New retail research is revealing interesting trends in retail shopping that haven’t been well publicized. One study on instore shopping trends shows mothers, an important demographic, are affected by POP displays and that coupons could be influential for those who do or don’t use shopping lists when they shop. Smartphones are increasing in use as are QR codes. Smartphone using shoppers appear to buy more when they shop. POP research is offering a lot for advertisers who want to price well and discover the promotional tactics to maximize campaign performance.

New POP Research insight from SymphonyIRI shows in store kiosks and pop displays are most influential in persuading mothers. They indicate that mothers who are shopping say they are twice as affected by instore messaging when deciding on a purchase as compared to the general population.  Moms are also becoming more tech savvy and using social media. 85% are now using social media themselves.

Instore Messaging Showing Strong Growth

Instore and mobile messaging is cited as being able to influence moms as they shop. This market comprises 85 to 100 million women in North America who purchase for other family members and command a huge portion of the retail shopping household budget.

SymphoniIRI also discovered that moms were downloading coupons for use instore. 38% had visited manufacturer’s sites to download coupons.  SymphoniIRI said they were twice as likely to be affected by advertising and messaging they’ve seen on their iPhones and other mobile devices.

The Integer Group discovered in its April 2012 survey, that instore advertising and display is driving 2 of 3 impulse purchases.  They suggest that 9 in 10 shoppers are making purchases instore that were not on their shopping list and that 3 or 5 shoppers were buying an extra 1 to 3 items. It appeared that mention or sight of a sale or promotion. Coupons were cited as a factor in impulse buys as well. 30% of off-list shoppers said a coupon encouraged their impulse purchase.

Other new findings from Wave Collapse showed that smartphone users tend to buy more in retail stores The report founds that when smartphone using shoppers were in a physical store, 74% mostly purchase, rather than mostly browse (26%). When using online websites (71% vs. 29%), mobile websites (76% vs. 24%), and mobile applications (71% vs. 29%), they mostly browse rather than shop. Their Survey respondents were more likely to have purchased something from a physical store (87%) than any other channel, including an online website (60%) and they tended to buy multiple times from physical stores rather than from online channels.

These studies may increase interest in QR code use at retail as a way to reach smartphone users and connect them with key product benefits.

Wave Collapse also found the mobile phone users who used their phones instore were more frequent buyers than those who did not. Some doubts about smartphone users instore loyalty arose from the realization that mobile users have more product options available via the phone.

What’s your view on the relevance of retail research results? Are you benefiting from these published findings? Are you having difficulty finding and affording relevant, actionable shopper research?

Interested in research about the best POP displays to use for your next point of purchase campaign.