POPAI, the Global Association for Marketing at-Retail, said that it has finalized contract negotiations with Sheridan Consulting for a new shopper engagement study in the U.S. and U.K.
Confirmed retailers include Safeway, Walgreen’s, BP and 7-Eleven. The research, dubbed Marketing At Retail Initiative, will track this September the movements of consumers, who will wear high-tech microsurgical cameras as they shop at 24 stores. The cameras will record where shoppers look while making their way down the aisles. Nearly 40 types of in-store marketing materials will be present.
The MARI Advisory Council (MAC) is comprised of brands and retailers. The MAC standard for shopper engagement is when a shopper’s eye focuses on an item for at least one second.
In addition to shopper engagement, the service will map the shopper’s path through the store, as well as measure optimal shelf height.
Online dashboard technology has been created to provide customized ad hoc reports between the three reporting cycles.
The study also will provide data to calculate another MAC standard, the Impact Ratio. This is the ratio of the number of shoppers who passed the display and who were in a position to see the display versus the number of shoppers who actually saw the display as they shopped the store
Using MARI technology and associated algorithms, the impact ratios can be calculated for each individual item of MAR display by shopper characteristic or shopper mission.
“Through our participation in the first phase of POPAI’s MARI Shopper Engagement, Pepsi has seen real potential in improving our understanding of what truly stops shoppers in the aisles and what may be most effective in motivating them to put products into their carts,” said Leslie Nagy, director of marketing services for Pepsi-Cola North America, in a statement
“Knowing what shoppers see and the resulting actions they take will ultimately allow us to enhance the effectiveness of Pepsi’s retail marketing programs—which benefits the consumer, the retailer and the manufacturer,” Nagy added.
Study results are expected in December. POPAI will maintain a database of the findings to compare and contrast shopping behavior in different retail categories, time of day and season. Annual industry reports will be complied and provided to members free of charge.
Interested participants are encouraged to contact POPAI via www.popai.com/hq
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