Shelf Placement Research Articles

VicubelabLab-Personalised Adaptive Aisle (PAA) for Viewability and Reachability of Products in VR Shopping Environments

To improve users’ tendency towards shopping in Virtual Reality (VR), en-hancing the User Experience (UX) of the VR shopping environments is of primary importance. Product viewability, reachability, and personalisation are some of the primary UX factors in a shopping environment. This paper proposes and discusses three factors for a Personalised Adaptive Aisle (PAA) in a VR shopping environment to improve the shopping experience. They are 1) Shelf placement for viewability and reachability, 2) User view-point in VR, and 3) Personalised Product placement.

TiSPHiMME: Time Series Profile Hidden Markov Ensemble in Resolving Item Location on Shelf Placement in Basket Analysis

A market basket in principle, mines/applies a variety of rules that tries to associate a set of items sold together and thus, generate sales transaction data in volumes daily. Its outcome is to provide users with adequate data against the issue of unnecessary item stock-up or inventory stock-out; Thus, averting un-needed demurrage, and provide clients with better decision and improved services. With such itemset (as a basket) seen to be time-bound, client-behavior over time does framework forecast, product that are commonly purchased vis-à-vis the itemset combination called a basket. We must also account for change in the features of a product vis-à-vis a corresponding change in shelve placement of the item – even as consumers change about their selected itemsets combination(s). Thus, our study explores a time-clustering algorithm that exploits (and mines) the Delta Mall (ShopRites) datasets to examine purchase behavior, preferences, and the frequency of itemset combination for each customer. For this model, we generated an average of 162-rules; And the results showed that previous basket items by random customers allow the selection purchase of items of similar value as best combined due to its shelf-placement using the concept of feature drift. Keywords; TiSPHiMME, Time Series, Hidden Markov Ensemble, Basket Analysis, Internet, Algorithms

Marketing of sugar-sweetened children's drinks and parents' misperceptions about benefits for young children.

Despite expert recommendations, US parents often serve sugar‐sweetened children's drinks, including sweetened fruit‐flavoured drinks and toddler milks, to young children. This qualitative research explored parents' understanding of common marketing tactics used to promote these drinks and whether they mislead parents to believe the drinks are healthy and/or necessary for children. We conducted nine focus groups in Washington, DC and Hartford, CT with parents of children (9–36 months) of diverse race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (N = 50). Semistructured discussions elicited parents' responses to four concepts designed to correct common misperceptions about toddler milks and sweetened fruit‐flavoured drinks (fruit drinks and flavoured waters) by providing information about drink ingredients and potentially misleading marketing tactics. Participants expressed widespread misperceptions about sweetened fruit‐flavoured drinks and toddler milks, including perceived healthfulness and benefits for children and confusion between sweetened and unsweetened drink categories (sweetened fruit‐flavoured drinks vs. juice, toddler milk vs. infant formula). They confirmed that common marketing strategies contributed to misperceptions, including front‐of‐package claims and marketing messages that imply benefits for children and/or hide problematic ingredients; cross‐branding and product extensions from trusted brands; side‐by‐side shelf placement at retailers; lower price than healthier products; and targeted marketing to children and parents. Some parents expressed anger about deceptive marketing and supported increased regulation and consumer education campaigns. Findings support the need for policies to address potentially misleading marketing of sweetened fruit‐flavoured drinks and toddler milks and revealed opportunities to reduce parents' provision of these drinks through countermarketing campaigns communicated via trusted sources.

Limited attention in beverage choice: Evidence from a field experiment

This study provides experimental evidence on consumers’ inattention in a beverage choice setting and estimates the degree of inattention under a theoretical framework. In the field experiment, the shelf placement of the beverage varied exogenously. Displaying less (more) sugary beverages at eye height (the farthest position from eye height) increases (decreases) consumers’ demand by 24.8% (25.3%). The estimated consumers’ degree of inattention to the farthest position from eye height was around 20%. Changing the display reduced consumers’ sugar intake from beverages by 5573 g during the intervention, about 6.86 g per consumption (about 13.7% of the World Health Organization's (WHO) daily sugar intake recommendation). Our findings support the idea that the limited attention in beverage choice can be harnessed as a nudge policy to reduce consumers’ intake of sugar from sugar-sweetened beverages.

Capturing the Healthfulness of the In-store Environments of United Kingdom Supermarket Stores Over 5 Months (January–May 2019)

Numerous environmental factors within supermarkets can influence the healthfulness of food purchases. This research aims to identify the changes in store healthfulness scores and assess the variations by store type and neighborhood deprivation using an adapted Consumer Nutrition Environment tool. Between January and May 2019, a total of 104 supermarkets in London were surveyed on 1-3 occasions. The adapted Consumer Nutrition Environment tool included data on 9 variables (variety, price, quality, promotions, shelf placement, store placement, nutrition information, healthier alternatives, and single fruit sale) for 11 healthy and 5 less healthy food items. An algorithm was used to create a composite score of in-store healthfulness and to assess inter-rater reliability. Longitudinal changes in overall store healthfulness and individual variables were investigated using multivariable hierarchical mixed models. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the differences by store type and neighborhood deprivation in each month. All analyses were conducted between January and July 2020. The adapted Consumer Nutrition Environment tool showed acceptable inter-rater reliability. Large stores exhibited healthier environments than small stores (p<0.001), with a similar pattern for each of the 9 individual variables. Within large stores, the overall healthfulness score did not change over the study period. Promotions on more healthful items increased in February (p=0.04), and the availability of healthier alternatives for less healthy foods decreased in March (p=0.01). Within small stores, there was a trend toward increasing healthfulness (p<0.001), primarily owing to more promotions on healthy items (p<0.001). There was no difference in overall healthfulness by neighborhood deprivation. The adapted Consumer Nutrition Environment tool is sensitive to longitudinal changes in environmental variables that contribute to store healthfulness. A wider application of this tool could be used to map in-store environments to identify targets for interventions to encourage healthier food purchasing.

An Exploratory Study Combining Eye-Tracking and Virtual Reality: Are Pulses Good “Eye-Catchers” in Virtual Supermarket Shelves?

Despite numerous health and environmental benefits, the consumption of pulses (i.e. lentils, chickpeas … ) in France has decreased over the past few decades. One potential barrier to pulse consumption may be their shelf placement in French supermarkets. We studied gaze behavior toward pulses in a virtual supermarket. Products from four food categories (animal-based, pulses, starches, and vegetables) were randomly presented on four shelves (canned, dried, ready-to-eat, and refrigerated). Then, a composite super-shelf combined the canned, dried, and refrigerated shelves. Gaze behavior was recorded for the 108 participants in two screening phases: i) the four shelves one-by-one, ii) the super-shelf. Pulses were not strong “eye-catchers”: gaze behavior toward pulses varied from shelf to shelf. Similarly, visual attention was different for each food-group during super-shelf screening. These results could be used to implement specific strategies that should be developed in supermarkets to encourage the choice of pulses by consumers, and thus increase pulse consumption.

Shelf placement optimization for air products

Airlines are increasingly trying to differentiate their offers, so one airline’s bare bones low fare may, for some travelers, be equivalent to another airline’s high fare, if the low fare bundles some ancillaries a traveler wants. Because of differentiation of airline offers the air traveler must simultaneously compare air fares and the ancillaries included. Price comparison is also difficult as the same cabin offers vary by the ancillaries included across the competing airlines. We are proposing a shelf product assortment method for categorizing airline offers into utility levels, thus facilitating the choice task of air travelers. We describe possible known approaches, describe Sabre’s proposal, provide information on the optimization methods used, and propose future work in the field.

Healthy choice architecture in the supermarket: Does it work?

Improving dietary quality of supermarket purchases could help reduce obesity and chronic diseases worldwide. In the past decade, there has been increasing academic interest in using behavioral economics strategies, primarily choice architecture, to "nudge" shoppers to make healthier purchases in supermarkets. In a recent study, Young et al. collaborated with a supermarket retailer to test the impact of prominent shelf placement on the sales of healthier breakfast cereals. This well-designed, 12-week product placement intervention did not increase sales of the healthier products. Does this mean healthy supermarket choice architecture does not work? Shelf placement interventions may not be able to overcome customers' strong preferences for their habitual choices and brands, and in-store displays and promotions may further reduce the effect of these interventions. Healthy choice architecture is more likely to be effective if default choices are compatible with shoppers' personal preferences or long-term goals, such as saving money or keeping their children healthy. Combining product placement interventions with other nudges that are salient, such as price incentives or simplified health labels, are more effective. Healthy choice architecture interventions hold promise for improving population dietary behaviors and health, but academic and public health collaboration with food retailers is needed to develop effective strategies that take into account shoppers' preferences, socioeconomic barriers, and health-related knowledge.

The effect of a shelf placement intervention on sales of healthier and less healthy breakfast cereals in supermarkets: A co-designed pilot study.

Supermarkets are the principal source of grocery food in many high-income countries. Choice architecture strategies show promise to improve the healthiness of food choices. A retailer-academic collaboration was formed to co-design and pilot selected commercially sustainable strategies to increase sales of healthier foods relative to less healthy foods in supermarkets. Two co-design workshops, involving supermarket corporate staff and public health nutrition academics, identified potential interventions. One intervention, more prominent shelf placement of healthier products within one category (breakfast cereals), was selected for testing. A pilot study (baseline, intervention and follow-up, 12-weeks each) was undertaken in six supermarkets (three intervention and three control) in Auckland, New Zealand. Products were ranked by nutrient levels and profile, and after accounting for the supermarkets' space management principles, healthier products were placed at adult eye level. The primary outcome was change in sales of healthier products relative to total category sales. Secondary outcomes were nutrient profile of category sales, in-store product promotions, customer perceptions, and retailer feedback. There was no difference in proportional sales of more prominently positioned healthier products between intervention (56%) and control (56%) stores during the intervention. There were no differences in the nutrient profile of category sales. A higher proportion of less healthy breakfast cereals were displayed in intervention versus control stores (57% vs 43%). Most customers surveyed supported shelf placement as a strategy (265, 88%) but noted brand preferences and price were more salient determinants of purchases. Retailers were similarly supportive but balancing profit, health/nutrition and customer satisfaction was challenging. Shelf placement alone was not an effective strategy to increase purchases of healthier breakfast cereals. This study showed co-design of a healthy eating intervention with a commercial retailer is feasible, but concurrent retail environment factors likely limited the public health impact of the intervention.

Marketing to Children in Supermarkets: An Opportunity for Public Policy to Improve Children's Diets.

Public health experts worldwide are calling for a reduction of the marketing of nutrient-poor food and beverages to children. However, industry self-regulation and most government policies do not address in-store marketing, including shelf placement and retail promotions. This paper reports two U.S.-based studies examining the prevalence and potential impact of in-store marketing for nutrient-poor child-targeted products. Study 1 compares the in-store marketing of children’s breakfast cereals with the marketing of other (family/adult) cereals, including shelf space allocation and placement, special displays and promotions, using a national audit of U.S. supermarkets. Child-targeted cereals received more shelf space, middle- and lower-shelf placements, special displays, and promotions compared with other cereals. Study 2 compares the proportion of product sales associated with in-store displays and promotions for child-targeted versus other fruit drinks/juices, using syndicated sales data. A higher proportion of child-targeted drink sales were associated with displays and promotions than sales of other drinks. In both categories, the results were due primarily to major company products. Although in-store marketing of child-targeted products likely appeals to both children and parents, these practices encourage children’s consumption of nutrient-poor food and drinks. If companies will not voluntarily address in-store marketing to children, government policy options are available to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods in the supermarket.

Affect transfer from national brands to store brands in multi-brand stores

The competition between national brands (NBs) and store brands (SBs) has evolved from the mere imitation of physical characteristics to what we call affect-based competition. We propose a model of moderated mediation empirically validated on 350 participants in a field study conducted in a multi-brand store. The results show the existence of a positive affect transfer from NBs to SBs through store image, in addition to the existence of a negative direct relationship between NBs and SBs (affect polarization) that can be neutralized if consumers have a positive perception of the retailer, which itself arises from promotional activity and the shelf placement of the SB.

A Multi Attribute Value Theory approach to rank association rules for leveraging better business decision making

Market Basket Analysis or Association Rule Mining (ARM) is an approach to discover the purchase patterns of the customers by extracting and analyzing the basket of items which sell together. Businesses are also keen to discover those rules which can generate more profits. These profitable purchase patterns of customers once identified can lead to better product assortment decision making for businesses. Better Product Assortment decisions can surely be a competitive advantage for businesses in terms of customer satisfaction and profit generation. The concepts of support and confidence in the association rules help to extract the rules with frequent and reliable co-occurrences of the items in customers’ purchases. The profitable rules can be assessed using the domain-related measures such as item set value and the cross-selling profit associated with the association rules. We propose a ranking mechanism to combine the different criteria of Confidence, Support, Item Set Value and Cross-Selling Profit to get an overall interestingness measure; using Multi-Attribute Value Theory (MAVT) approach; which in turn uses DIVIZ as the implementation tool. These association rules can be used as a leverage for the marketing activities like cross-selling promotions, shelf placement etc. and other crucial decisions like product assortment selection.

Education and the Relationship Between Supermarket Environment and Diet.

Supermarkets are a major source of food for many families. Knowledge of how educational attainment affects the relationship between in-store environments of supermarkets and diet is needed. This study examined the relationship between maternal dietary quality and overall in-store supermarket environment, and assessed the effect modification of educational attainment. Dietary quality z-scores were calculated for 829 mothers with young children using cross-sectional data collected in 2010-2011 from a 20-item food frequency questionnaire. Information about nine in-store factors (variety, price, quality, promotion, shelf placement, store placement, nutrition information, healthier alternatives, and single fruit sale) on 12 foods known to discriminate between better and poorer dietary quality were collected to create a standardized "healthfulness" z-score for each supermarket where mothers shopped. Multilevel unadjusted linear regression analysis completed in 2014-2015 showed that shopping at more-healthful supermarkets was associated with better dietary quality (β=0.39 SD/SD, p=0.01, 95% CI=0.10, 0.68). However, the relationship differed according to educational attainment (interaction, p=0.006). Among mothers who left school at age 16 years, those who shopped at less healthful supermarkets had poorer dietary quality (β=0.31 SD/SD, 95% CI=0.07, 0.55). Among mothers with degrees, those who shopped at less healthful supermarkets had better dietary quality (β=-0.59 SD/SD, 95% CI=-1.19, 0.00). Mothers with low educational attainment show greater susceptibility to less healthful in-store environments than mothers with higher educational attainment who may be protected by greater psychological and financial resources. Policy initiatives to improve supermarket environments may be necessary to address dietary inequalities.

The development of a consumer value proposition of private label brands and the application thereof in a South African retail context

Private Label Brands are of strategic importance to retailers worldwide. However, there is a dearth of knowledge, particularly in emerging markets, as to the manner in which consumers cognitively assess these brands. At the heart of the issue is a gap in knowledge as to how consumers formulate a value proposition in their minds and the effect of loyalty to existing brands. This paper assumes a positivist, hypothetico-deductive approach by attempting to address the question: What are the key drivers of perceived value of private label branded breakfast cereals, taking price, perceived risk and perceived quality into account? Moreover, the study considers how various attributes of brand image contribute to the perception of brands and the extent to which loyalty to established national brands inhibits purchasing intent of private label merchandise. A conceptual model was developed, and tested by means of Partial Least Squares path analysis, using a sample of 482 respondents. The outcome reflects that consumers take cognisance of value through price, risk and quality cues, but that loyalty to existing brands has a minimal effect in the final stage of the model. Moreover, both in- and out-of-store influences were found to play a significant role in the determination of product quality. Retailers therefore possess a number of levers at their disposal to influence perceived value, most notably price, product quality and the perceived risk portfolio, as well as packaging, shelf placement, store environmental factors, etcetera.

An Analysis of the Effects of Promotion and Shelf Position on Store Revenue

This article examines the influence of shelf placement and the ways of presenting prices at supermarkets. We carried out an experimental longitudinal study for three months in a supermarket involving nine common products, divided by placement into three shelf positions (upper area, middle area and lower area) and three price presentation strategies. These were the supermarket’s standard price sticker for the base month (control) and two new presentations: the first a poster with the appeal “Compare”, and the second the same type of poster with the appeal “Compare” plus “30% Discount”. We then analyzed the variations in sales of the products and the impact on the store’s revenues from the display areas. The results showed that: (i) higher stimuli (posters) boosted sales; (ii) the poster with the appeal “Compare” was the best form of price presentation; (iii) of the nine products studied, only four had a significant impact on the revenue in more than one month; and (iv) the middle (prime) shelf area attracted the most sales, followed by the lower area.

Measuring the healthfulness of food retail stores: variations by store type and neighbourhood deprivation.

BackgroundThe consumer nutrition environment has been conceptualised as in-store environmental factors that influence food shopping habits. More healthful in-store environments could be characterised as those which promote healthful food choices such as selling good quality healthy foods or placing them in prominent locations to prompt purchasing. Research measuring the full-range of in-store environmental factors concurrently is limited.PurposeTo develop a summary score of ‘healthfulness’ composed of nine in-store factors that influence food shopping behaviour, and to assess this score by store type and neighbourhood deprivation.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 601 retail food stores, including supermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores, was completed in Hampshire, United Kingdom between July 2010 and June 2011. The survey measured nine variables (variety, price, quality, promotions, shelf placement, store placement, nutrition information, healthier alternatives and single fruit sale) to assess the healthfulness of retail food stores on seven healthy and five less healthy foods that are markers of diet quality. Four steps were completed to create nine individual variable scores and another three to create an overall score of healthfulness for each store.ResultsAnalysis of variance showed strong evidence of a difference in overall healthfulness by store type (p < 0.001). Large and premium supermarkets offered the most healthful shopping environments for consumers. Discount supermarkets, ‘world’, convenience and petrol stores offered less healthful environments to consumers however there was variation across the healthfulness spectrum. No relationship between overall healthfulness and neighbourhood deprivation was observed (p = 0.1).ConclusionsA new composite measure of nine variables that can influence food choices was developed to provide an overall assessment of the healthfulness of retail food stores. This composite score could be useful in future research to measure the relationship between main food store and quality of diet, and to evaluate the effects of multi-component food environment interventions.

Eyes in the Aisles

To what extent do cereal spokes-characters make eye contact with children versus adults, and does their eye contact influence choice? In study 1, the shelf placement and eye positioning of 86 cereal spokes-characters were evaluated in 10 grocery stores in the Eastern United States. We calculated the average height of cereal boxes on the shelf for adult- versus children-oriented cereals (48 in. vs. 23 in.) and the inflection angle of spokes-characters’ gaze (0.4° vs. −9.6°). We found that cereal characters on child- (adult-) oriented cereals make incidental eye contact at children’s (adults’) eye level. In Study 2, we showed that eye contact with cereal spokes-characters increased feelings of trust and connection to the brand, as well as choice of the brand over competitors. Currently, many of the cereals targeted toward children are of the heavily sugared, less healthy variety. One potential application of this finding would be to use eye contact with spokes-characters to promote healthy choices and healthier food consumption.

Eyes in the Aisles: Why Is CappN Crunch Looking Down at My Child?

To what extent do cereal spokes-characters make eye contact with children versus adults, and does their eye contact influence choice? The shelf placement and eye positioning of 86 cereal spokes-characters were evaluated in ten grocery stores in the Eastern United States. In Study 1, we calculated the average height of cereal boxes on the shelf for adult- versus children-oriented cereals (48 versus 23-in.) and the inflection angle of spokes-characters’ gaze (0.4 versus -9.6 degrees). We found that cereal characters on children- (adult-) oriented cereals make incidental eye contact at children’s (adults’) eye level. In Study 2, we showed that eye contact with cereal spokes-characters increased feelings of trust and connection to the brand, as well as choice of the brand over competitors. Currently, many of the cereals targeted towards children are of the heavily sugared, less healthy variety. One potential application of this finding would be to use eye contact with spokes-characters to promote healthy choices and healthier food consumption.

BRAND PLACEMENT AND CONSUMER CHOICE: AN IN‐STORE EXPERIMENT

An in-store experiment was performed to investigate the effects of shelf placement (high, middle, low) on consumers' purchases of potato chips. Placement of potato chips on the middle shelf was associated with the highest percentage of purchases. The results confirm the importance of item placement as a factor in consumers' buying behavior.

Transnational Book Markets and Literary Reception in the Americas

In her paper Transnational Book Markets and Literary Reception in the Americas, Molly Metherd argues that the most diffuse products of transnational cultural production in the come from mass media productions packaged for transnational audiences -i.e., Hollywood films, television shows, popular magazines, product advertisements -and that tend to homogenize messages, promote stereotypes, and simplify complex issues. However, another effort to make sense of shifting relationships in the is coming from a group of US-American and Spanish American literary figures. In their fiction, criticism, journalistic work, and public statements, such authors have been responding to the covalence of American cultures and interrogating mass media messages. Metherd examines the emergence of this transnational publishing industry which offers the institutional structure for authors to reach out to hemispheric audiences and its impact and relates the said situation to Chilean author Alberto Fuguet. She explores how, in order to accommodate these changing markets, Englishand Spanish-language publishers have formed strategic partnerships and introduced new imprints often releasing works simultaneously in English and Spanish and promoting authors to a larger hemispheric readership through shelf placement, advertising and book tours. Molly Metherd, Transnational Book Markets and Literary Reception in the Americas page 2 of 9 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 10.3 (2008):