In today’s blog we are going to be discussing the difference between standout and findability, so…
What is findability and why is it important?
When a piece of information is findable, it means it is easy to locate or identify – this applies to products on a shelf too. A brand’s chance of success can increase because of its findability factor. Boost your findability factor and watch your sales soar; ignore it and you risk customers never looking or hearing about your product in the first place.
Findability measures how quickly people find a specific pack on shelf and what % get the right pack. It actually only takes a customer between 3 to 5 seconds to pick out a certain product amongst hundreds on a shelf and make a decision to purchase it or not. Which isn’t a long time at all! However, this is what happens to a normal consumer every time they’re at a supermarket. The reason why it only takes 3-5 seconds is because the consumer already has an idea about what the product is (on a subconscious level). This could be from previous usage, hearing ads on a radio, seeing a commercial or hearing a friend talk about it.
Though, it’s not that straightforward. For example, have you ever walked about a supermarket looking for a specific product from a particular aisle and struggled to find it? It can be a stressful experience – other products competing for your attention and time which often leads to distraction and lack of purchase OR not buying the right product.
Increasing your brands findability is particularly important, especially with any pack redesigns or new products coming onto the market.
How is Findability measured?
Shoppers are asked to find a ‘specific’ brand ‘in-store’ (or online through the use of 2D packaging) and the time taken to do so is measured. The second measure is accuracy – was the right product found? Using benchmarks you can then identify whether your packaging is working hard enough and is easy to find in-store - a critical factor with today's time poor shoppers.
Findability is great if you’re measuring this for your repeat customers but what about someone who isn’t a repeat customer? You’re missing out all of those people. Your pack should also be capable of distracting people – which is what findability can’t measure alone… Our process measures all of those elements to understand the full power of your pack.
Why Findability is not enough
Imagine someone is going to the shop looking for a specific product but they get caught off guard by another product with better packaging, and actually end up buying that product instead. This is what is likely to happen. Therefore, if you only measure findability it doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about your pack whereas our CogniPack tool measures both findability and standout, and that’s important.
People don’t just go to the shop looking for the product they want and just buy it, they can get distracted – that’s the whole point. Especially if you’re a small brand, you may want to distract people from buying the brand that they already know. This is when offers and price comparison comes into play – if the alternative product is on offer and has nicer packaging, its likely you’re going to not make the sale.
What is standout? And how does it work?
Standout can be described as how early the product is spotted on the shelf. In the competitive world of retail, making sure your product stands out from the crowd and draws customers in is key. It needs to have something that makes it truly unique and worthy of catching shoppers’ attention. However, in such a competitive industry it can be challenging. Striking the right balance between quality and value will not just capture attention, but will encourage them to purchase.
The CogniPack tool uses a combination of advanced research techniques to measure how shoppers really react (both consciously and subconsciously) to your packaging. This innovative technique helps you to significantly increase attention, engagement and conversion levels – resulting in more sales. This tool is used for testing packaging designs as well as during new product development. Our CogniPack tool allows you to understand how your pack performs within the retail context and in comparison, to competitors. Emotional Logic can help you quantify sales impact of individual design elements as well as decode how your packaging attracts and engages with shoppers.
Cognipack does measure both finability and stand-out in one test - using advanced eye-tracking technology.
How can we help?
At Emotional Logic, we have an agile and cost-effective tool suite for all explicit and implicit testing needs. Our digital tool suite can be implemented 100% online and delivers deep insight including implicit purchase drivers in a fast, easily accessible format and with directly actionable results. Carrying out this research can identify exactly what contribution your design elements (pack format, name, colour) have on purchasing decisions, allowing you to adapt designs to eliminate design elements that don’t add financial value or portray the correct messages.
Whether you need insight to adjust your strategies for existing brands to the new normal or are thinking about launching new products we can help you get it right. Emotional Logic is a specialist behavioural insight agency and we offer a range of cost-effective research solutions to ensure your strategy connects with the constantly shifting needs of the consumer. Please get in touch for a free consultation.
