By Glenn Taylor, Associate Editor
When I walk into a retail store or even a grocery store, I tend to take my time browsing the aisles if I’m not dead set on making a specific purchase. Usually, after a long period of deliberation, I happen to notice a product that finally catches my attention due because it has attractive packaging. The packaging may have a distinct color or font, may hold an unusual shape or may be placed in an easy-to-access area.
Regardless of whether I purchase that product or not, the product sometimes stays fresh in my mind… even while I’m in the checkout line.
Advertisement
Taking advantage of a consumer’s line of sight is something retailers and CPG companies alike can definitely work on if they are looking to maximize sales.
Those who attended NRF’s 2014 Big Show may have stumbled upon a presentation discussing eye-tracking research, and consumer behaviors taken away from case studies. The presentation, featuring Raymond Burke, Professor of Business Administration at Indiana University, and Scott Young, President of Perception Research Services, showcased simple changes that could be made to help shoppers make their decision quickly and easily.
Burke noted that the time for a shopper to find a product on a jumbled, messy store shelf took 8.2 seconds, whereas a shopper browsing the same exact shelf with clear product organization spent an approximately 5.7 seconds.
In terms of packaging, Burke showed the disparity in cereals by comparing Golden Grahams to Apple Jacks. Tracking maps revealed that the Golden Grahams, which are packaged in a yellow box, took an average of 5.5 seconds to find, while the lime-green Apple Jacks box were found in only one second! Cheerios served as the major culprit for the wide disparity due to a having similar color scheme as Golden Grahams… which isn’t so coincidental considering they are both General Mills products.
The image of every brand is so carefully aligned to fit a certain demographic that it would be foolish to advise companies to just try and present their products in unique, bright colors. But there is a bigger picture to work with, here. Brands have the opportunity to differentiate themselves via a logo, excellent copywriting and selective product placement that are all equally important to catching a viewer’s attention.
At the same time, retailers need to ensure that one shelf of products doesn’t distract attention from another. Even more importantly, they have to make it easy for the consumer to find the item or the aisle they are looking for. Products that aren’t seen are products that aren’t sold.
