Where Do Your Eyes Go?

Are you enjoying these sessions as much as I am? I’ve learned quite a bit so again, a big thanks to IIR and Shopper Insights in Action!

After lunch, I listened to Herb Sorenson and Jacob Suher present The Path of the Eye in Shopping and Purchasing. It was a fascinating discussion of how our biological framework can be a help and a hindrance to our shopping. As I was listening to their comments, I remembered yesterday’s keynote by Mark Changizi so I will try to bring in some of his comments here as well.

This presentation showed us through a practical video example that the current aisle setup and merchandising creates clutter which forces the shopper to filter through the choices to eliminate what they don’t want in order to focus on and select what they do want. The video showed us that while our torso and our feet move, our point of focus does not move. This rather reminded me of the hand exercise in yesterday’s keynote. If you recall, when we blocked one open eye with a hand, that hand became semi transparent.

Sorenson and Suher’s research showed that if the shopping times were quicker, then the basket sizes grow larger. A few approaches to minimizing shopping time include reducing the number of SKUs and also laying out products horizonally instead of vertically. In other words, if you maximize shopper efficiency, the time you give back to the shopper will be rewarded with larger baskets and increased loyalty.

What’s interesting here (and what I couldn’t ask because Q&A time was over) was that WalMart lost sales and customers because they minimized SKUs. I wish I could understand how and why WalMart’s practical example differs from the research findings. Furthermore, Changizi’s comments yesterday suggested more depth than breadth when it comes to displays/merchandising which is also different from the recommendation here. It would be good to know where and how these findings fit in with one another.

Another question I had was typical big box/warehouse stores typically are longer shopper times (not shorter) with inefficient layouts. Why and how is it that it’s impossible to walk out of Costco, Target or WalMart having spent more than you intended if the trip is long (especially taking checkout into consideration)?

I know there are good answers to these basic question? Were you in the session with me? What would you add?

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef
678 Partners