Consumers who shop at mass merchandisers make a lot of decisions about what they're going to buy at the shelf. Getting them to buy more has a lot to do with retailers' in-store media and display strategies and tactics. That's the gist of the 2014 Mass Merchant Study by Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI).
According to the research, 82 percent of purchase decisions in mass merchants are made in-store. That's more than the 76 percent number from POPAI's 2012 grocery channel study. The research involved 3,000 shoppers at three major chains and included pre- and post-shopping interviews and the use of eye-tracking video.
"While we expected some mass merchant shoppers were waiting until the last minute to decide purchases, we were truly surprised to discover 82 percent of purchases decisions are made in the store," said Richard Winter, president of POPAI, in a statement.
According to the study's findings, 34 percent of shoppers at mass merchandiser do not use a shopping list. This compares to only 13 percent of grocery store shoppers who do not make a list before heading to the store.
Sixty-two percent of shoppers in mass outlets also go without the use of circulars, coupons, direct mail, newspapers and other forms of advertising on broadcast, digital, etc. as part of their pre-shop planning.
The research findings seem to suggest that mass merchant shoppers offer a golden impulse buying opportunity.
"Displays have a huge untapped potential to drive unplanned purchases in-store," said said Kirk Hendrickson, Founder & CEO Eye Faster, an eye tracking research firm that participated in the study. According to POPAI, 16 percent of unplanned purchases in mass merchandiser stores resulted from customers interacting with displays while shopping.