Seeing is believing
evaluating consumer
shopping patterns
World of Heineken 37 Winter 2007/2008
Image from the Eye Square research.
The size of the bubble shows the extent
to which a shopper's eye concentrates
on the shelf. The arrows show the
direction of the movement of the eyes.
Effective packaging design at
the point of sale is a crucial
factor in the competitive
world of retail sales. Brands
that don't stand out are
likely to lose ground in the
increasingly crowded off-
premise environment.
"Research has shown that as many
as half of all purchasing decisions are
made at the shelf," saysjelle Hess,
Heineken Senior Packaging Design
Manager. "And consumers often make
their decision in a split second. This
means that point of sale promotional
material and packaging has to be spot
on. Packaging must therefore be both
meaningful and to the point, and create
as much consumer impact as possible
in a short amount of time."
Research into consumer spending
patterns is constantly in development,
with advanced "eye tracking"
technology often employed to analyse
the behaviour of shoppers. In 2006,
Brau Union Austria enlisted the help of
German market research experts Eye
Square to conduct a comprehensive
survey evaluating the shopping
patterns of supermarket consumers.
"How do consumers orient themselves
in a supermarket? On what basis do
they make purchase decisions? Which
packaging and promotional materials
are most effective? These were some
of the questions we had going into the
research survey," says Rudolf Obermair,
Trade Market Manager Off-Premise at
Brau Union in Austria.
As part of the study, a supermarket in
Vienna was selected and supplied with
a range of packaging and promotional
material. Consumers were invited to
take part in the test, given instructions
and asked to go shopping according to
their normal habits. A special helmet
equipped with a camera was worn by
each participant, recording the exact
line of gaze and movements of the
consumer's pupils.
"The key findings of the Eye Square
survey were closely examined and
shared with all Brau Union regional
managers and sales reps across
Austria," says Obermair. "The study
results were then summarised and the
'Five Commandments' on point of sale
positioning were incorporated into our
off-premise guidelines."
The survey indicated that consumers
often need anchor points to orient
themselves in a shop, such as blocks
of trade names. The larger and wider
a block is, and the more blocks at eye
level, the better the perception of
the trademark. The effectiveness of
promotional material is a combination
of different factors. Material and
placement are particularly effective
if they are placed at eye-level if the
consumer has not yet made a definite
purchase decision. Promotional
material must be relevant for the
shopper at the time of perception.
"Consumer behaviour is not a precise
science and shopping patterns will
never be 100 per cent predictable,"
Obermair concludes. "But research
such as 'eye tracking' enables us to
get a better understanding of our
consumers, and means that we can
deploy point of sale materials more
accurately and efficiently, and design
our packaging more effectively."
r.obermeir@brauunion.com
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