3. What Should Be Placed Next to Star Products
（January 21, 2011）
“Counterclockwise Rule” is a well-known rule in the retail business in Japan that describes shoppers migrate the store from left to right. Supermarkets and convenience stores have already installed this rule into the layout of the store and planogram.
Looking at our ShopSense video footage, we have come up with an idea there might be a certain pattern like Counterclockwise Rule in the shopping behavior for each category. In this, and the next column, we examine whether the shopper behavior with “Counterclockwise Rule” is applicable to hair care category.
Our hypothesis from video footage is that there is a certain pattern when shoppers touch multiple products. To examine this, we use Multiple Brand Contact shoppers in hair care category elicited from our Shopper Database, and calculate the face-distance between the first contacted product and the second. Here are some technical terms. Multiple Brand Contact shoppers are those who touch multiple brands, and the face-distance is based on the number of the first lined products in the shelf. This subject hair-care shelf has 45 faces.
The following is a summary of statistical results;
- The contact rate of the same products or nearby products is 56.2%. (nearby products are products located 2 faces away from the contacted product in the same row)
- Many shoppers contact products from side to side rather than up and down
- More shoppers move from right to left in front of the shelf.
Fig. 1
Interestingly, the data show less shoppers contact the products located in lower right shelf compared to other position. The useful point of qualitative analysis of video footage is that there is record we can go back and check. So, we observed those shoppers’ behavior in the video and found out the subject shoppers were left handed. This might have something to do with picking up products by their right hand. For example, taking a product with a right hand, an item in the lower right will be a blind spot for left-handed shoppers…
Now, let's take a look at three specific cases of shopper’s movement.
Fig. 2
As you can see from this figure, all three samples are more likely to contact products horizontally, but they are less likely to contact products up and down.
[Summary/Conclusion]
- Many of shoppers contact products horizontally.
It seems effective to place targeted products, like PB or higher-margin products, right next to star brands or products, but be careful to place them above or below star brands/products.
Since this verification is based on the hair-care category, the result might be different in other categories. It is reasonable to apply this tendency in general to many categories and stores.
We would like to verify the shopper’s behavior tendencies across the whole shelf for the next column.
Any inquiries about this column, please feel free to contact us.
