Magasin blog

Added by Siemon Scamell-Katz 12^th October 2009

New type of shopper research studies non-purchasers

TNS Magasin has launched a new service which promises to deliver additional sales by answering the age old question: when shoppers don't buy, why don't they? Because these non-purchasers are a huge potential source of extra business - in the store, in the aisle and at the category - understanding what goes wrong here, and putting it right, is set to deliver unprecedented rewards.

Magasin starts by identifying attrition amongst shoppers at every stage of the shopping process, from the whole retail outlet through individual category to SKU. For example, a shopper may enter a store but not a certain aisle or browse an aisle but not a particular category. And of course all shoppers interacting with a given category will spurn most SKUs within it.

Non-purchasers at every level are recorded using filming or path tracking techniques, with more detailed observation at the category level. A statistically significant number of non-purchasers are interviewed to establish perceived and actual barriers to purchase. By quantifying shopper 'drop-out' rate - and, most importantly, why this happens - TNS Magasin is able to pinpoint the areas of greatest opportunity for our clients.

A recent project for a brewing company has identified the additional conversion opportunities within beer and delivered strategic advice for action based on these insights. The initial research revealed how successful the beer category is at converting store traffic to purchasers; who the beer shopper is and how sub-categories perform in various locations.

Using these findings combined with knowledge gained from nearly two decades of studying shoppers, TNS Magasin was able to provide a raft of detailed recommendations to unlock barriers to purchase and capitalise on previously overlooked opportunities.

Traditional research has concentrated primarily on purchasers. By focusing on non-purchasers, we are illuminating the stages in the shopping journey at which our clients are losing customers and why. Clearly, the biggest opportunity to increase sales is with those potential purchasers who are in front of the fixture but not buying.

This approach provides a highly-tuned diagnostic for focusing further research attention and benchmarking change, because it brings every single area of under-performance into sharp relief. What's more this pioneering angle on shopper decision-making not only provides a huge advantage to our clients, it also delivers actionable insights pretty well immediately.

Siemon Scamell-Katz

Added by Emilie Coles 3^rd September 2009

Real eye tracking: cost slashed, quality uncompromised

There is no substitute for real eye tracking, despite the proliferation of imprecise techniques such as field-of-vision recording hawked by me-too organisations desperate to jump on the shopper bandwagon. But in the past, the more advanced methodology has come with a higher price tag.

Now, by combining eye square software with its own, TNS Magasin is able to dramatically reduce the cost of its eye tracking research without compromising quality. The web-based software vastly speeds up the process whereby data is extracted from the digital records, previously achieved by painstaking human analysis, with no lack of accuracy.

Real eye tracking is superior because it enables every single eye fixation of every individual shopper to be recorded and analysed. Human eyes move constantly, with tiny movements outside conscious control. These are punctuated by fixations, during which the eyes stop to focus: these are typically between 100 – 600 milliseconds in duration. The brain only begins to process visual information during a fixation.

Because it cannot detect these fixations, field-of-vision recording merely shows what was in front of shoppers. Eye tracking by contrast measures in minute detail what each shopper actually notices and which elements are being used at what stage in the decision-making process. This is the key to understanding how shoppers make decisions and the visual stimuli that prompt those decisions.

Research of this more thorough kind can determine ROI on all POS materials by establishing the exact relationship between cost and effectiveness of individual elements of the in-store display, identifying their role in category navigation, brand value building and brand conversion.

We've been eye tracking for nearly 20 years now – it was one of our 'first in the world' achievements back in our early days. It is frustrating but when it comes to eye tracking, every other method is a compromise. We will never go down that route but now this technological advance means that we can offer our clients the unequalled benefits of real eye tracking at a cost comparable to inferior methods.

Emilie Coles

Added by Siemon Scamell-Katz 31^st July 2009

GSR: unsuitable for FMCG shopper research

TNS Magasin is constantly searching for ways to refine our research and deliver ever more authoritative insight: for example we're working with fMRI techniques to understand more about the role of memory in store as well as using EEG.

The combination of these powerful methodologies is fundamentally challenging many received ideas about in-store decision-making. At last we are able to gain insight into responses to the visual stimuli that the shopper actually looks at, as well as prefrontal cortex responses. This enables us to gauge the relative roles of emotion and cognition at each and every stage of the shopping journey to understand, literally, what is going on in shoppers' minds.

This has the most fundamental ramifications for marketing and new product development alike. Brands really need to go back to basics and redefine what they are trying to achieve in the light of what is nothing less than a whole new dimension of knowledge about their customers.

However, as the importance of shopper research is being increasingly recognised, a lot of companies are trying to jump on the bandwagon without any experience in the field or knowledge of the most appropriate tools. Techniques using Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) are a typical example.

We judge that GSR is unsuitable for FMCG shopper research. GSR measures physiological responses such as skin conductivity and temperature in an attempt to gauge emotional reactions. But in so many FMCG categories there is little or no shopper involvement as their purchases are habituated: much the same week in, week out. Because there is insufficient difference in emotional arousal between these categories, GSR is simply not sensitive enough.

Siemon Scamell-Katz

Added by Emilie Coles 18^th June 2009

TNS Magasin combines EEG and eye tracking in pioneering study

TNS Magasin has once again raised the bar of shopper research by combining EEG and eye tracking. A highly confidential project has just been completed for a blue chip retailer: the results reveal the power of this groundbreaking approach and the potential of bio-sensory research.

With this development we're building on our vast in-store expertise and years of experience in genuine eye tracking – as opposed to field of vision recording – to deliver unparalleled shopper insight.

The new technique uses EEG (electroencephalography) from EmSense and Magasin's own eye tracking technology to investigate shopper behaviour at an unprecedented level of detail. EEG measures the brain's electrical activity via electrodes placed on the scalp. Combined with respiration, heart rate, temperature and head motion measurements, this captures shoppers' emotional and cognitive responses.

Magasin's eye tracking, unlike inferior techniques, enables every single eye fixation of every individual shopper to be recorded and analysed. A fixation in this context is defined as 3/25^th of a second. This is the point at which the brain registers a piece of information. So in contrast to merely recording what was in front of shoppers it measures precisely what attracts each one and which elements are being used at what stage in the decision-making process.

This is an extremely powerful tool for clients – especially when measuring the impact of POS, pack and visual merchandising. So much in-store behaviour is sub conscious, so using brain scanning with eye tracking enables us to unravel unconscious triggers and really evaluate the impact of in-store initiatives.

Emilie Coles

Added by Siemon Scamell-Katz 13^th May 2009

Measuring ROI on Point of Sale material: how NOT to do it

There's a lot of talk about measuring ROI on in-store marketing material. It is largely just hot air. Most attempts are doomed to failure because they simply don't use sufficiently rigorous methods.

A widespread tactic sees shoppers fitted with small cameras to record their movements, product interactions and field of vision (we'll come back to this) in-store. They may be interviewed and their purchases noted in the hope of assessing the impact and effectiveness of POS.

But this technique won't enable ROI to be measured. It's too imprecise. A shopper's field of vision is likely to contain hanging signs, floor signs, fins, barkers and all manner of shelf-edge materials as well as product. Knowing what was around at the time doesn't identify what the shopper actually looked at.

Yet this deeper insight is indispensible if we are to measure ROI on POS. To obtain it a more robust methodology is required.

Active shopping can be divided into three stages: navigation, consideration and selection. In outline, during navigation the shopper notices in-store communication and product and during consideration they engage with these in some way before making a selection.

By using eye tracking technology, every single eye fixation of every individual shopper can be recorded and analysed. In contrast to merely recording what was in front of shoppers it measures precisely what attracts each one and which elements are being used at what stage in the decision-making process.

Research of this more thorough kind can determine ROI on all POS materials by establishing the exact relationship between cost and effectiveness of individual elements of the in-store display, identifying their role in category navigation, brand value building and brand conversion.

Earlier this year Nielsen announced the indefinite suspension of its P.R.I.S.M. initiative. I expect other similarly broad brush exercises to follow that into oblivion.

Siemon Scamell-Katz

Added by Siemon Scamell-Katz 20^th April 2009

There's so much misunderstanding about the level of decision-making in-store and it's turning into a rather silly merry-go-round of pick-your-own statistics. Can we all please put simplistic and arbitrary figures behind us: they've got little to do with shopper behaviour, which is much more complex.

Most real, at-fixture shopper decisions aren't based on the decision tree model. In most categories, shoppers have very little involvement because they just aren't that interested. Their purchases are habituated: most shoppers buy the same thing week in, week out. So they've learned the location of the category in the store(s) they use and the on-shelf locations of the SKUs they normally buy. There is little or no active decision making in-store.

The significance for our approach to in-store activation could not be greater. Our whole strategy needs to move away from futile attempts to influence immediate at-fixture decisions – 'buy this instead of that' – and towards activities that seek to evolve scripted behaviour.

This also has wide ramifications for our NPD, packaging, marketing, promotions and advertising. It means that we need to go back to basics, examining all our marketing and advertising while asking ourselves precisely what our remote persuasion such as TV is trying to achieve.

Siemon Scamell-Katz

Added by Siemon Scamell-Katz 11^th June 2008

How today’s shoppers shop: a matter of choice