A couple of weeks ago, Ipsos Retail Performance exhibited at Retail Business Technology Expo. It was a very interesting and successful show for us and we had lots of interest in our Gem Web Based Reporting solutions as well as our Shopper Engage Lite solution.
We decided to do a practical experiment with our Shopper Engage Lite research solution, which involved a digitised map of the area and digital pen to trace delegates’ movements. Each day of the show, we had some of our trainedobservers out on a section of the expo floor. Their job was to follow visitors at random, tracking where they went at the show, how long they stayed in particular places and which stands they visited. We cut down our observation area so rather than look at the whole hall, we looked at an area which contained roughly 50 stands and we designated four entrance points to this area from other parts of the show.
So was your Retail Business Technology Expo stand a success? 
We conducted a total of 130 observations, 80 of which were in day 1 and 50 in day 2. Our sample was predominantly male (100 men versus 30 women). From the data collected over the two days, here are some of the insights we collected:
- Men tended to explore more of the observation area than women. When we cut the data at a minute into all of the observations it becomes apparent that men travelled all of the walkways and zones. Women had a tendency to stick to the main walkway to the right of the exhibitor stands where the cafe was located and have not travelled as far into the exhibition area.
- Our results show that there was a level of ‘missed opportunity’ in the interactions between stand staff and potential customers in the area we observed. There were 240 interactions at stands (stopping and looking or walking onto a stand) but actually only 94 engagements with staff, where a member of staff actually had a conversation with the potential customer. While the exhibition appeared quieter on day two (and in general we observed less visitors), there did appear to be a difference across the two days with the level of ‘missed opportunity’ higher on day two. From our observations, the ‘missed opportunities’ appeared to come about through two factors: there not always being enough staff on stands to engage with all visitors at all times and also staff pro-activity levels.
- The levels of staff engagement with visitors waned across the two days with levels at their highest during the morning of day one and lowest in the afternoon session on day two. This suggests that a certain level of fatigue may have set in by the end of the second day. This is the more likely option rather than it being down to not having enough staff on the stands, as the show was quieter overall by this time.
- Visitors who entered the observation area through the entrance points to the top and bottom left of the stands were more likely to venture into the area and interact with stands than those who entered through the entrance points to the right. The walkway to the right of the stands became somewhat of a ‘rat run’ for visitors navigating to the cafe and other facilities on site.
Shopper Engage Lite can provide some really quick answers to whether a store layout is working at its best. If you’re about to try a concept store or a new display, why not get in contact and see what we can find out for you? Contact 01908 682700 or email customerservice.retailperformance@ipsos.com for more information.
You can also read more about Shopper Engage Lite and its benefits to retailers in this blog post with Jeni Dawson, Shopper Engage Centre of Excellence Manager at Ipsos Retail Performance.
IPSOS Retail Performance 
