Watch Your Shoppers

The Hub Magazine: Watch Your Shoppers

What experts call “in-store subconscious” governs more than 95 percent of what we do in that physical environment. Just like our commute to and from work, we are on “autopilot” or “cruise-control” and relying on rote mechanics, memory, routine and habits to govern how we behave in-store. Examples of this include our purchase of items like toilet paper or toothpaste, or how we navigate the store and what we put in our basket and when.

Almost always, what people report that they do, and why they made the choice they did, does not reflect an accurate recording and interpretation of what they actually do and why. Paco Underhill and his company, Envirosell, observed that the larger the store, the longer shoppers perceive and record the time they spent shopping there. It doesn’t matter how much time actually spent in the store.

Conscious or sub-conscious, several factors affect how and why someone behaves the way they do at retail. Moreover, it can’t be assumed that the same person is going to behave the same way regardless of type of retail environment. Convenience, drug, mass, grocery, and club stores each elicit very different behaviors from the same people because their purpose for going to each, and the mode they are in, varies greatly. …

… Obviously, the more stealth the better. The less chance someone has to begin to filter the activity with their personal biases, the greater the reflection of brand truth and behavior. Creating a natural possibility for true behavior is the goal. Neuromarketing and using biometrics to measure emotional response to stimuli are the next frontier of this approach. The use of virtual simulators to test response to in-store formats, merchandising, navigation and product display are useful tools that have been used for several years now to gain valuable insight.

As brands begin to scale more globally, we need to be careful not to make inferences based on syndicated data. It is increasingly important that we take the time to study and observe behavior at a local level. Procter & Gamble has led this anthropological approach for decades now. They made the commitment to visit consumers in their homes and watch how people actually used products and developed preferences. …