Spar NI has partnered with Ulster University to create a Virtual Reality (VR) store facility to help improve shopper research.
Based on an actual Henderson Group Spar store, the VR facility is the first of its kind in Ireland and contains every real element of a community store from Point-of-Sale messaging to promotional packaging. It is hoped the technology will enable the company to gain even further data on how and why local shoppers choose specific groceries in a store environment.
Through the partnership, the team has completed work on their first project – Spar’s shopping mission, Tonight’s Tea, which looked at the influences that inform a shopper’s decisions around which groceries to choose so they can cook a meal for themselves or their family.
The project saw 10 members of the public ‘shop’ in the VR lab, choosing between products available on the shelves at Spar NI stores across Northern Ireland, ranging from big brands, own brand lines including Enjoy Local, The Kitchen and The Greengrocer’s, plus a range of fresh and artisan products from local suppliers.
This is the latest in a series of collaborations between the two local institutions, with the Ulster University Business School’s Food and Consumer Testing Suite (FACTS) undertaking taste tests with members of the public for Spar’s own-brand Enjoy Local range over the past four years.
General manager of Henderson Kitchen, Jonny Agnew said: “Our first project in the Consumer Insights Lab has shown us the key influential factors when making product choices, from price to promotion and freshness – cost of products is hugely important to many cohorts who took part in the project, and were less likely to choose big brand products when prices were available, opting for our own brands instead.
“We know the value in collaborating with such an innovative team at Ulster University, and our Tonight’s Tea project will aim to extract the data around decision making for creating a meal that night. We care about the ever-changing behaviour of shoppers, especially with the changes to lifestyles and living costs in recent years and months, and this continued partnership will help us build a more robust brand and shopping experience for our retailers and shoppers.”
Geoff Simmons, Professor in Consumer Behaviour and Insight at Ulster University says the Consumer Insights Lab provides a learning opportunity never experienced before for their students: “This technology will enhance the student experience at Ulster University Business School, supporting their learning around retailing and consumer related studies, showing the importance of using real-time data to inform new product development.
“We have also created a Vulcan Store of the Future within our VR technology, which is modelled on an Amazon Go store where shoppers can of course gain access via a QR Code on the Amazon app, pick up what they need and leave without physical payment. There is vast learning to be made through these separate models for both our students, our faculty and our local business partners.”
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