Retail Path-to-Purchase Research

Understand Consumer Path-to-Purchase to Develop and Test a Point-Of-Sale Marketing Strategy

Overview:

The Illinois Lottery wanted to better understand its performance in the retail marketplace and assess the way consumers view lottery merchandising and point of sale materials to model the path to purchase.

Challenge

Model shopper behavior in store; understand the barriers to play; determine the path-to-purchase including the role of impulse purchases; and assess share of wallet. Understand the effectiveness of Lottery retail merchandising and explore the effect of Lottery signage, displays, materials, equipment, and store associate interaction on willingness to play.

Approach

Through a combination of qualitative interviews and quantitative in-store intercepts, the research was designed to represent lottery retail environments across the state, and evaluate consumers path-to-purchase. Participants reflected a natural mix of Lottery player segments. The qualitative phase consisted of a shop-along and Lottery purchase, followed by an in-depth interview.

Outcome

The Lottery learned that shoppers were overwhelmed with Lottery stimuli. The research further indicated that a “less is more” approach, with finely tuned merchandising objectives by store type, would be more effective. These insights drove development and refinement of strategic and tactical plans, in addition to messaging, for the retail environment. The result was a significant increase in overall Lottery sales.