Retail Analysis in a Supermarket

Noldus Information Technology teamed up with Jan Linders supermarkets, a chain of supermarkets in the southern part of The Netherlands. At Jan Linders they were interested in the routes their customers take when visiting one of their supermarkets. Do they always take the same route? And is it possible to influence this route by changing the layout of the supermarket, or by placement of certain products?

Using a RTLS system, we tracked customers’ movement in areas of interest for two weeks. After the first week, the lay-out of the supermarket was changed. We analyzed the average time spent in these areas, the routes taken around them, and the percentage of participants that visited them. Around 4,500 customers were willing to participate (in exchange for some typically Dutch cookies)

The results showed the hot-spots and most commonly taken routes for both supermarket lay-outs. For example, in the first week customers mainly passed the kitchen on the left side, which meant that the right side of the kitchen wasn’t getting much attention. Based on these results, Jan Linders has already implemented some changes. These changes proved successful in directing customers to specific areas in the supermarket, thereby influencing the products they buy.