Both surveys aimed to identify new patterns of behavior and understand shoppers’ perspectives on the current situation.

      To understand the retailer’s perspective on the matter, check out our latest Quirk’s webinar.

      So, what buying behaviors have changed over the last year?

      In the first wave of the tracker that was conducted mid last year, we asked respondents to forecast how they plan to buy in the upcoming period of six months.

      In most categories, such as cosmetics, entertainment, traveling, finance and insurance, and other long-term investments, the behavior and predictions align well. Surprisingly, this time last year, over a third of respondents claimed that they will be stockpiling food and other items over the next six months, yet fewer did so.

      Eating out has been affected more than consumers predicted a year ago, as well as the overall purchases of food and beverages. This makes sense when paired with the stockpiling trend among over 28% of respondents, which indicates they are very much looking to cover the basics and stick to essentials.

      When it comes to predictions for low frequency categories like household essentials, clothes, and sports equipment, as well as subscriptions and memberships – these have all been affected to a greater extent than predicted a year ago.

      Is shrinkflation your best move?

      Same as last year, we investigated two lower frequency categories (body wash and dishwashing) and two higher frequency categories (bacon and chips). And within these exercises, consumers faced different scenarios.

      • In virtual shopping, the range of choices included the current pack price and size, increased prices of one third of the shelf and then the entire shelf, but also a decreased pack size of 1/3 of the shelf and then also the entire shelf.
      • And in conjoint, they were primarily faced with different price increase scenarios ranging from 5% increase all the way to 25% increase, but also a size reduction of its tax by 20%.

      When looking at conjoint, volume decrease scenarios have low impact on respondents’ behavior. However, virtual shopping data tells a different story. Specifically, if we zoom in on the price sensitive segment, we can see that shoppers are extremely sensitive to any type of shrinkflation, especially in the body wash category.

      Chips and dish wash sales are also affected, but primarily when only 1/3 of the packs on the shelf are reduced in size.

      Thou shalt not pass price thresholds

      Out of four categories we looked at, Bacon is the one impacted the most particularly when the whole category takes a price increase. In our research, we are using today’s pack sizes and prices, however it is important to consider the historical record of the bacon category fluctuation over the last couple of decades to fully understand the shift.

      Last year, our study showed little to no impact, presumably because the prices skyrocketed in 2021 and 2022; the consumers were desensitized. However, this year in the scenario where the price was increased by another 25% on top of the already high price, data shows that the consumers walked away from the category at this point.

      For each of the categories, there are thresholds – and for bacon, we are nearly there.

      Want to know more? Check out the full webinar featuring Heather Graham (Director Client Service @ EyeSee), Sasa Radojevic (Sr Shopper Insight Manager @ EyeSee), and experienced retailer & Awarded 2022 Top Women in Grocery (TWiG) Raina Rusnak.

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