Retail merchandising evaluation research

The client wanted to evaluate a new merchandising unit – is it able to help make the overall shopping experience more consumer friendly.

The merchandising unit was set up in a test mall in Dubai & Riyadh. This was compared to existing unit at a control store in Dubai & Riyadh.

An integrated Quantitative non-intrusive shopper observation followed by a Qualitative intercept interview

Design: Observers at key entry points to the store to get a count of the number of people entering the store, those who pass by the merchandising unit, those who stopped by unit & those who shopped at the unit. This was followed by intercept interviews among those who didn’t notice the unit, those who stopped but didn’t buy & those who stopped & purchased a product. The intercept interviews included a re-walk through the store to re-trace the entire shopping journey.

The research helped the client understand the difference in approach to shopping across the two markets. It brought to the fore the differences by nationalities & their dependence on the brand ambassadors. These insights showed that the shoppers prefer to depend on the brand ambassadors for their advice & their interaction with the merchandising unit was minimal.

The insights were used by the Shopper Insight team to scrap the launch of the new unit as it didn’t suit the shoppers in the Middle East.