WHICH SHELF LAYOUT TO CHOOSE?

Product placement in retail stores is about so much more than just what looks nice where, or what may fit the best in different areas of the store.

The Challenge: Our client wanted to examine customers browsing behavior at the store. The company implemented an experimental shelf layout to test how an alternative type of shelf arrangement will be perceived by the shoppers. The question was which layout (the standard or the new one) had better potential to satisfy customers with easy, quick and convenient orientation and to increase their interest in the brand.

Our Approach: We used a qualitative method – “shop-alongs” – in order to:

explore the customers’ “positioning and orientation” criteria at the store;
examine the customers’ actual reactions and behaviour with both shelf layouts;
understand which arrangement was preferred and why.

The Outcome: Our analysis revealed the inferiority of the alternative design. It was perceived as illogical, irrelevant, chaotic and difficult to orientate. Using real shopping situations, our approach helped the client to understand better his customers’ path to the “moment of truth”. Our client company got a deeper understanding about what is important for improving the customers’ shelf orientation and what can be done in this direction in order to trigger and facilitate the purchasing act.