Although a lot has been written about bottom-shelf goods and goods placed next to checkout registers, a new set of waves is sweeping across the realm of shopper guidance – oh wait, excuse me, let’s be more clear here – seduction. Let me tell you about my last trip to the supermarket.
My fridge is staring at me – it suffers from boredom, is almost jobless. Both of us know too well that drastic changes are needed. So I stuff the empties into my bag and set out for some serious grocery shopping.
Trend No. 1: Free Shopping Baskets
I am not too happy to see the crowd of people bustling in the store. I almost condemn myself for having forgotten the obligatory Euro coin for the shopping cart. But then, as if directed by an unknown force, my eyes flash to the smaller shopping baskets on wheels screaming “practicality!” – with no Euro coin needed whatsoever.
In the blink of an eye, I find myself immediately caught up in the first trend. These shopping baskets that can be pulled oh-so-conveniently not only show a touch of kindness – they also increase the chances of me OD’ing on goods, more than what my both arms can handle.
Trend No. 2: Separating Products from Others to Emphasize its Features
“Bread” is what comes into my mind first and I immediately lay my hungry eyes on the bread basket at the fresh-baked section positioned separately, but elaborately close enough to the pastry shelves. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Those farmer’s market look-alike bread baskets are right there for a reason.
The bread basket is clearly separated from the shelves that display the baked goods. This underlines the differentiation: pastry shelves for baked goods from industrial bakery brands, and for regional, fresh-baked loaves – the bread basket at your service.
This is also why there are no labels whatsoever on the packaging foils for those fresh-baked loaves, not even a description of the types on sale. This does trick you into thinking that those bread loaves are fresh from the oven of a bakery just around the corner, that cannot afford to invest in fancy packaging foils.
Trend No. 3: The Organic-Swath
Now I shuffle further down the aisle to the freezers. Pizza sounds good (as always). At the freezers alone you are already exposed to the third trend – but this time, I get to twist my way around the products: Bio-Pizza. Right between the fresh cheese specialties and the organic milk products, far-far away from the imitation-cheese pizzas and the four-pound pack of Gouda cheese.
An invisible swath cut has been made through the fresh goods section of the supermarket: the organic- and eco-zones. The fans with the organic-craze can now take a stroll down these sections with ample opportunity for organic-nourishment. At the same time, grocery stores increasingly gain stardom as the suppliers of best organic quality.
Trend No. 4: Show More - Sell More
Barely recovered from the organic-craze, I fall into the next trap of letting myself be fooled again like Joe Biden putting his foot in his mouth at the VP debates. Mini-salamis everywhere – a basket full of salamis. From Mediterranean to Natural to Flavored & Spicy. I can barely withstand the temptations and shuffle further down the aisle when I come across another batch of those salamis. Are they seriously everywhere? Yes!
The same product is being sold at three different locations in the supermarket; displayed unpretentiously on the shelves, placed flamboyantly in the middle of the aisle as a stand-up display, and stacked humbly at the margin besides other salamis and hams. This phenomenon can also be seen from other products and other brands, e.g. a brand for a well-known energy drink.
The idea of “increasing visibility” also applies to individual shelves where brands give their very best to place their products in the most prominent way – such as providing the same product in different sizes and portions. The phenomenon at work, you may already know: one can resist once, perhaps twice – how about once more?
Trend No. 5: Dramatic staging of special offers
The nut nougat spread perfectly illustrates this trend: as if abandoned by a stressed-out employee, a pallet of nut nougat spread is randomly standing in the middle of the aisle, waving at me. An act of carelessness? Laziness? Negligence? No – an act of calculation!
The pallet is drawing the attention to itself, so that no individual leaves the store without having seen it. This is the no.1 trick of the nut nougat spreads. Plus, the pallet itself delivers an implicit message: “pallet” = “wholesale” = “affordable”.
But the true highlight is yet to come: right next to the pallet with the standard spreads stands proudly a second pallet with even more spreads – but this time with “75 grams for free” on top, easily noticeable thanks to a red banderole. Again, the human instinct to hunt is unleashed – and the hazelnut spread sold!
Trend No. 6: Slim containers filled with fatties
Dazzled by the waves of hazelnut spreads, I drag myself to the drinks section. Once more, I surrender at the hands of seduction: my favorite Cola, in a can so slim like never before.
That’s exactly the trick: if the once bulgy bottle reminded us of a middle-aged construction worker, the latest revolution resembles the figure of a runway model. The message is evident: Cola in slim can like that guarantees anything but a fat belly.
Trend No. 7: Make Shoppers Think
By and large, food and grocery giants have learned something new regarding packaging: the salmon from Scotland is no more a shrink-wrapped product, but packaged in (apparently natural) cardboard, and visible through a transparent film.
Soup is not just “soup” anymore, but “Grandma’s traditional soup” (symbolizing consistency, tranquility, family, reassurance, and security). Talking about soup, the (fake) swine flu virus is holding its ground in Berlin hard and strong. “Chicken soup is exactly what I need, just in case I get the virus,” I am thinking and grab a tin of chicken soup.
As I turn away from the shelf, I catch a glimpse of a condiment in the corner of my eye. A simple combination: we know that canned soups lose their flavor in the long run. We also know that condiments add flavor. Here I go again, grabbing the condiment. The customer once more wonders at coincidence - but still there is the very calculative nature of this incident. Keyword: category management.
Trend Nr. 8: Storytelling
A similar concept is used for a well-known peanuts snack. On the green fridge stuffed with beer bags of peanuts are attached to the side (by the way, the bags can be found in other places of the store as well). A fine scene flashes in front of my eyes – watching the soccer game, drinking beer, eating snacks – awesome, let me pick one of those bags.
Supermarkets may not be experts in writing the best movie scripts, but they still produce one blockbuster after another. In general, we identify certain brands with associations, which unconsciously get intertwined with stories and implicitly influence our decision-making. The stronger the brand, the more abundant the associations, hence more interesting the stories.
Consumers increasingly look for experiences – the convenient, efficient way of grocery shopping at discount stores are becoming less and less attractive, which can be seen by their stagnating sales figures. In addition, the economic boom – accompanied by an increase in average discretionary income – should strengthen this trend.
With a full shopping basket, I finally proceed to the cashiers and again, as expected, I pick the wrong line. But this has more to do with my selective perception than with the intentions of the store manager.
More Trends in the Supermarket:
Regional Context
Some supermarkets rely strongly on a “local image”. For example, there are large pictures of local sights hanging on the walls. This leaves the impression of being close to the customers and to the local region, which is offering identification and linked with fresh products. The overriding motive however is “security” – in a globalized, intransparent world with always new food scandals, it’s only the farmers next door we can trust.
Packaging
Once upon a time, there were basically only two options – either fresh sausages from the butcher or the packaged sausages from the refrigerated counters. But an “intermediate” option has been there for a few years now – freshly packaged sausages from the refrigerated counters. The content explicitly indicated by the “fresh” stickers, the originality emphasized by the wording of the label. The sausage is not called “Milanese Salami” anymore, but “Salami Milano” – with this the consumer already has in mind his last vacation in Italy.
Empties
It is presumably rather pure coincidence than calculation that the reverse vending machines are located at the outer corners of the supermarket. But of course this increases the chances of the customers spotting another irresistible good on the way from the machine to the cashiers.
Mehr zum Thema "Sichtbarkeit erhöhen"
Why is it actually so important to increase the product visibility? Usually, the assumption is that the shopper goes grocery shopping with a solid plan – if the grocery list is not on a piece of paper, it is at least memorized. Nevertheless, the list mostly consists of categories (“bread, milk, butter”), seldom of specific brand names. The fact that the consumer goes to the store with this type of list increases the possibility that he or she picks the brand that is displayed the most dominantly. In addition, it remains to note that – as already mentioned above – it gets more and more difficult to resist the seduction two or even three times.
Pablo Neder
Senior Research Consultant
Shopper Research
