What is a shopper study?

There is a wide variety of shopper studies, definitions-marketing explains: "as its name indicates, a shopper study is a study describing the motivations and behaviors of choice and purchase of the buyer / consumer. Shopper studies help identify the consumer's behavior during their purchasing journey and thus adapt the product to their expectations. They allow us to understand what makes the consumer loyal to a brand or a product throughout the decision-making process. They can be quantitative or qualitative.

What is the difference with a consumer study?

Consumer research involves testing the relevance of a new concept/idea and then testing this new product in order to establish a diagnosis after use, unlike shopper research, which specializes more in shoppers' purchasing behavior. Shopper research, on the other hand, focuses more on shoppers' buying behavior. It allows us to diagnose the shelf/site and identify areas for developing sales in a category.

Until recently, studies were only based on the shopper and his buying intentions. "They had a separate vision of the consumer and the buyer," emphasizes the e.marketing site. They did not take into account the shopper, i.e. the consumer in a buying situation. Today, they have a real legitimate place, combining the act of buying with the upstream part of the decision making process. But how can shopper research be used to analyze buying behavior?

Shopper study and buying behavior:

At a time when buying patterns are becoming increasingly complex, understanding shoppers' behaviors and expectations is becoming essential. Shoppers' decisions are not always easy to interpret and understand. The objective of research is to observe shoppers during their choices in a store or on an e-commerce site. The research institutes then analyze the behaviors they had during their journey and draw conclusions. We can understand and analyze their hesitations, their decisions and thus evaluate the levers and brakes during their purchases.

This approach makes it possible to define the most relevant courses of action to strengthen a brand's position in the market. According to BVA, "In a tense competitive environment, studying shoppers provides a comprehensive understanding of decision-making processes at the 'first moment of truth.

But how does a physical shopper study work?

For physical shopper studies, a distinction is made between real point-of-sale shopper studies, laboratory studies and studies on printed canvas.

In a real point of sale: you have to obtain the agreement of a store and then build a predefined customer path, it is an investment. A real purchase mission is submitted to people who are pre-recruited according to criteria defined beforehand. Once the person is on site, they comment on their journey, explaining why they chose this or that product, and this makes it possible to establish a diagnosis.

However, there are a few points of friction in this process:

These in-store studies take time to set up. They are limited to the store's surface, and they can only reach a limited number of targets.

For laboratory studies, it is necessary to have a space, to buy all the products that will be put on the shelves. They also need to be set up with different merchandising scenarios in order to evaluate the best possible option.

For studies on printed tarpaulins (which reproduce a linear to be tested): also time-consuming to install and design, studies using tarpaulins can be extremely costly and sometimes unrealistic. In addition, the realization impacts the environment due to the carbon footprint. So how can we remedy this?

The contribution of virtual reality in shopper studies and purchasing behavior:

Thanks to virtual reality, we can now immerse the shopper in a real store environment. He can then execute his shopping journey as usual. By using virtual reality, we free ourselves from the constraints of physical stores.

In addition, unlike a "classic" shopper study, it is possible to conduct several studies at the same time, with greater geographical coverage (national / international). The time needed to set up the study is considerably reduced. It allows to reach a larger target, more quickly. It is no longer necessary to have the consumer move to a point of sale, nor to set up the entire installation physically. Moreover, as Yann Malvoisin, General Manager of Action Plus (research institute), points out in his interview,"it allows us to test a greater number of proposals (3, 4, 5 or even more). Generally, this number of proposals is almost impossible to test in real life, given the constraint of the Distributors' agreement."

Time and financial savings:

A classic shopper study has a very high cost (but necessary in view of the information collected.) Virtual reality divides the costs by 5. Indeed, there is no more need for tarpaulins designed with particular dimensions, here everything is done in 3D. The virtual shelves have another major advantage. They have no size limit (vs. tarpaulins that must be installed in specific rooms). Once the tarp is installed, there is no way to go back on it. The flexibility of the virtual allows, potentially, to make certain elements evolve within the framework of a "Test & Learn" approach, such as for example to make its markup evolve according to the lessons learned.

All the logistic part (creation date of the study in physical, agreement with the stores, manufacturing costs) are non-existent disadvantages with the shopper studies in VR. We have the possibility to create everything to measure, as in a physical store. Here are some examples:

Example of achievements by Retail VR:

The video below highlights the benefits of VR studies. The shopper will be able to walk around as in a physical store. Click on the products, put them in the shopping cart and simulate a purchase act. In a logic of simulation, Retail VR will be able to take 3D models and design them even before they are manufactured. This makes it possible to work very early on with a design office for example. The 3D model is then integrated into the virtual store and allows consumers to make their traditional purchase.

USE CASE:

For example, you want to evaluate the impact of your new concept and see how it is perceived by consumers? Or test the relevance of your strategy on customers? Retail VR and the research firm Enov will be able to propose an online experience, composed of a shopping path, a behavioral diagnosis and a classic diagnosis. Shopper experience, shelf performance, brand impact, the tests are endless! In this video we explain how all this is possible, with an implementation in only a few days:

Discover Retail Staging

Virtual reality shopper research is a real time-saver. For both marketing and distribution professionals. They will allow you to analyze a battery of behavioral indicators in a simple, fast and efficient way.

Find the whole uses case on our Youtube page.

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