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Display unit and the right message increase cereal sales

A test display fixture bearing a healthful product message for General Mills cereals lifted brand sales 17%, category sales 1%—and reduced shopper decision-making time.

Supermarket study. The research involving a test display and floor graphics fixture for General Mills cereals was conducted over
Supermarket study. The research involving a test display and floor graphics fixture for General Mills cereals was conducted over

An in-aisle display fixture and the right product messaging can significantly increase brand and category sales and influence brand conversion—while reducing the time shoppers spend making product selections. Success is possible even for brands in center-of-store aisles as mundane as cereal.

These findings were validated in an independent shopper test study, conducted late in 2010, by CART (the Center for Advanced Retail & Technology) at the independent Green Hills supermarket in Syracuse, NY. The results suggest that consumer packaged goods companies and retailers can influence purchase intent by rethinking in-aisle merchandising and communications strategies.

The study spanned six weeks at the supermarket and focused on General Mills cereals, which compete in an aisle where cereal buyers typically are brand loyal. First, baseline data were collected for three weeks in the store and in the cereal aisle. General Mills cereal packages were merchandised in a traditional cereal-aisle configuration, in which competing brands are grouped together based on factors such as package size, flavor, etc.

A three-week test period followed the baseline work. All the General Mills cereal brands were grouped together in a “Smart Showcase” display measuring five shelves high and 8 feet wide (pictured here). The lighted, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and steel display unit, visible from both ends of the aisle, featured a product-healthfulness message, “Wholegrain Goodness.”

During the test period, 9,756 shoppers visited the cereal aisle. While shopping in both the baseline period and during the test period, they were videotaped using ShopperGauge  technology, which incorporates RetailNEXT®, an in-store shopper-monitoring system from BVI Networks, the display unit from RockTenn Merchandising Displays, and floor graphics from an unnamed third-party manufacturer. General Mills approved the release of the survey findings but did not commission or participate in the study.

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