What visual methods are employed by UK supermarkets to influence product choice??

What visual methods are

employed by UK

supermarkets to influence

product choice??

Ryan Oldfield

VC601 Dissertation

2012

BA (Hons) Graphic DesignVC601: Dissertation

Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………..1-2

Literature Review……………………………………………………………3-4

Methodology…………………………………………………………………5

Supermarket Definition……………………………………………………..6-7

History of the UK Supermarket……………………………………………7-11

An analysis of shop layout and product placement……………………..12-17

Psychology of Buying………………………………………………………18-26

Sensory Branding and Promotion…………………………………………27

Case Studies………………………………………………………………..28-29

Findings and Conclusion…………………………………………………..30-31

Bibliography……………………………………………………...32-33

References……………………………………………………….34

Figures……………………………………………………………35-42

Appendix………………………………………………………….43-48

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Introduction

It is the objective of this dissertation to find out in what ways, and how effectively,

supermarkets use visual design/layout techniques to encourage customers to make

purchases. Although supermarkets employ a variety of methods, personal

investigations have found that not all of these relate purely to design.

Design related methods will be examined to hopefully ascertain the most common

(and the most innovative) ones used, and to also identify which work most

effectively. Investigations into generic, similar and any variations in methods

employed by supermarkets will also be undertaken.

As a regular supermarket shopper (as well as graphic design student), it is of

personal interest to gain more of an understanding of the visual ‘signs’ which

supermarkets use to guide customers around each area. It seems that supermarkets

design their floor layouts in a specific way to encourage us to buy more than we

need. Research to date has found that many stores use a number of techniques

which subliminally and blatantly persuade us to buy from them. To what degree does

this work? What role does in-store design, layout, visual merchandising and

promotion play? How do they work together to create desired reactions from

customers?

It is hoped that readers (including supermarket workers!) will benefit from this

submission in different ways. Research findings may benefit supermarkets as

efficient and effective methods of persuasion used by competitors may be applied to

their own places of work.

In the same way, consumers may find this work of interest as they are directly

targeted and influenced by supermarkets in their spending habits, with many items

being purchased as a result of clever and sometimes manipulative selling

techniques.

It would naïve to think that any research which is personally found during this

investigation will not already have been done by the major supermarkets, as they put

millions of pounds into researching the most effective ways to make consumers

spend their money. However

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from a consumer’s point of view, this document may uncover facts that they would

not normally read about in the media which may inform them about the various

subliminal and blatant methods and techniques adopted by supermarkets to make

them buy.

Some secondary data will be utilised from case study accounts which have been

done previously and which are relevant to this area of study. It is also hoped that

primary research can be done by asking individuals to go into a supermarket and

write down what catches their eye as they walk around. This will hopefully provide a

clearer understanding of how shoppers navigate their way around a store and the

choices they make when confronted by the various forms of promotion and layout of

products.

The biggest limitation of this study is that supermarkets may not provide requested

information which alludes to how and why their stores look the way they do visually.

Research would therefore have to rely heavily on secondary information which

already exists. The main objective of this report is to find out what methods the

supermarkets use to make shoppers buy and how effective are they when compared

with each other.

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Literature Review

In order to gather as much information as possible on the chosen topic area

research will be using books, websites, case studies and articles and even TV from

which qualitative and quantitative data may be gleaned.

Key texts examined include:

Martin Lindstrom’s ‘BUY-OLOGY’ provides detailed information around the

psychology of purchasing decisions. However, it relates more specifically to

TV advertising than in store advertising.

A number of internet and E-Library case studies have been examined and may also

prove useful, most specifically:

W.M.C.B. Wanninayake and Pradeep Randiwela’s ‘The impact of visual

merchandising on consumer store choice decisions in Sri Lankan

supermarkets’, although this isn’t a UK case study, it does provide a valuable

insight into what people think and what influences them to buy from

supermarkets. Statistical data will also be included to support thoughts and

substantiate findings.

Specific internet information which compares the prices on the shelves of four

major supermarkets will be investigated and analysed.

As well as books and case studies several relevant articles discovered on the

internet and E-library will be included within this dissertation. These include:

‘Virtual Circles’ by Charles Ilsley shows that supermarkets have new

technology that can show if a product will sell better in a different or current

position.

Janet Groeber’s article ‘The path to profit’ asks a number of questions about

supermarkets and in-store design, to some top professionals in the

supermarket and marketing world.

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‘Graphic Impact’ by Anita Watts, proved to be one of the most useful articles

as she talks in detail about how photos, fonts & colours increase impulse

buying.

Two articles from the Design Week journal – ‘Store design’, mentions in

detail about the supermarket in-store environment and also provides

statistical information. ‘On point’ discusses point-of-sale and how to use it in

the correct and most effective way.

www.spacehijackers.org had a useful article which included an A-Z list of

retail tricks to make consumers shop, although sadly, more than half of the

content wasn’t design related.

A recent TV episode of BBC 1’s Panorama showed an undercover team who

investigated the ‘big four’ supermarket chains (Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s, Morrison’s and

Asda). Their objective was to reveal how consumers are being duped through false

advertising and promotion. Interviews were conducted throughout the programme

when psychologists explained how and why supermarket offers and promotions work

so effectively on consumer behaviour and buying decisions.

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Methodology

This report aims to investigate and establish how four supermarkets use visual

methods to influence product choice. A comparison of the four will also be

undertaken to see if there are any tactical differences and why. From the research

done to date it has been found that there are links between stores that promote

themselves and their appealing product ranges than ones that don’t.

So far a variety of research tools have been used including the internet, books, case

studies and articles. Primary research sources include email questionnaires which

have been sent to the ‘big four’ supermarkets. Unfortunately, only one reply has

been received, but it does include some very detailed information about what affects

customers instore. Because of the lack of responses most of the research for this

dissertation will consist of secondary sources.

Having completed the literature review it has been found that there are many

methods supermarkets use, but research findings have only identified a certain

number used. These include pictures, colours, typography and own branded

products. Product placement will also be discussed and will include information and

strategies about product ‘special offers’, use and positioning of shelves, the

application of posters and promotional displays.

Statistical data in news articles will also be used to support points discussed.

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Supermarket definition

Contemporary supermarkets are

supermarkets which are self-service

stores that tend to offer a wide range of

food and household products which are

then arranged into aisled sections or

departments. These shops have a much

bigger varied selection of products

compared to traditional stores. However

on the other hand its range of products tends to be slightly limited compared to

bigger stores such as hypermarkets or big box.

Supermarkets normally sell dairy and baked goods, fresh produce and meat, they

also have shelf space for packaged items and tinned foods, and also have shelfs for

other products which are not food related such as pharmacy goods, pet supplies and

also products for the home such as cleaning chemicals. A lot of supermarkets now

tend to sell a variety of other household consumables like medicines, alcohol, and

even clothes.

A normal supermarket has a large amount of floor space, usually on a single level

and they are normally placed near a residential area in order to be closer to their

customers. Their appeal includes convenience, value for money, and wide selections

of goods all available under one roof. Other advantages include easy, free parking

and flexible shopping times with some supermarkets staying open twenty-four

hours a day. They regularly spend huge

budgets on advertising, normally using

media such as TV and newspapers.

They also include appealing in-store

product displays. The stores are

normally part of corporate

chains that own or control (sometimes

by franchise) other supermarkets

located nearby or nationally, which can mean increasing opportunities for economies

of scale.

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Supermarkets more often than not offer products at low prices by reducing their cost

margins. Certain products (normally main foods like bread, milk and sugar) are

sometimes sold as loss leaders, that is, with negative profit margins. To maintain

profits, supermarkets attempt to make up for lower margins by a higher overall

number of sales, and with the sale of higher margin items. Customers normally shop

by placing there chosen products into shopping baskets or trolleys then pay for the

products at the check-out. At present, a lot of supermarket chains are trying to

reduce further labour costs by changing to self service check-out machines, where a

employee can watch a group consisting of 4 to 5machines at once, tending to

multiple customers at any one time.

A larger, full service supermarket combined with a department store is sometimes

called a hypermarket. Other services offered at some supermarkets may include

banking, cafés, childcare centres, photo processing, video rentals, pharmacies and

petrol stations.

History of the UK Supermarket

In the United Kingdom, self-service shopping took longer to become a permanent

feature. Even in 1947, there were only ten self service shops in the country. In 1951,

ex-US Navy sailor Patrick Galvani, son-in-law of Express Dairies chairman, made a

pitch to the board to open a number of supermarkets across the country. The UK's

first supermarket (under the new Premier Supermarkets brand) opened in

Streatham, South London, taking ten times as much money per week as the average

British general store of the time. Other chains caught on, and after Galvani lost out to

Tesco's Jack Cohen in 1960 to buy the 212 Irwin's chain, the sector underwent a

large amount of consolidation, resulting in 'the big four' main UK retailers of today

Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.

In the 1950s, supermarkets often issued trading stamps as incentives to customers.

Today, most stores issue store specific membership cards, club cards or loyalty

cards. These normally enable shoppers to receive special members’ only discounts

on certain items when the card is scanned at check out.

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Traditional supermarkets in many countries face fierce competition from discount

retailers such as Wal-Mart, Tesco in the UK, and Zellers in Canada, which normally

operate with better buying power. Other competition comes from warehouse clubs

such as Costco who offer savings to customers buying in bulk quantities.

Superstores, such as those operated by Wal-Mart and Asda, often offer a large

range of goods and services as well as food. The prominence of such warehouse

and superstores has contributed to the continuing disappearance of smaller, local

stores.

Morrisons

Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest

chain in the United Kingdom with their main

headquarters situated in Bradford. The company is

normally referred to, and is branded as, Morrisons

(formerly Morrison's). Morrisons' market share as of December 2008 was 11.8%,

making it the smallest of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets, behind Tesco (30.9%), Asda

(16.8%) and Sainsbury's (16%), but ahead of the fifth place Co-operative Group,

which had a share of 4.4%.

Founded in 1899 by William Morrison, (shortened to Wm Morrison), the shop started

as an egg and butter stall in Rawson Market, Bradford. Until 2004, Morrisons store

locations were mainly based in the north of England, but with the takeover of

Safeway in that year, the company now has 455 superstores all over the UK.

The Morrison family currently owns around 15.5% of the company.

Waitrose

Waitrose Limited is a quality market chain of

supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the

food division of its joint owned British retailer which is John Lewis Partnership. Its

head office is located in Bracknell, Berkshire, England. As of January 2011, Waitrose

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has over 243 branches all over the United Kingdom and a 4.2% share of the market,

making it the 6th largest grocery retailer in the UK.

The first Waitrose store opened in Acton Hill, West London in 1904 by Wallace

Waite, Arthur Rose and David Taylor. Within a century the company was one of the

country’s leading food retailers employing 37,000 people.

The John Lewis Partnership acquired the business in 1937, opening the first

Waitrose supermarket in 1955. Today there are 243 branches, dedicated to offering

quality, value and customer service.

There are Waitrose shops throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Locations

range from high streets to edge of town sites and vary in size from only 7,000 square

feet to around 56,000 feet. The John Lewis Partnership as a whole employs nearly

68,000 people and has a turnover in excess of £6 billion. As well as Waitrose, it runs

26 John Lewis department stores throughout the UK, several manufacturing

concerns and a farm.

The company has a Royal Warrant to supply groceries, wine and spirits to Queen

Elizabeth II. As of 1 January 2011 Waitrose has a Royal Warrant to supply groceries,

wine and spirits to Prince Charles. It also formerly held a Royal Warrant for Her

Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

The company has a long-term goal of opening 400 branches across the UK by 2017

and doubling its revenue to £8bn by 2016.

Tesco

Tesco plc is a worldwide organisation and general

product retailer with headquarters in Cheshunt, United

Kingdom.

It is the third largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second

largest measured by profits (after Wal-Mart). It has stores in 14 countries across

Asia, Europe and North America and is the grocery market leader in the UK (where it

has a market share of around 30%), Malaysia, the Republic of Ireland and Thailand.

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Tesco was founded in 1919 by Sir Jack Cohen as a group of market stalls. The

Tesco name first appeared in 1924, after Cohen purchased a shipment of tea from T.

E. Stockwell and combined those initials with the first two letters of his surname, and

the first Tesco store opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Middlesex. The business grew

quickly, and by 1939 there were over 100 Tesco stores across the country. Originally

a UK focused grocery retailer, since the early 1990s Tesco has increasingly

diversified geographically and has started to sell a much wider variety of products

like books, clothing, electronics, furniture, petrol and software, financial services,

telecoms, internet services, DVD rental, and even music downloads.

Sainsbury’s

J. Sainsbury plc is the parent company of

Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd, commonly

known as Sainsbury's, it is third largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom

with a share of the UK sector of 16.5%. The group's head office is in the Sainsbury's

Store Support Centre in Holborn Circus, City of London. J.Sainsbury plc also has

interests in property and banking.

Sainsbury's was founded by John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann

Sainsbury in 1869, in London, England, and grew quickly during the Victorian era. It

grew to become the largest grocery retailer in 1922, pioneered self-service retailing

in the UK, and had its best days during the 1980s.Sainbury’s is now the third largest

supermarket behind Asda in second who overtook them in 2003 and Tesco who

overtook them for first place on 1995.

The founding Sainsbury family still retain approximately 15% of J Sainsbury plc

shares (as of May 2008), through various trusts. The family reduced their stake from

35% in 2005. The largest Sainsbury family shareholders are Lord Sainsbury of

Turville with 5.83% and Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover, who controls just

under 3% of the company, and benefits from 1.6% of the equity included in the

above. The largest overall shareholder is the investment vehicle of the Qatari royal

family who now hold 26.145% of the company.

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M&S

Marks and Spencer also known as M&S and Marks and

Sparks is a British retailer with headquarters in the City

of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the UK

and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It mainly specialises in

selling clothing and luxury food products. M&S was founded in 1884 by Michael

Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds.

In 1998, it became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion,

though a few years later it went down into a crisis which lasted for a number of

years. In November 2009, it was announced that Marc Bolland, formerly an

employee of Morrisons, would take over as chief executive from Executive Chairman

Stuart Rose in early 2010, Rose stayed in the role of non-executive Chairman until

he was replaced in January 2011 by Robert Swannell.

Asda

Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which

sells financial services, general merchandise, food,

toys and clothing. It also known for its mobile

telephone network, (via the Vodafone Network) called Asda Mobile. Its head office is

at Asda House in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

In 1999 Asda became a subsidiary of the American retail giant Walmart, the world’s

largest retailer, and is the UK's second largest chain by market share after Tesco. In

December 2010, Asda's share of the UK grocery market stood at 16.5%.

Asda's marketing promotions have normally been based solely on price, promoting

itself under the slogan ‘Britain's Lowest Priced Supermarket’ for fourteen

consecutive years. As a wholly owned division of Wal-Mart, Asda is not required to

declare quarterly or half-yearly earnings. It submits full accounts to Companies

House each October.

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An analysis of shop layout and product placement

Attracting customers

Before supermarkets can get customers to buy from them, they have to first engage

the customer and attract them into their store rather than one of their competitors.

The ‘big four’ supermarkets (Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons; Marks &

Spencer’s and Waitrose aren’t classed within the big four) all have to fiercely

compete with one another to get us into their shops.

This used to focus around weekly or monthly offers to get the customers in, but the

past couple of years have seen the advertising strategies change with the big

supermarkets. Advertising techniques they use are based on comparing the prices

and/or quantity of their products with single or multiple rivals to show that they are

cheaper.

There are a number of ways the supermarkets have been

doing this, and one way is to show just one product that is

a lot cheaper, another is to show an average cost of

goods in a shopping basket which are cheaper than the

competition.

Customers Inside

Once a supermarket has persuaded customers to shop

with them, the real mind games begin. As soon as they

enter they are hit with colourful offers and price beating

deals. They have several ways to make shoppers look at

their product offers and deals, some are obvious but others

are very clever and use psychological techniques.

Some supermarkets having revolving doors (Fig. 3) which

slow customers down. And because they all look in the same

direction this is the perfect area to place advertisements.

Fig.3 shows a poster for ‘Special Offers’ and there is also an

offer for cereals promoting ‘Any 2 for £4’.

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As customers leave the revolving doors the supermarket may place a second

advertisement including those that are used to cover security beepers (Fig.6), so it

has more then one purpose. But even though the advert was placed to the side it

would still be noticable as there is usually one placed opposite.

This offer is for ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free’ .

Others are displayed as customers get into the supermarket

which includes large format advertisements. They are placed

where every customer coming into the shop will see them. The

one in Fig.4 is for ‘Better than half price’.

As customers go to get a basket they have to stop or walk

slowly up to the motion sensor barrier, and this is yet another

technique used to slow people down. As they wait for the barrier

to open they can see on either side and dotted around, stands with products on, and

in the middle of each stand is a little poster that says either ‘New’ or ‘Half Price’ or

‘Only’.

When walking down some of the aisles there are product

stickers placed on the floor or big metal baskets holding

more special offers (Fig.5). By sticking things in the aisle

they get noticed more and people look at them because it

is an obstacle and in their path. For example, large bags

of potatoes may be put on the floor, which can be

labelled ‘Bigger pack better value’ and these may be

placed near to other kinds of potatoes.

Once customers have finished shopping they have to pay

at the tills where numerous products are strategically displayed on offer.

Products usually include chocolates, sweets, magazines, promotional store leaflets

and DVD’s.

Research revealed an interesting survey from 2002 which interviewed 1058

customers about what they thought about supermarkets in store:

‘What consumers would like to see introduced or improved in supermarkets’

45% said more service counters/checkouts, 31% said clearer signposting in

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store, 25% said better layout of store, 20% said clearer product/price

information on shelving/displays. And also in another survey which asked the

same amount of people ‘summary of statements agreed with about shopping in

general’ 26% said I am often tempted by a window display to enter a shop and

make a purchase while again 26% said I have been tempted to buy new

products by promotional displays, sampling or demonstrations in store’.

(See Appendix 7)

Supermarket shelves

Through doing my research I found a very good case study which had investigated

the theory that supermarkets would put the most expensive products or the products

that were on offer on shelves that were level with shoppers’ eye lines. Therefore we

are more liked to see these products and purchase them. They tested the theory on

four supermarkets which included Tesco, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer’s and

Sainsbury’s. (see appendix 2,3,4,5)

From the results it could be seen that Tesco and Sainsbury’s do exactly as

above with Tesco placing the cheapest products at

the bottom, (where people don’t usually look) then the

most expensive on the middle and top (where people

are most likely to look). Sainsbury’s did a similar

tactic; they had the cheapest brands at the top and

bottom and the most expensive ones at eye level. As

Waitrose is more upmarket, their prices are higher

than most others as their target market are usually higher

earners, but there is still some cases where the cheapest

products are placed at the top and bottom and the more

expensive on the middle shelves. On the other hand Marks &

Spencer’s stocks mainly its own products so the shelves are

varied and there is no obvious pattern or theme that can be noted.

An interesting article on the internet suggested that

supermarkets such as Asda and Sainsbury’s purposely design

and make bland packaging so that customers either don’t look at it because it looks

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cheap and don’t want to be seen buying such products. Figure 10 shows Asda’s own

brand products in plain and boring packaging designs, they don’t look particularly

aesthetically pleasing and many shoppers may be put off buying it.

It seems that in the last couple of years, that some supermarkets have noticed this

and have started to change their thinking on this by producing more aesthetically

pleasing ‘own brand’ products to give them more of a

quality feel and worth buying. Some supermarkets have

even introduced ranges, like Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the

Difference’ and Tesco’s ‘Finest’. Figure 9 and 11 both

show examples which look a lot better and reflect more

of a ‘quality’ feel. This is why Tesco and Sainsbury’s

have started to put their ‘own brand’ products onto

middle shelves and even in some cases they have sections just for these own

branded products because they are so popular now. Alternatively, Asda’s home

brand products are still on the bottom shelf in their supermarkets where they are

difficult to spot.

Virtual Shop

One of the great inventions (from a supermarkets perspective) of the past few years

has been the virtual shop. This is where supermarkets and product manufacturers

can change the place or interior layout of the shop’ and this includes product

placement experimentation, to see if it will sells better in a new layout as opposed to

a current one..

Using data that supermarkets have collected (mainly through loyalty card holders)

they can see the usual shopping habits of their customers. Some are asked to do

their shopping through the virtual store as they would in their local one.

The virtual stores collect three types of data, which includes the products they are

looking at on the shelf, those they are selecting and finally those that they are

purchasing.

After 500 people shopped through the virtual store the data was collected and

showed that 6% more people browsed the product, 4% more people selected it and

most importantly 3% bought the product in its new layout (see appendix 6). The

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virtual store would appear to be essential to supermarkets and manufacturers to gain

valuable information about how to get the most out of their products and their interior

retail environments.

As well as virtual mapping, supermarkets and manufacturers use something called

‘gaze detection’ to see when people go into a store exactly where they look so they

and can see if people are looking or not looking at their products. If not, they can

change the place of the product to an area that gets a lot more attention from

customers.

Sections of products

Every supermarket uses sections which link to other sections which then lead to sub

sections. In the food section customers can find items such as cakes and bread,

which then leads to meat and sandwich fillers, which then goes into tea time food

items, then ready meals, continental and world food, desserts etc. This doesn’t

happen because they want to look organised, this is because they want

shoppers to follow the line and keep purchasing

products. If everything wasn’t displayed within

customers would most probably only shop for specific

items and then leave without anything else.

Some supermarkets have even been accused of their

layout being changed to confuses the customer so

they don’t know where everything is, so they spend

more time trying to find the products they want and

more time going down aisles they don’t need to which

then entices them into buying products they never

went in for and don’t need. In an article ‘Summary of statements agreed with about

shopping in genera (date?)’ 42% of people said they get annoyed by too frequent

changes in layout at stores they regularly visited.

Impulse buys

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Impulse buys happen most often at the end of the shop and at the tills and mostly

when there is a queue (see Figures 7 and 8). Products usually consist of mainly

chocolate and indulgence food when the urge to buy can be overwhelming. Special

offer products are also displayed in front of the tills where they can be easily seen

and accessed.

Psychology of Buying

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Christopher Zinn, from Choice, a consumer magazine, explains that to try and

convince consumers to stay in their stores and buy items they don’t really need

supermarkets will use basic psychology and marketing:

“All supermarkets employ these tricks, some more overtly than others.

Everything from lighting, music and product placement is controlled by

the supermarket in order to have you spend more.”

There are many visual factors that can affect a consumer’s thought processes whilst

shopping, but three of the most important ones are graphics, typeface style and

colour. These qualities together can encourage and impress the consumer to spend

in ways and timeframes that best suit the supermarkets.

Colour

When it comes to psychology, colour has a very

strong impact on us. And from the very first picture

taken in Morrison’s for this dissertation, until the last,

it was realised that all of the large format posters

and signs which promoted special offers were all

printed in red, and all the smaller ones were yellow.

After research was undertaken it was found that red

stands out more than other colours and also yellow

is bright and eye catching.

Figure 13 shows a ‘special offer’ sign and a ‘great buy’ sign in the foreground,

both of which are red. Nearly all of the price tags have the prices in bright yellow

(see figure 12) and if not, they have a red ‘half price’ label on them.

Looking at ‘own brand’ products such as for Tesco’s ‘Finest’ and Sainsbury’s ‘Taste

the difference’ ranges (see fig 9 and 11) their products use the signature colour black

which suggests a luxurious and quality feel, which attracts the attention of the

customer.

Colours really can have psychological effects on people as the following quote from

Pantone shows:

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“An executive for a paint company received complaints from workers

in a blue office that the office was too cold. When the offices were painted

a warm peach, the sweaters came off even though the temperature had

not changed”

Different colours evoke different reactions and emotions, for example, people trust

the colour blue more than any other and are drawn to red.

“Supermarkets have taken this research and used it to their advantage by

changing the colour in different parts of the store”

says Christopher Zinn from Choice, July 17,

2008

Colour can also be used in other ways to

communicate with consumers. The pairing of red

and orange in fast food restaurants for example,

has shown to make customers want to eat

quickly and leave. This is why these are two of

the most dominant colours used in the fast food

industry, when they are used on menu boards

and throughout shop interiors. Impulse shoppers

respond best to red, orange, black and royal

blue. Apparently light purple is most likely to get customers to spend their money.

Lighting

It was also found through research that lighting in a supermarket is very important.

Some stores install soft lighting and slow music, with the intention being to make

customers feel relaxed as walk around stores in the hope that they will stay longer,

and therefore the chances of buying more products is higher:

“The majority of customers respond to the lighting more positively.

They specially mentioned that lighting helps to select correct products,

reduce the time wasted and feel relaxation during shopping tours.

Therefore managers can select appropriate lighting system that

creates satisfaction of psychological needs of customers”

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Taken from a report called the impact

of visual merchandising on consumer store choice decisions in Sri Lankan

supermarkets, October 13-14 2007

Font

Different fonts can have and mean totally different things and can affect us

psychologically. Some fonts convey stability and can

make consumers feel reassured and secure in buying a

known or loved brand. Other fonts however, may be

viewed as emotional, exciting, innovative or interesting,

and are much better suited to new items advertisements

or promotions.

‘Own brand’ products from

Tesco’s ‘Finest’ and Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference’

range use similar serif fonts and the handwritten style adds a

personal and premium feel (see figures 14 and 29).

Morrisons’ ‘home brand’ products use simple language and easy-to-read fonts as

customers normally only look at items for a matter of seconds, therefore they need to

be able to instantly decipher what is being said and whether it is good value or not.

Images

Product images play a big part in advertising in supermarkets especially in the area

of food. With food products, quality can be highly important, when photography plays

a significant role. How a product is pictured, either in its raw state to signify how its

been sourced, its cooked state as a serving suggestion, or to show a product’s

ingredients, it is crucial to promote qualities such as tastiness or freshness.

Figures 15,16 and 17 shows some examples of food photography, one of which

is in its raw state (the

potatoes), the other is

cooked (the pie) and the

final one is in its serving

state (the ham).

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Including pictures of the products is highly important as this helps to win the

customer over into buying the products. Most manufacturers now place a picture on

this kind of packaging of the product in its cooked state.

Attractive Store

Dust and damaged items on the shelves can communicate a bad

image of a store. Other features including interior colour

specifications, lighting and even the design of the floor tiles can

have significant influence on shoppers. In the article ‘Summary of

statements agreed with about shopping in general’, 43% of people (1058

were asked) said that they tended to spend more time in shops that have an

attractive store environment. 35% said they have been put off certain shops due to

an unattractive store environment.

Visual Prompting

Using the physical lines separating carpet patterns and laminate flooring, shops

often try to guide shoppers around following these lines. The retailer, WHSmiths on

Oxford Street in London has cut into the carpet a giant arrow which guides

customers directly to the centre of the store. Niketown also uses similar idea by

using lines across the floor subliminally ushering people around the store.

The Landing Zone

The ‘landing zone’ is the area just inside the shop. Many supermarkets don’t like to

place things here because this is where customers make first sensory contact with

the shop, which includes its sights, smells, sounds and temperature. So anything

placed here won’t be noticed or get much attention.

Slowing Down

As discussed previously, one of the best ways to get people to look at goods and

products is to slow them down. Various types of flooring are often used to direct

customers as a retailer wants around the store. Supermarkets make great use of

textural differences between carpet and linoleum to steer customers around and hold

them in certain places. Occasionally random rugs and mats are laid out in

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supermarket aisles to slow ‘traffic’. They have also been known to place smaller tiles

on the floor in expensive aisles in the store. When a customer enters the aisles their

trolleys would click faster bringing them to think they’re going too fast and therefore

they would subconsciously slow down leading them to spend more time in that aisle.

Displays

Displays are regularly placed at the end of aisles so that your eyes are always on the

products. When they would like to promote particular items this is most

likely where they will be placed so that a customer walking down an

aisle will approach the display head on as opposed to at

right angles like the rest of the aisle. I found a case of this

in Morrisons, where they had put a lot of tins of

chocolates that were on offer (see figure 18).

Offers

Supermarkets will often entice shoppers with ‘specials’

however, most often the items on ‘special’ are not at cheaper price. Also, some

shops advertise that there closing down which isn’t always true; they use the fear of

missing out on a deal to make their customers return. They add a sense of urgency

to what is in effect, a selling off of cheap stock.

For example, a recent visit to Morrisons showed a variety of offers and different ways

of advertising them. They used the colours red and yellow to advertise them and

included posters with the following promotional wording: ‘Special offers’, ‘Only’,

‘Now’, ‘Buy 1 get 1 free’ ,’Any two for £4’, ‘Half price’, ‘Better then half price’, ‘special

purchase’, ‘great buy’, ‘Save’.

Price Drops

In a recent Panorama programme it was discovered

that not all the products ‘on offer’ were actually on

offer, as some were the same price as they had

been previously and some had even

increased in price. ‘Scams’ were also found with the

advertising as well. Some of the supermarkets are currently using tactics that experts

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say, range from “cheeky” to others that could lead to prosecutions for breach of

consumer protection regulations. This included advertising on shelves which

announced ‘Two for £2’, but failed to highlight that there was actually no savings

made as each item was being sold previously for £1 each (see figure 19)

But does it make us buy more?

Psychologist Gorkan Ahmetoglu, the writer of a report for The Office of Fair Trading

(5/12/11) on the influence that promotional offers and savings have on shopping

habits, says this type of advertising acts as a subconscious trigger:

"They are triggering the same reaction as when you eat chocolate.

The offer will still attract your attention and a lot of people will not look

at the single unit price."

There is something known as ‘price establishing’ in the marketing world. A

retailer will sell a product at a particular price over a

certain amount of time, but then would raise the price

suddenly. Later, the price is reduced down to its

original price and the supermarket

tells consumers they’ve "slashed the

price".

Tesco's ‘Big Price Drop’ seemed to do this with its medium whole fresh chickens,

which went from £4 to £5 for just over two months before the ‘Big Price Drop’ saw

their price decrease to the original price of £4.

In another case, a label with a price saying ‘Now £2’ failed to mention the older

"was" price.

Morrisons’ fabric conditioner was labelled as ‘Now £2

- Offer Ends Sunday’ but failed to mention that just

two weeks before it cost only £1.65.

Finally, to translate: ‘bigger pack, better

value’ in fact means, ‘bigger pack, costs

more’. At Asda, a 1kg tub of Clover spread for £3.20 was 20p more than two 500g

tubs.

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Own Brand

As previously mentioned there has in recent years, been a

change in some of the supermarkets’ ‘home branded’

products. Supermarkets such as Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s

have ‘home branded’ products in which they put money and

effort into their own brand, to make it look more appealing and

price competitive so more customers look at it and want to buy

it (Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference’ and Tesco’s ‘finest’).

Alternatively there are other supermarkets such as Asda who

put no effort into their home

branding and make the packaging look cheap and

uninspiring and off putting to customers. These

products are usually place on the bottom shelves.

Strap Lines

All the main supermarkets have their own strap lines and these following

examples are probably amongst the most recognised:

Asda’s strap line is ‘Saving You Money Every day’ and they also

use a brand jingle which a lot of people recognise, which is

played at the end of their TV and radio adverts and includes the

sound of money being slapping in a pocket.

Tesco’s – ‘Every Little Helps’

Sainsbury’s – ‘Live Well For Less’

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Morrisons – ‘More Reasons To Shop At Morrisons’

They also have their own strap lines for saving consumers money but these aren’t as

well known.

Asda – ‘Asda’s price guarantee’

Tesco – ‘The big price drop’

Morrisons – ‘Price crunch’

Morrisons also have one for Christmas which is ‘Come to us for Christmas’.

Impulse Buying

The main place for impulse buying is at the tills (see page 17), where customers

have to queue. In many shops they place children friendly products at the tills such

as chocolates, sweets and magazines so they can pester their parents to buy from

this selection.

Recent surveys found that 40% of what consumers actually buy is ‘impulse’ items -

products that we did not intentionally mean to buy.

Points System

The points system adopted by most supermarkets is a very good idea because not

only does it reward loyal customers, it also gives them a reason to return. As well as

benefiting customers, it also provides the supermarkets with vital information about

their customers, including how much they spend, how often then shop, and what

kinds of goods they buy etc.

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Sensory Branding and Promotion

A number of supermarkets advertise big brands and promotions on the TV, as this is

the most effective medium to use to communicate the latest discounts offered by

leading brands. With the current economic downturn this is a major marketing priority

of every supermarket as they need to attract as many customers as possible.

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As shoppers walk into a supermarket (or even before they step inside), they are

welcomed with pictures of big brands and their weekly promotions (see figs 3,4 and

6).

As previously mentioned, supermarkets place the most expensive products on the

middle shelves because this is where shoppers’ eye levels are and where they look

the most frequently. So this means this is where all of the big brands are, therefore

people will have seen and picked a big brand without even looking elsewhere for a

cheaper, alternative product.

Many supermarkets use iconic brands to act as signposts for whole categories, for

example, Heinz Baked Beans iconic blue tin is so iconic and recognisable that

customers navigate directly to the ‘baked beans’ category when they see it, therefore

to assist customer choice, supermarkets use colour blocking of certain products to

act as visual ‘signposts’.

Customers tend to look at the most attractive packaging, and usually it’s the big

brands that excel at this because they have the biggest design budgets. Customers

think that if the packaging looks eye-catching and professional, then this must reflect

the product or contents as well.

Case Studies

After researching about the main supermarkets it was found that some used different

techniques and some used the same. This section will focus on specific

supermarkets (Morrison’s, Asda and M&S) and the techniques they use and which

are the most effective.

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The first, Morrison’s use colour, text, posters, images, offers, displays, lighting and

obstacles effectively in order to get the shopper to spend more.

Morrison’s three best visual techniques that they use include colour, obstacles and

posters. There are two main colours (red and yellow) they use to communicate their

offers and price reductions to catch consumers’ attention. Both of these colours are

used because they stand out, but red is used because it is one of the most

prominent colours, and yellow because it stands out against the others.

Obstacles (placed in a certain place to slow you down or make you change direction)

are also used very effectively by Morrisons. They apply this technique as soon as

shoppers walk in through their revolving doors, then again at the security barrier

where there are baskets of selected products on offer in the middle of aisles. Posters

are well utilised and applied by Morrisons. They are used selectively and

strategically around the store providing information about special offers and deals.

Asda and Marks & Spencer use the same technique but in a different way and is

based around home-store branding. Asda has its home-store branding version of

most products in the store, but at a cheaper price and in some cases there is a

dramatic difference. However, as the price is cheaper they place the products on the

bottom shelf and out of sight and all the more expensive brands and products are

placed on the middle shelves. Also to make sure shoppers spends more money;

they put the product in the least appealing and eye catching packaging. So

customers are more likely to put it down because they may feel embarrassed to be

seen walking out the store with these products or they may think that the bland

packaging reflects the contents as well.

On the other hand, M&S create quality design packaging, so that more people buy

their home branded goods. This also means that they can put a higher price on their

products. In some of their stores that have aisles just for their home brand products.

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Findings and Conclusion

The previous case studies have shown how much time, effort and money goes into

researching and getting information on the latest techniques adopted by

supermarkets to attract and keep customers in-store, and to get them to spend as

much money as possible.

As this dissertation has identified, some techniques are more effective than others

and some used a lot more than others. For obvious reasons it seems that the most

effective techniques used by the supermarkets are the ones that make people buy

and these are:

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1. The use of colour: The two most commonly used are red and yellow because

they stand out and attract attention. Also, in the cases of using dark colours

such as for Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference’ they make products look and

feel more like luxury items.

2. Lighting : Many customers said they respond positively to good lighting

because it highlights and picks out product aisles clearly as well as helping to

provide a more relaxed atmosphere.

3. Fonts : Different styles of fonts can mean and communicate different types of

messages to people. A bold font on a ‘special offer’ sign will stand out and a

handwritten style font such as the one used on the Tesco’s ‘Finest’ range

makes products look a lot more like a quality item.

4. Images : Those used on food products for sale either in their raw, cooked or

serving state have applied photography well as a selling technique. Products

depicted as juicy or mouth-watering are much more likely to buy them than

other product that doesn’t. Showing images can also portray freshness and

healthy living.

5. A lot of people in the surveys which were undertaken said they were much

more likely to stay in a store that was attractive and well laid out.

6. Displays and Impulse buys : These work effectively together as all that needs

to be done is to place displays of products that are on offer around the store

and at each checkout, so the customer can’t miss them and as a result,

achieve an ‘impulse’ buy. Most shoppers that enter stores come out with

more things then they intended to buy.

7. Advertising : Shoppers cannot fail to notice printed offers, as they are

everywhere and produced in bright colours and bold fonts.

8. One of the most popular techniques employed by Asda is the use of product

placement when it comes to its own branded goods. As their own branding

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isn’t very appealing and is cheap they put it on the bottom shelf so shoppers

because it doesn’t look appealing, so they end up buying a more expensive

product. Whereas Tesco and Sainsbury’s like to promote their own brand

products because they look appealing and worth buying which they place in

their own sections.

If a supermarket not yet employing the techniques mentioned within this dissertation,

it would benefit them to adopt them.

In conclusion and in answer to the question “What visual methods are employed by

UK supermarkets to influence product choice?”, it was found that there are specific

and strategic techniques that are continually applied by UK supermarkets.

Much information was mainly sourced from the internet as well as from books, the

library’s EBSCO host, case studies and print articles. Images were also taken

personally of Morrisons as primary research and to also gain a better understanding

of visual merchandising first hand as a shopper. This proved to be highly affective as

much knowledge and information was gained on the shop floor.

However, it would have been more beneficial to produce a questionnaire in order to

ascertain from a number of people what and which areas stand out. It would also

have helped to add more in-depth research by examining other supermarkets other

than the ‘Big Four’ which were included as part of this investigation.

Bibliography

Internet

http://www.shopfitdirect.co.uk/blog/2011/01/supermarket-psychology-%E2%80%93-think-like-the-retail-giants/. ShopfitDIRECT.co.uk, 31/10/11

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1690713/How-to-beat-supermarket-tricks.html. Thisismoney.co.uk, 31/10/11

http://today.ninemsn.com.au/moneyandconsumer/598695/supermarket-tricks. ninemsn.com, Christopher Zinn from CHOICE, 18/09/11

http://www.digitalskratch.com/color-psychology.php. Digitalskratch.com, pantone, 31/10/11

33


http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html. David Johnson, 31/10/11

http://www.spacehijackers.org/html/ideas/archipsy/tricks.html. Spacehijackers.org, 18/09/11

http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_9652000/9652944.stm. Panaroma, BBC, 5/12/11

Books

Lindstrom, Martin, BUY-OLOGY, Random House Business Books, 2009

Interview

Ward, Joe, Head of in-store Marketing, Morrison’s, 31/10/11

Articles

Ilsley, Charles, Research Director at Fifth Dimension, and was published in Research Magazine page 46 in June 2005

Groeber, Janet, Display & Design Ideas, June 2011, Vol. 23, Issue 4, p40-44, 5p

Watts, Anita, Film Journal International, Aug 2008, Vol. 111, Issue 8, p48-48, 3/4p

Caines, Richard, Design Week, The Big Picture Retail, Store Design, July 2003, p31-33

Dowdy, Clare, Design Week, The Big Picture Retail, Point-Of-Sale, July 2003, p35-37

TV

The Truth About Supermarket Price Wars, BBC One, Mon 5 Dec 2011, 20:30

Case Study

W.M.C.B. Wanninayake, Pradeep Randiwela, The impact of visual merchandising on consumer store choice decisions in Sri Lankan supermarkets, October 13-14, 2007

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References

“All supermarkets employ these tricks, some more overtly than others.

Everything from lighting, music and product placement is controlled by

the supermarket in order to have you spend more.” p20

http://today.ninemsn.com.au/moneyandconsumer/598695/supermarket-tricks.

ninemsn.com, Christopher Zinn from CHOICE, 18/09/11

“An executive for a paint company received complaints from workers

in a blue office that the office was too cold. When the offices were painted

a warm peach, the sweaters came off even though the temperature had

not changed” p21

35


http://www.digitalskratch.com/color-psychology.php. Digitalskratch.com,

pantone, 31/10/11

“Supermarkets have taken this research and used it to their advantage by

changing the colour in different parts of the store” p21

http://today.ninemsn.com.au/moneyandconsumer/598695/supermarket-tricks.

ninemsn.com, Christopher Zinn from CHOICE, 18/09/11

“The majority of customers respond to the lighting more positively.

They specially mentioned that lighting helps to select correct products,

reduce the time wasted and feel relaxation during shopping tours.

Therefore managers can select appropriate lighting system that

creates satisfaction of psychological needs of customers” p21-22

W.M.C.B. Wanninayake, Pradeep Randiwela, The impact of visual

merchandising on consumer store choice decisions in Sri Lankan

supermarkets, October 13-14, 2007

"They are triggering the same reaction as when you eat chocolate.

The offer will still attract your attention and a lot of people will not look

at the single unit price." p25

The Truth About Supermarket Price Wars, BBC One, Mon 5 Dec 2011, 20:30

Figures

1. A supermarket in Sweden in 1941

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2. Packaged food aisles in a Fred Meyer store in Portland, Oregon

3. Picture I took of the revolving door and the posters in the window, when I went to my local Morrisons

4. Another picture of a big display, advertising an offer in Morrisons

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5. A basket of products on offer in Morrisons in the middle of the aisle, used as an obstacle

6. Another display showing offers as you walk into Morrisons

7. Picture showing the display stands at the end of aisles

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8. This is where impulse buys happen most, at the checkout with cheap sweats

9. A picture of a product of the Tesco’s Finest range

10. A picture of a range of Asda’s own brand products

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11. A product off the Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference section

12. A picture showing the Morrison’s Price Crunched logo in action and the amount of things on offer, in the colours red and yellow

13. A picture showing the big signs advertising Great Buys

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14. Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference logo

15. Showing how Morrison’s used pictures of their products in a cooked state to advertise.

16. Showing how Morrison’s used pictures of their products in its raw state to advertise

17. Showing how Morrison’s used pictures of their products in its serving state to advertise

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18. Big piles of Special Offer products all over Morrison’s shop floor

19. Showing how the multi buy option isn’t always cheaper

20. Showing how the offer doesn’t actually start or end

21. Showing how the big pack don’t always save us money

22. Tesco’s Big Price Drop Logo

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23. Morrison’s Price Crunch Logo

24. Asda’s Strap Line Logo

25. Tesco’s Strap Line Logo

26. Sainsbury’s Strap Line Logo

27. Asda’s Price Guarantee Logo

28. Morrison’s Come To Us for Christmas Logo

29. Tesco’s Finest Logo

30. Morrison’s Logo

31. Waitrose’s Logo

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32. Tesco’s Logo

33. Sainsbury’s Logo

34. M&S Logo

35. Asda Logo

Appendix

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1.

2.

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3.

4.

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5.

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6.

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7.

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8.

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