Stores study shopper body language to maximize sales

Grocery stores and food manufacturers are always trying to attract shoppers to new products. Ever wonder how they find out how to place things so that you might buy them? An article on the Nielsen web site gives a little insight into that question with the results of a Shopper Modality study that chronicles the habits of shoppers and ways marketers can maximize sales by understanding the shopping mentality. According to the study, most of the time shoppers are in "grab and go" mode, but there are windows of opportunity they call Delta moments, when we're open to external stimuli. They break us down into four basic categories: the auto-pilot shopper, the buzz-activated shopper, the variety-activated shopper and the bargain-activated shopper.

Foods also fall into these categories. In the case of auto-pilot items such as mayonnaise, coffee,  bottled water and margarine, we tend to buy the same brands in the same way each time. Put our coffee in a different place or slap a different label on it and sales might suffer. Buzz categories such as chocolate and sports drinks are ones where shoppers are more vulnerable to advertising hype. The variety category is where marketers really have a chance to tempt us, when it comes to foods like salad dressing, frozen snacks and cereal, we are actively cruising for something new to try. In this category, the challenge for marketers is to keep us tempted with the latest and greatest by adding new flavors and other options. And according to the marketers, we're looking for bargains on items like canned tuna, canned fruit and pasta sauce.

All of this information may not change the way you shop but peeking behind the wizard's curtain a bit does let you know why you might be attracted to something you don't really need. And at  least now when you see the umpteenth version of Life cereal, you'll know what the marketers might have been thinking. (And if you want to beat them at their own game, be sure to read our shopping tips, here.)