Interesting Findings from Research
1. Brand is the only common element to the entire demand chain. Brand strategy management should be both a demand and supply chain priority in contrast to its general demand chain focus.
2. Shoppers choosing from larger assortments often shift their choice from vice-type products (indulgences) to virtues and from hedonic to utilitarian options. These effects reverse, however, when situational factors provide accessible reasons to indulge, underscoring the role of justification.
3. Failing to incorporate consumer search into an assortment planning process may cause a retailer to underestimate the substantial value a broad assortment has in preventing consumer search (going elsewhere to continue searching for a better product).
4. A power aisle comprising a smaller number of stock keeping units (SKUs) and a correspondingly greater quantity of each item will convey a lower price image than will a power aisle comprising a greater number of SKUs and a correspondingly smaller quantity of each item.
5. We know that only a very small percentage of products placed in shopping baskets get removed before checkout. So being in the basket is quite close to actual purchase, although this is also being researched still today.
Source: Shopper Marketing, Profiting from the Place Where Suppliers, Brand Manufacturers and Retailers Connect