Zen and the art of Shopper Insight

In the year 2000, I first read Paco Underhill’s book ‘Why we buy’. He made a great case for this unusual science of shopper behaviour using research techniques that yielded deceptively simple results – Underhill and his team just watched people shop and took notes. In his quest to discover what makes the shopper buy, Underhill explained the shopping phenomena that often go unnoticed by brands, retailers and shoppers alike. Over the years, the book has become a best seller that in a very appealing way takes the reader on a fascinating voyage through the store.

Last month, I picked up ‘Buy.ology – How everything we believe about why we buy is wrong’ by Martin Lindstrom. Lindstrom talks about using neurology to understand shoppers. In the book, he describes how he has conducted the world’s largest neuromarketing experiment by putting over 2000 volunteers through an MRI scanner to plot their brain waves and then to understand what they think. ‘Anti smoking crusades unwittingly encourage people to smoke. Product placement in films rarely works. Many multi-million pound advertising campaigns are a complete waste of time’ says Lindstrom.

These two diametrically different approaches made me think about two main aspects of understanding shoppers.

1.    What are the various approaches to shopper understanding?
2.    How is true insight into the shopping process derived?

Does Underhill’s method of observation tell us things we don’t otherwise know? Or does Lindstrom uncover insights that we might even be a bit scared to admit?

My own view is that ‘the truth’ is out there. The truth however comes in different shapes, sizes and colours. It also changes by region, race and religion! Throw in a few different retail formats ranging from the super swank developed retailer to the 250 square feet ‘kirana’ and there you are!

So how does one even set about navigating this maze?

At our company, we do think there is a method to the madness. In a very Zen like way, we believe in being ‘guided’ by the path to purchase.

We believe that shopping actually happens in the context of a larger set of interactions with other aspects of life. The path to purchase starts well before the shopper enters the store. So understanding how predisposition is created, seeing the shopping list evolve and to an extent, understanding past buying habits is really where the first steps towards insight are taken.

We then move closer to where the action is. There are a host of technologies that are used today to understand shopper behaviour in-store - right from simple video observation to hidden cameras to shopper worn cameras to heat and motion sensors to eye movement sensors to RFID. We will leave out Lindstrom’s MRI scanning here as it has not yet gone inside stores (phew!). In fact I recently came across a project called “Targeted Advertising Based on Audience Natural Response” or TABANAR (phew again!!) for short. This is how it works. When a shopper stops in front of a monitor, a camera records the age, sex, race and expressions of the shopper, analyzes in real time and decides the best commercial to play the shopper! Not only that, if the shopper looks away for some reason, the gadget attempts to draw her attention back – maybe by suddenly playing the music to a crescendo and voila, the shopper sees another product the machine thinks will interest her (based on the information recorded).

In the face of this technological onslaught, simple old fashioned observation still holds its own. Honourable mention must be made of techniques like hidden observation, shopper intercepts, interviews and shopping along with the shopper and recording the targets behaviour. While these methods may be a bit low on technology they are still found pretty useful.

Our own experience also tells us that there is another aspect of the shopping process that is often overlooked by eager researchers – the nature of shopper interaction with the sales staff. We find that especially in high involvement categories where the shopper seeks out information and advice, the interaction has a crucial role to play in the shopper’s decision. Mystery shopping provides insights into this aspect of the path to purchase. Our upcoming report on “Unplanned buying at Traditional retail in India” offers some useful insight on how this one aspect alone influences a surprising number of unplanned purchases at this format in India.

So which of these approaches does one decide to follow?

Technology has its limitations. Not all locations are conducive or accepting of such ‘intrusion’. Interpretation of the data can be challenging in the absence of the ability to analyze it in different ways. The cost and availability of the technology can be a barrier. And we all know how sometimes technology can be really stupid – it never does what you want, only what you tell it!

The human nature of observations and interviews are also not without limitations. Shoppers can tell you what they want you to believe, or even worse, what they themselves believe! Catch them 15 minutes after the shopping experience and they will not even remember many aspects – you get responses that can make even the most seasoned interviewer question the very integrity of the shopper!

I think that given the trajectory this science has followed, both the methods as well as the pool of data from which insights can be extracted will grow tremendously. Not unlike the online world, there will be a lot of information, some of it will actually be very rich and with that will come privacy concerns. We all know how Peeping Toms can create detailed profiles that can be misused and can become weapons in the hands of the unscrupulous.

In our own work at Insight Instore, we use a combination of methods and approaches driven by the simple belief that there is no single approach to convert shoppers into buyers and if it is there, it has not been found yet (thankfully may I add!). At a fundamental level, our strong belief in in-depth research drives us to look at shopper demographics, socio-cultural aspects and psychographic factors. We do this both independently and in relation to the brand, the category, the retail format and the market in question. We believe that seen in totality, all these contribute to the shopper’s predisposition. We review a number of factors inside the store and form a perspective of the balance of nature and nurture.

Finally, to convert all this into usable knowledge is of course another thing all together. And in getting there comes the unique ability of the expert who would leverage diverse skills, draw upon vast experience and push the envelope of thinking to deliver true insight.

And if that seemed rather simply said, it would be apt to refer to this story about Zen master Shinkan.

“I have studied Zen for fifty years. But there is one thing in its teachings that I still cannot understand. It says that one day even the grass and the trees will become enlightened. To me that seems very strange.” said an old man who visited master Shinkan

“Of what use is it to discuss how the grass and trees will become enlightened? How will you become enlightened? That is the real question.” said master Shinkan.

“I never though of it that way” replied the old man.

“Then go home and think it over” said Zen master Shinkan.

Gopi Krishnaswamy

Gopi Krishnaswamy is the CEO of Insight Instore