Shopper movement patterns: the effects of product demonstrations on end-of-aisle displays within supermarket retailing

With the lack of research focusing on in-store demonstration and end-of-aisle displays the current study strives to generate a greater level of understanding whilst seeking to demonstrate shopper’s behaviour in the vicinity of a demonstration positioned near an end-of-aisle display. One thousand eight hundred and seven shopper movement patterns were manually recorded via security footage from a supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand. Logistic regression was used to analyse shopper movement patterns where an overall negative effect was produced. Shoppers were found to be less likely to pay attention to an end-of-aisle display and a demonstration (two attention-generating devices) when positioned near one another, compared to when there was no demonstration present. On the odd occasion that attention was given, a detraction effect occurred where shoppers were distracted from the end-of-aisle displays efforts to focus on the in-store demonstration. The shopping party type, shopping device utilised, shoppers’ direction of movement and travel, and shoppers’ gender were also found to influence shoppers’ attention toward the end-of-aisle display and demonstration. To maximise the attention-generating abilities and sales for both the in-store demonstration and the end-of-aisle display, it was recommended that the demonstration be positioned in a less-frequently-visited area that was not so heavily trafficked, had larger amounts of space, and was not directly opposite or near to the end-of-aisle display. If retailers had no other option but to position the demonstration near the end-of-aisle display, it was recommended that a promotional product (different to that of the demonstration product) be positioned on the end-of-aisle display, as this was the only time attention and purchasing from the end-of-aisle display was achieved. Overall, a greater emphasis on positioning demonstrations away from the end-of-aisle display was recommended