Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Research and Consulting (Retail)

Category Management projects are designed to:

  1. Understand how consumers actually shop the product category.
    This information may be used to make design and marketing decisions, based on customer needs and behaviors in the store.
  2. Determine how shopping patterns vary between retail channels and key accounts.
    Given this understanding, we may suggest how the merchandising strategy be improved or tailored to each channel or account.
  3. Identify which factors at the point of sale (benefit, brand, variant, size, price, merchandising, shelf positioning, etc.) influence the purchase decision.
    How can we both facilitate and influence the decision process?

Research is often structured to test and compare shopping behavior in the product category at multiple retail channels. Key accounts within each channel are selected for research. Research is conducted in at least two stores per account for two days at each store

Data collected measures the following

  • Shopper Index: demographics of store vs. section shoppers
  • Group composition
  • Time Spent shopping the category
  • Average Number of products shopped and bought
  • First brand shopped
  • Ease of finding category and products within category
  • Breakdown of brands shopped in each category
  • How does merchandising interaction correlate with purchase?
  • How are products handled, e.g. do shoppers touch or pick up packages?
  • Reasons for not purchasing
  • What factors or information are most influential in the purchase decision?
  • Cross-category shopping incidence
  • Percent of “grab and go” purchase
  • Degree to which product category and brand purchased was planned
  • Aisle entrance and exit patterns
  • Shelf hot spots
  • Shopper Conversion Ratio
  • Interaction vs. Conversion

Retail projects are designed to gain an understanding of the dynamics of consumer shopping behavior in stores. This information may be used to make design and layout decisions, based on customer needs and behaviors in the store. By analyzing the relationship between store layout, operations, and merchandising, store design may be improved to achieve better performance.

Research is often structured to test and compare shopping behavior in several stores.

Research is conducted for at least two days per store.Data collected measures the following:

  • Average time spent in the store overall
  • Average time spent in each section of the store
  • Average traffic flow into the store
  • Percentage of passers-by noticing and entering
  • Percent of shoppers who purchase
  • Capture power of each category
  • Interaction vs. conversion
  • Percent of shoppers assisted by region
  • Average time spent with sales associate
  • Conversion ratio of Assisted shoppers
  • Shopping group composition
  • Percent of time each section is shopped first
  • Average number of sections visited
  • Age and gender breakdowns of shoppers
  • Average amount spent
  • Average cash wrap wait and transaction times
  • Store traffic patterns
  • Store coverage
  • First location shopped
  • Percent of time each section is shopped (Hot Spots)
  • Average number of products shopped
  • Average number of products bought
  • Reasons for visiting the store
  • Frequency of shopping the store
  • Satisfaction with and availability of sales assistance
  • How do customers rate the store on specific criteria?

Food service projects are designed to understand customer behavior and traffic patterns throughout the restaurant. Research results may be used to improve:

  • design to facilitate the sales process
  • merchandising messaging to optimize effectiveness
  • merchandising placement to increase exposures

Research is often structured to test and compare shopping behavior either inside the restaurant or at the drive-thru. Research is conducted for at least two days at each site.The following analyses are calculated in each restaurant zone:

  • Traffic flow into the store
  • Average order line wait time
  • Demographics of Customers
  • Customer group sizes
  • Percent of Take out vs. Eat In Customers
  • Percent of Customers in each Zone
  • Average Time Spent in store
  • Percent of Customers Viewing Signs
  • Average Number of Signs Viewed
  • Total Time Viewing Signs
  • Exposure Percentages and Exposure Lengths for Signs Viewed
  • Percent of Customers Confused
  • Percent of customers who “walk-out” of line
  • Percent of customers viewing each merchandising element
  • Seating density
  • Menu board exposure
  • Activities of customers during meal prep

Mad Cow offers consulting services to satisfy certain client needs that a full scale research project would otherwise not be able to meet, such as:

  • Analyzing categories with limited shopping volume which would result in insufficient sample sizes
  • Providing a lower cost option
  • Allowing for a faster reporting turnaround

customer experience analysis
In order to help retailers and developers with specific design planning, MadCow conducts a site visit/photo audit process that sends experienced researchers into select locations to observe and report on customer behaviors.

  • A sample of stores or other point of sale venues are visited by different members of the MadCow management team, each of whom observe shopper behavior in the environment.
  • Information is gathered through observation only; there is no communication or interaction with customers. MadCow researchers take digital photographs of the location and speak informally with associates to better understand their views and ideas.
  • The focus is on qualitative information about the customer/visitor experience as well as the relationship of that experience to layout, operations and design.

retail analysis
We work on problems in store planning, prototype development, package design, category management and merchandising. We can save you time, energy and money.
Our approach is customized to meet your needs. Some of our recent consulting engagements involved the following:

  • Reviewing designs, floor plans and artist renderings for new stores
  • Walking through client’s stores/sales environments to identify and discuss good and bad practices on-site
  • Touring stores to share our unique and broad knowledge of what's new and interesting in Indian Retailing

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