Unburdening the shopper and achieving category growth with optimal shelf layout

Many categories are made up of sub-segments: they consist of products for different target groups, needs and moments, for example. With all these different perspectives, it often doesn't make the choice easier for shoppers. Making the shelf as easy as possible to navigate and allowing shoppers to make the right product choice based on their needs is the challenge retailers and manufacturers often face.

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Challenge

Vision

Solution

Result

case

Essity, known for Libresse and TENA, among others, wrestled with this issue for the Intimate Hygiene category. From previous research, Essity knows that many women buy products from this category from a young age and rethink product choices throughout their lives depending on the life stages they are in. In addition, the category is evolving with many innovations, which makes the shopper's choice even wider. Essity would like to help shoppers choose the right product tailored to their needs and is curious to see what the shelf can do in this regard.

Based on the category vision, Essity had worked out four different scenarios for the Intimate Hygiene shelf and were curious to know which shelf is best able to:

create overview on the shelf (in which shelf do products stand out the most and is the desired product most quickly found?)
inspire and inform shoppers for their product choices
allow shoppers to choose the product that best meets their needs

Tools for conversations with retailers

The above insights were to give Essity input for category discussions with the retailer on how retailers can best set up the shelf to, on the one hand, make it easier for shoppers to find their (right) product and, on the other hand, achieve category growth through increased sales of premium products.

To gain these insights, we worked closely together to conduct a customized online quantitative shelf survey . This survey used various (implicit) methods and assignments to take shoppers through a visit to the store shelf.

The results as input for category vision update and valuable discussion partner for retailer

Based on the research, Essity gained additional knowledge and expertise on how shoppers make their purchases in the Intimate Hygiene category. Essity used the knowledge to sharpen its shelf vision and convince retailers of a number of relevant product shelf location assignments for category growth.