Kantar IMRB Retail – At the cutting edge of retail research

In the fiercely competitive business of retail, both retailers and marketers are forever striving for an advantage to get ahead of the pack. Retailers want to leverage every last square inch of retail space to improve the customer experience, which in turn drives sales, while marketers jostle with competition for the ideal retail presence, one that will not only draw the customer’s attention, but also put the product ‘front and centre’ in the consumer’s mind space.

Both these goals require a deep understanding of consumer behaviour in and around physical retail environments. It is important, therefore, to understand the dynamics between the various elements of the retail environment that drive shopper behaviour. Kantar IMRB Retail offers a unique suite of products and services that aids client decision-making across different points of the consumer retail experience.

We believe that every point of sale offers countless research opportunities, because this is where active shoppers are at that critical juncture of deciding on ‘what’ they should buy while the store environment is constantly feeding them stimulus on ‘why’ they should buy.

Currently being used by clients across a variety of industries and sectors, we believe that our offerings give you a much better insight into what makes for the ideal shopper experience, as opposed to traditional research methodologies, which depend heavily on in-home research or ‘forced exposure tests’ in simulated environments supplemented with some in-store research.

Our core services:

• RetailScaping - a retail network expansion tool
• Two Ahead Shopper Science - studying the science and art of shopping
• Scores - an evaluation of store performances
• CEx - an index for measuring customer experience across every P2P touch point
• Retail Compliance Tracker - real time auditing system of multiple delivery aspects at the PoS
• The Digital Shopper - understanding the role and dynamics of online shopping today

The Retail Compliance Tracker is a comprehensive audit tool for auditing almost anything at the store. This can include:

• Product displays: locations, share of facings, share of variants
• Visibility of VM, POS material: location, quantity, condition of material etc
• Purity checks: for special displays, kiosks, gondolas
• Service quality delivery: for product demos, query handling, staff attitude, billing procedures etc.
• Store ambience: cleanliness, decor, lighting, air-conditioning, music, seating facilities etc.

The audit is carried out in a 3-step process:

1. Data capture: Collected in the traditional pen-and-paper form as well as using modern technology in the form of smartphones, tablets etc., supplemented with high resolution on-site photographs
2. Data integration: Seamless integration of data captured through various sources, which includes individual store data as well as pictures, using a special software. This helps to create unique identities and complete data sets at a store level
3. Analysis and delivery to client: To provide online access to real-time data and reports at various levels through a customized client portal