Tag: hfss regulations

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.

    Let’s not sugarcoat it: Here’s how to make placement and promotions work in a restricted market  

    Posted on by Dina

    Amongst the many disruptors the markets across the world have felt over the last few years, the UK government introduced new measures on food High in Fat, Salt, and Sugar (HFSS food) – putting in place restrictions and rules on the placement and promotion in both in-store and online ‘impulse’ locations. 

    What will this change for FMCG brands going forward? And more importantly, how can you not only prepare for but operate within this shift? To help brands brace and adapt to the various adjustments in their business, we tackled how brands can:  

    Purchase trigger points can be in unexpected places

    In an effort to fight unhealthy dietary habits, HFSS food has been restricted from aisle ends, store entrances, and checkouts in brick and mortar across the UK. While these locations may be prominent – they are not the end-all-be-all for product placement. Since 80% of shopper purchase decisions are made subconsciously, understanding their decision-making process is an intricate science. Placing items in highly visible areas to trigger that impulse urge was the obvious go-to – but what can your brand do now when these trusty locations are no longer an option? 

     For one, have more faith (but also reliable insights) in shoppers’ intuition and logic – employ a flexible and agile research approach that allows you to test in virtual yet realistic shopping environments. Then, by leveraging them, you can map out the entire consumer decision-making process and the locations shoppers naturally gravitate toward to find your category/product with Behavioral Decision Trees.  

    They pinpoint the reasons behind particular product selections, behavior switches, trade-offs, and sources of loyalty, all while evaluating the overall shopping experiences – and ultimately help you understand how to assist their journey in the changed store landscape. The same Decision Tree tech can be used for testing in digital environments by recreating e-commerce shopping platforms and assessing the online consumer journey – as the placement restrictions will also apply to online equivalents of in-store spots and anything from entry and payment pages, landing pages for other categories, shopping baskets, and pop-ups will be off-limits for HFSS food products. Ultimately, by using Decision trees that leverage virtual shopping, you boost the chances of not missing out on the crucial triggers and touchpoints by 40%. 

    It’s time to go beyond product-based advertising 

    Come January, further restrictions will be in force – bans for HFSS food advertising on TV and restrictions on paid-for online advertising before a 9pm watershed. The advertising landscape is already highly competitive, especially in the social media domain, as we know that consumers scroll through their feeds at the rapid speed of 1-3 posts per second. So, a change like this means that marketers now have to consider a different approach to creating campaigns – perhaps indicating that re-adjusting the focus on the brand itself instead of the product and translating it into engaging ads is one such strategy.  

    Past data taught us that one of the most effective ways to boost purchase intent is to show both brand and product in an ad – so, making the transition to reduce or put a halt on product-centric marketing seems tricky if not executed correctly. A safe way to make sure consumers still resonate with your social media ads and TV commercials and opt for your products (even without showing them) is to test them in a controlled environment that feels as close to the real thing as possible.  

    With a proprietary testing solution and research methods, we have replicated feeds of all major social media platforms to test any ad type and format in the space it would naturally be seen in – and tap into the actual performance and sales potential.  

    Methods like Facial Coding are 2x better at predicting the viral potential of videos than any combination of survey questions – enabling a full-scope understanding of what works and what doesn’t, what can be tweaked and what about your brand grasps viewers’ attention – which in turn, will help you gain a competitive edge and fuel further differentiation between your brand and others.   

    For some categories, HFSS bans are a game-changer 

    While HFSS bans impose challenges on many categories and brands, we have seen that they simultaneously open up new possibilities for others. For example, when it comes to the store environments, the once HFSS-designated in-store spots and displays have now been filling up with other products like alcoholic beverages, cleaning products, and soft drinks.  

    Then there are brands like PepsiCo’s Quaker Oats, Pringles, and Mondelēz International, who saw this as an opportunity to embrace innovation and create a new and HFSS-compliant range of products that would still satisfy the same consumer need as its HFSS predecessors. 

    Inflation has already caused major shifts in how consumers choose to spend their money –  and even without the new restrictions, many brands have embraced new product development and opted to rethink their portfolios. However, as a rule, innovation can be risky (more than +80% of new products fail), but volumetrics and market share projection can empower your NPD process by estimating the success of any new product launch. In fact, there are a few levels of studies that utilize the virtual shopping solution (that shares a 0.8 correlation with real shopping behavior) and behavioral methods to ensure the risk of an unsuccessful launch is significantly minimized by: 

    • Screening product concepts to identify the most promising ones  
    • Gaining the learnings to optimize the concepts for further development
    • Validating the optimal concepts and evaluating their future sales potential  

    Summary

    As with any change that comes, there are those who embrace it and adapt – and those who fall short. The HFSS restrictions in the UK are no different – they present a sea of opportunities and possibilities to rethink and develop innovation and rekindle the relationship with your consumers for those who are interested in winning.  

    Relying on a behavioral research approach to guide you during these transforming times will equip you with the predictive learnings needed to make these sound decisions – and reduce the risks that come with the inevitable shifts in the market.  

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