Shelf it Out

Stack it high and watch it fly

“Apple with an increase in revenue of 82% and net profit of 125% is the apple of our eyes”read the editorial of an international tabloid. The company has indeed been a paradigm example of extraordinary performance and has achieved it through its continuous efforts of innovating and re-inventing itself like a start-up. Today innovation is primarily the only way of breaking away from the clutter and is not just restricted to the product features but also includes experimenting with its distribution, promotion, positioning and various other factors. Retail outlets, where the consumers make their final decisions, have the advantage of influencing them by re-engineering their outlets as per consumer convenience. The outlook of the store and its product placement can not only boost its sales but also increase consumer loyalty towards the store.

According to a survey conducted by ShelfLife 52%, consumers prefer bigger stores as they offer more options and hence, it is extremely important for big store retailers to avail of this opportunity and make the shopping experience of these consumers a beguiling one by adopting effective display management strategies. This may involve observing the consumer preferences, buying patterns, their interest, gaze path and impact of brand packaging. Further, the survey revealed that 47% of the shoppers knew what they wanted to buy and hence the store must act as easy access to their needs by arranging the shelf in the most suitable manner. The remaining 53% are more vulnerable to make impulsive decisions and hence the shelf must be arranged in the most enticing ways for them to act.

“Stack it high and watch it fly” hence eye level items grab the maximum eyeballs followed by “waist level”, “knee level” and “ankle level”. Studies divulged that when a jelly was relocated from waist level to eye level its weekly sales increased by 12%. However, it is not always so, as in case of heavy 54 oz juice when the product was shifter to visible levels its sales dropped because of difficulty experienced in lifting the item. Confectionaries placed at lower shelves attracted maximum sales as they were highly visible to children. So the placement of the product at the right place is of utmost importance at the stores

Consumers generally take time to look at every shelf to find the best value hence it becomes essential to know where and what the consumer wants and make their search an easy one. There are technologies developed in the market for the same. For example, Eyetracker has been developed to track the gaze of a buyer and to know precisely where and what their eye is looking at. This technology with its innovative techniques helps us to understand the in-store interaction between consumer and shelf thus aiding the stores for designing the most-effective layout for product placement to maximize sales.

Shelf placement if applied effectively can make consumer’s expedition to the retail outlet a cakewalk and if ignored can make their shopping experience a Herculean task. Ensuring that their needs are taken care of can only ensure repeated sales and consumer loyalty.