OPTIMIZING YOUR MERCHANDISING OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH SHOPPER INSIGHTS, Krista DiBerardino, Newell Rubbermaid Office Products

At this afternoon's Shopper Insights breakout session on Reengineering the Store, Newell Rubbermaid shared the results of recent consumer research designed to enhance their position as the leader in the writing products category. While a sound research plan can provide insights and implications, the approach must also be collaborative to gain acceptance of the facts and buy-ins for its recommendations.

When Newell Rubbermaid decided they wanted to elevate their category leadership in writing products, they started with in-store research with shoppers -- both in-aisle observations and intercept interviews with shoppers. After mining the insights and collaborative work sessions with marketing, channel marketing, sales and their retail partners to prioritize their key challenges, they looked at the facdts and created a Shopper Based Action Plan.

This plan was based on the following key insights that came from their initial research:

• Most shopping trips are planned
• Good value is the #1 reasons people shop at a particular retailer
• Their typical shopper is female, college educated, who is shopping alone and buying from an everyday perspective
• These shoppers believe there are too many products on the shelf.

Through planogram optimization, Newell Rubbermaid was able to work with their retail partner for their mutual benefit to organize to drive value, educate to increase in-aisle purchases, and produce attraction to create impulse trips.