Inside the Mind of the Shopper: The Science of Retailing

4Active Retailing: Putting Products into the Path of Shoppers

“Give the lady what she wants.”

—Marshall Fields

Early in our traffic studies, we noted an aisle that we thought was receiving very little traffic, considering the number of shoppers passing either end of the aisle. In an effort to rectify this situation and drive traffic to this aisle, we decided to give shoppers a $1.00 coupon for a store-brand purchase of $3.00 or more, just for visiting the aisle. We installed a special coupon and dispenser about halfway down it. Above the dispenser was a flashing red “police light” to attract attention to the free dollars. We also installed a moving LED sign at the entrance to direct shoppers to the coupon dispenser, and on weekends, a greeter ...