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In-store Shopper Research

  • Measure navigation, attention and emotion throughout the shopping trip

  • Equipped with Eye Tracking and (optional) EEG

  • Discover concrete points for improvement for the customer journey

Applications

A shopper's behavior and emotion takes place at lightning speed and largely unconsciously. It therefore makes little sense to consciously ask people about the shopping experience or the way they navigate and process information.

Unravel's In-store Shopper Research is the first method that succeeds in making the nuances of the shopping trip measurable. On a solid basis of Eye Tracking, which can optionally be expanded with EEG (brain activity) and interviews, we obtain an unprecedented complete picture of how the customer really experiences the store.

Experience what your customer sees – and misses

The basic method for any in-store shopper research is Eye Tracking. This allows us to determine which objects and information are being looked at during every millisecond of the store visit.

This Eye Tracking data contains crucial information:

  • Rules in routing. How does the customer navigate, and which store elements are primarily used for this?
  • What are the hotspots of attention?
  • Which elements get missed?

In short: you immediately receive concrete starting points for smarter placement of store navigation, departments, shelves and communication for a more fluid distribution of attention.

Deepen with brain activity (EEG) and/or interview

If, in addition to attention and routing, you are also curious about the shopper's experience, it makes sense to expand this research with EEG and/or an extensive in-depth interview afterwards.

  • EEG measures directly in the brain how effort and positive emotion fluctuate during the shopping trip. This way you will find out which departments or specific moments are among the highlights, but also where there is still room for improvement.
  • With in-depth interviews afterwards, we complete the picture by gaining insight into the expectations, experiences and evaluation of the shopper.
Tim Zuidgeest

Or discuss the possibilities with Tim, our Lead Consultant
View availability and schedule an online appointment

"We have already done several studies with Unravel. All studies went smoothly. After each study, we received a short and concise report with recommendations that we were able to put into practice immediately."
Chantal Smit - Kalverda - GAMMA

How it works

For a long time, it was not possible to conduct neuromarketing research outside of the lab. Thanks to the technical progress in the comfort and wireless possibilities of Eye Tracking and EEG equipment, this is one of the possibilities at Unravel. The lab comes to your shop, which makes the measurement more realistic than ever.

View the store through the eyes of your customer

In-store neuromarketing studies take place in a real store, including the presence of fellow customers. This way we ensure a shopping process that is as realistic as possible.

Respondent-shoppers will be fitted with the Eye Tracker and (optional) EEG in advance. After the equipment is properly calibrated, the shopper enters the store. Brain activity and viewing patterns are comfortably measured while shopping. We measure to the millisecond what the shopper is looking at, as well as how the brain fluctuates in effort and desire.

Emotion – down to the square meter

While traditional shopper research with questionnaires, interviews and focus groups is unable to capture the intuitive and emotional side of the shopping trip, neuromarketing research allows us to measure the actual shopping experience. And that without interrupting the trip even once.

The shopper shops exactly as in reality, with the only difference that our Eye Tracker and EEG equipment carefully charts every development in attention, emotion and effort.

Tim Zuidgeest

Or discuss the possibilities with Tim, our Lead Consultant
View availability and schedule an online appointment

Timeline of in-store shopper research

Each in-store research is unique. Unravel Research therefore follows a proven approach to translate your research question into a matching design and purchase assignment. The average turnaround time for an in-store eye tracking study is two weeks.

  • Day 1-2: Kick-off & preparation

    In the first week, the scope of the project is determined in consultation with the client. Which parts of the shopping trip do we want to map out, and which purchase assignment fits in optimally with this? Unravel takes an active advisory role in this, because a well-thought-out purchase assignment is crucial to be able to measure the realistic shopping experience.

  • Day 3-5: Fieldwork

    During the field work days, 15-30 respondents visit the store location. The number of respondents depends on the nature of the research question. The respondents will be fitted with the Eye Tracker and optionally the EEG here, after which they go through the briefing with a purchase assignment. Then they go shopping – exactly like a regular shopping trip.

  • Day 6-10: Data analysis and reporting

    Because each shopping trip is self-contained and must be analyzed on an individual level, data analysis is a labor-intensive affair. We process the data into practical insights about the behavior and experience of the shopper, as well as quantitative performance metrics per department or moment in the shopping trip.

Tim Zuidgeest

Or discuss the possibilities with Tim, our Lead Consultant
View availability and schedule an online appointment

Output example

Below you will find an example of in-store neuromarketing research. The output provides qualitative insights into the customer journey and possible improvements (left) on the one hand, and quantitative data broken down by department (middle) or trip moment (right) on the other.

Tim Zuidgeest

Or discuss the possibilities with Tim, our Lead Consultant
View availability and schedule an online appointment

Facts

> 860

shopping trips tested

10

days lead time

10

10 years of experience

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of assignment do you send the respondent into the store with?

A suitable respondent assignment is crucial to ensure a realistic shopping experience. The respondent assignment can be goal-oriented (fulfilling a specific purchase objective) or more open (where the customer visits shopping areas and makes purchases according to his own preference). In many cases, the purchase order is a combination of both.

Unravel agrees the respondent assignment together with the client in advance. This is aimed at a shopping trip that is as realistic as possible on the one hand, and on the other that the customer actually ends up in the departments or choices that are central to the research question.

Our clients

We mean business with