Most shoppers don’t plan before their trip and the majority of their purchases are unplanned, which demonstrates the importance of in-store displays when it comes to influencing buying decisions. The results come from the 2014 Mass Merchant survey, released by Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI), the global association for marketing at retail. POPAI conducted the survey with the help of Eye Faster, Shopper Sense and SmartRevenue to examine how mass merchant shoppers plan their trips, navigate stores and make purchase decisions.
Key data
 |
For women, 82% of mass merchant purchase decisions are made in store. For men, it’s 76%. |
 |
34% do not create any kind of shopping list. |
 |
62% of purchases are unplanned, with shoppers not consulting any kind of pre-store media, such as television advertisements, store circulars, newspapers etc, to plan their trip. |
 |
16% of unplanned purchases were driven by a display seen during shopping. |
 |
Only 18% of purchases are specifically planned; 17% are generally planned and 3% are substituted. |
Additional facts
- In today’s busy world, marketers and retailers are faced with the challenge of targeting consumers who have less time to spend in stores.
- Age is not a factor for the in-store decision rate.
- When asked about their anticipated trip spend it was found that most shoppers tend to overestimate their average spend.
- The lack of planning on the part of most shoppers highlights the opportunity to capture in-store product purchases
The research is a continuation of POPAI’s Shopper Engagement Study Series and was was conducted in the US, involving almost 3000 shoppers in major mass merchant retail chains. You can find more information about the study here.
{jathumbnail off}