Posts Tagged ‘siemon scamell-katz’

New type of shopper research studies non-purchasers

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

TNS Magasin has launched a new service which promises to deliver additional sales by answering the age old question: when shoppers don’t buy, why don’t they? Because these non-purchasers are a huge potential source of extra business – in the store, in the aisle and at the category – understanding what goes wrong here, and putting it right, is set to deliver unprecedented rewards. One of the first clients for this innovative approach is amongst the world’s largest brewing companies.

Magasin starts by identifying attrition amongst shoppers at every stage of the shopping process, from the whole retail outlet through individual category to SKU. For example, a shopper may enter a store but not a certain aisle or browse an aisle but not a particular category. And of course all shoppers interacting with a given category will spurn most SKUs within it.

Non-purchasers at every level are recorded using filming or path tracking techniques, with more detailed observation at the category level.  A statistically significant number of non-purchasers are interviewed to establish perceived and actual barriers to purchase. By quantifying shopper ‘drop-out’ rate – and, most importantly, why this happens – TNS Magasin is able to pinpoint the areas of greatest opportunity for its clients.

In the brewing company’s case, the project has identified the additional conversion opportunities within beer and delivered strategic advice for action based on these insights. The initial research revealed how successful the beer category is at converting store traffic to purchasers; who the beer shopper is and how sub-categories perform in various locations.

Using these findings combined with knowledge gained from nearly two decades of studying shoppers, TNS Magasin was able to provide its client with a raft of detailed recommendations to unlock barriers to purchase and capitalise on previously overlooked opportunities.

TNS Magasin Founder Siemon Scamell-Katz explains: ‘Traditional research has concentrated primarily on purchasers. By focusing on non-purchasers, we are illuminating the stages in the shopping journey at which our clients are losing customers and why. Clearly, the biggest opportunity to increase sales is with those potential purchasers who are in front of the fixture but not buying.’

This approach provides a highly-tuned diagnostic for focusing further research attention and benchmarking change, because it brings every single area of under-performance into sharp relief. ‘What’s more’, concludes Siemon, ‘this pioneering angle on shopper decision-making not only provides a huge advantage to our clients, it also delivers actionable insights pretty well immediately.’

For further information contact TNS Magasin on +44 (0)01858 461461 or visit www.tns-magasin.com

Ends

For further press information please contact Christine Kane, Campaign PR
+44 (0)20 8748 8772 or at christine.kane@campaignpr.com

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Real eye tracking: cost slashed, quality uncompromised

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

There is no substitute for real eye tracking, despite the proliferation of imprecise techniques such as field-of-vision recording hawked by me-too organisations desperate to jump on the shopper bandwagon. But in the past, the more advanced methodology has come with a higher price tag.

Now, by combining eye square software with its own, TNS Magasin is able to dramatically reduce the cost of its eye tracking research without compromising quality. The web-based software vastly speeds up the process whereby data is extracted from the digital records, previously achieved by painstaking human analysis, with no lack of accuracy.

Real eye tracking is superior because it enables every single eye fixation of every individual shopper to be recorded and analysed. Human eyes move constantly, with tiny movements outside conscious control. These are punctuated by fixations, during which the eyes stop to focus: these are typically between 100 – 600 milliseconds in duration. The brain only begins to process visual information during a fixation.

Because it cannot detect these fixations, field-of-vision recording merely shows what was in front of shoppers. Eye tracking by contrast measures in minute detail what each shopper actually notices and which elements are being used at what stage in the decision-making process. This is the key to understanding how shoppers make decisions and the visual stimuli that prompt those decisions.

Research of this more thorough kind can determine ROI on all POS materials by establishing the exact relationship between cost and effectiveness of individual elements of the in-store display, identifying their role in category navigation, brand value building and brand conversion.

Years of using this more sophisticated approach, combined with nearly two decades of in-store experience and unparalleled authority in shopper, enable TNS Magasin not only to deliver superior insight to its clients but to generate strategies and tactics to drive their businesses forward.

Says TNS Magasin Founder Siemon Scamell-Katz: ‘We’ve been eye tracking for nearly 20 years now – it was one of our “first in the world” achievements back in our early days. It is frustrating but when it comes to eye tracking, every other method is a compromise. We will never go down that route but now this technological advance means that we can offer our clients the unequalled benefits of real eye tracking at a cost comparable to inferior methods.’

TNS Magasin has also raised the bar by combining EEG (electroencephalography) from EmSense with real eye tracking.  A project has just been completed for Footlocker: the results reveal the power of this groundbreaking approach and the potential of bio-sensory research.

Siemon explains: ‘The combination of these two powerful methodologies is fundamentally challenging many received ideas about in-store decision-making.  At last we are able to gain insight into responses to the visual stimuli that the shopper actually looks at, as well as prefrontal cortex responses.  This enables us to gauge the relative roles of emotion and cognition at each and every stage of the shopping journey to understand, literally, what is going on in shoppers’ minds.

‘Over the past few years we have looked at many bio-sensory techniques some of which work in FMCG and others, such as GSR, that don’t’. The company is now also working with fMRI techniques to understand more about the role of memory in store.

For further information contact TNS Magasin on +44 (0)01858 461461 or visit www.tns-magasin.com

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TNS Magasin combines EEG and eye tracking in pioneering study

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

TNS Magasin has once again raised the bar of shopper research by combining EEG and eye tracking.  A highly confidential project has just been completed for a blue chip retailer: the results reveal the power of this groundbreaking approach and the potential of bio-sensory research.

With this development TNS Magasin is building on its vast in-store expertise and years of experience in genuine eye tracking – as opposed to field of vision recording – to deliver unparalleled shopper insight.

The new technique uses EEG (electroencephalography) from EmSense and Magasin’s own eye tracking technology to investigate shopper behaviour at an unprecedented level of detail.  EEG measures the brain’s electrical activity via electrodes placed on the scalp.  Combined with respiration, heart rate, temperature and head motion measurements, this captures shoppers’ emotional and cognitive responses.

Magasin’s eye tracking enables every single eye fixation of every individual shopper to be recorded and analysed.  A fixation in this context is defined as 3/25th of a second.  This is the point at which the brain registers a piece of information.  So in contrast to merely recording what was in front of shoppers it measures precisely what attracts each one and which elements are being used at what stage in the decision-making process.

The company is also working with fMRI techniques to understand more about the role of memory in store.

Siemon Scamell-Katz, Founder of TNS Magasin, explains ‘The combination of these two powerful methodologies is fundamentally challenging many received ideas about in-store decision-making.  At last we are able to gain insight into responses to the visual stimuli that the shopper actually looks at, as well as prefrontal cortex responses.  This enables us to gauge the relative roles of emotion and cognition at each and every stage of the shopping journey to understand, literally, what is going on in shoppers’ minds. 

‘This has the most fundamental ramifications for marketing and new product development alike.  Brands really need to go back to basics and redefine what they are trying to achieve in the light of what is nothing less than a whole new dimension of knowledge about their customers.’

However, he cautions ‘As the importance of shopper research is being increasingly recognised, a lot of companies are trying to jump on the bandwagon without any experience in the field or knowledge of the most appropriate tools.’ He cites the example of Galvanic Skin Response (GSR).

‘We judge that GSR is unsuitable for FMCG shopper research.  GSR measures physiological responses such as skin conductivity and temperature in an attempt to gauge emotional reactions.  But in so many FMCG categories there is little or no shopper involvement as their purchases are habituated: much the same week in, week out.  Because there is insufficient difference in emotional arousal between these categories, GSR is simply not sensitive enough.’

For further information contact TNS Magasin on +44 (0)01858 461461 or visit www.tns-magasin.com

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Changing the habits of a lifetime by Siemon Scamell-Katz

Monday, April 20th, 2009

What percentage of decisions do you think are made in-store? 75%? 70%? 40%? If you’ve got a vested interest, you’ll probably plump for whichever number suits your purposes best. If you’re an innocent bystander, then the chances are that you’re very confused.

So, to ask yet another question, does it really matter? After all, arbitrary ‘statistics’ are quoted as facts for all sorts of reasons every day. Some of these are meant to be manipulative but many are based on simple misapprehension or error.

However, this particular clutch is downright dangerous. It bears no relation to the complex realities of shopper behaviour that it supposedly seeks to describe; instead it reflects a widespread and profound confusion about the nature of shopper decision-making.

Let’s get a fundamental fallacy out of the way first. Shoppers’ decisions, whether in-store, at home or on the Clapham omnibus, aren’t based on the decision tree model. Despite the traditional approach to category management, merchandising and marketing, real-life people don’t behave like this at all.

The fact is that, however exciting industry insiders may find them, shoppers themselves are pretty bored by most categories. This means that the typical shopper has very low involvement with the vast majority of categories so spends very little time thinking about them or interacting with them.

In reality, purchases from all but a few categories are habituated. The majority of shoppers buy the same things every week, fortnight or month without fail. So when they got to the store, they know where the categories are and where, within them, their familiar items are. There is little or no active decision making in-store.

I can’t stress enough how important this is.  The traditional approach to in-store activation is based on the canard of widespread in-store decision making. But it’s time that we abandoned ill-advised attempts to influence shoppers’ at-fixture decisions – ‘buy this instead of that’ – and instead developed strategies that aim to develop different scripted behaviours.

As well as shopper marketing, this has fundamental implications for new product development, packaging, 360° marketing, promotions and advertising. It means that we need to go back to basics, examining the very purpose of our marketing strategy and asking ourselves precisely what our persuasion is trying to achieve.

None of this is to undermine the importance of the store or deny that it is the new battleground. It’s now generally accepted – certainly by readers of this magazine – that the influence of mass advertising is dwindling in the face of increasing media fragmentation and that shoppers constitute an audience. In-store activity is crucial for success in the drive to build brands through the line.

But we really do need to leave misinformation behind us and get wise to how shoppers use the store. By understanding why shoppers buy – and how their choices are influenced by the interplay of rational reasoning, emotions and memories – we can gain genuine influence over their purchasing decisions. The challenge for the in-store community, along with brands, retailers and other marketers, is to develop in-store activation based on a true understanding of shopper behaviour. Their rewards will be seen on the bottom line.

Siemon Scamell-Katz is Founder of TNS Magasin, the international shopper strategy consultancy.  This article first appeared in DDR, April /May 2009, issue 2, volume 6.

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Check out TNS Magasin’s new website

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

International shopper consultancy TNS Magasin has launched its new website at www.tns-magasin.com

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