The Convenience industry knows all too well, candy is big business, and impulse is the name of the game.
The Candy category sat in the #7 spot for in-store sales in Convenience last year and held the #6 spot of in-store categories for gross profit contribution. The C-Store industry knows all too well that Candy is big business, and impulse is the name of the game.
With the top 4 subcategories (chocolate bars/packs, bagged or repacked peg candy, non-chocolate bars/packs, and gum) experiencing double digit year-over-year growth in both sales and gross profit, business is good, but competition is high. Cutting through the clutter and making the winning journey from the shelf to the shopper’s basket starts with standing out and flowing properly at the shelf.
VideoMining took a closer look at the behavior and shopping patterns of Candy shoppers in C-Store, measuring the movements, glances, and actions of shoppers across every 1/10th of a second during their shopping journey. By analyzing billions of shopping moments in thousands of C-Stores, we were able to identify standard shopping behavior patterns that Candy suppliers and buyers alike can leverage to making meaningful choices when designing optimal assortment and flow.
72 percent C-Store Candy buyers made their selection within 30 seconds. The window of time for searching, navigating, considering, and selecting is extremely tight for the candy category compared to other categories, and shoppers have a clear decision hierarchy in mind when they approach the aisle. We measured shopper interactivity and conversions across every square inch of shelf space, identifying zones where product placement leads to optimal impulse purchases. The key is to look not only at flow, and placement across counter, aisle, and everything in between, but also to look at assortment and packaging attributes.
Cutting through the clutter in a crowded category with extremely low dwell and consideration time is truly a form of art. Adding some elements of science to the mix helps marketers make smarter choices and root their decisions in shopper empathy and an eye for the big picture.
Ready to add some science to your merchandising and marketing works of art? Give us a shout at solutions@videomining.com
