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- Retail Ready Packaging Background
- Making products easier to find
- Product accessibility
- Other issues
We review shoppers' views on RRP in European countries and assess the
implications for industry
Retail Ready Packaging - The shopper perspective
In an IGD supplier survey only 9% of suppliers saw shopper disapproval as a
barrier to RRP adoption. While shopper disapproval may not be a barrier to
adoption, their views on the effect of RRP on brand and store image may
influence their purchase behaviour. However few retailers or suppliers have done
shopper research to establish if their beliefs on RRP benefits such as brand
enhancement and ease of shopping are shared by the shopper.
Making products easier to find
While RRP can provide a solution to availability issues it also offers the
opportunity to make products easier to find. In IGD's
Shelf ready Packaging: The
Shopper View research, half of British and
German shoppers surveyed agreed that packaging makes it easier to find products
whilst 62% of French shoppers do. Less Spanish shoppers (38%) believed packaging
improves product visibility.
The packaging makes it easier to find products
Source: IGD Consumer Research, 2006
Our qualitative research in GB found a number of positive attributes were
discussed in terms of design which made products easier to find.
- Larger writing on the outer packaging reduced the need for the shopper to
check the individual product.
- The orientation of products is also very important in making products
easier to find.
- It was suggested that colour coordination would enhance product and make
product easier to identify.
Product accessibility
Our international survey found that accessibility did not present a major issue to
shoppers. The country where access to products is considered by more shoppers to
be negatively affected was Spain where 17% agreed that ‘packaging makes it
harder to take the products from the shelf’. This was followed by 13% in Great
Britain and 10% and 9% in France and Germany respectively. Although this is not
a major issue it is still a concern that RRP can reduce accessibility rather
than improve it.
The packaging makes it harder to take the products from the
shelf
Source: IGD Consumer Research, 2006
Our qualitative research in GB indicated that design and implementation problems
reducing product accessibility include
- The use of plastic mouldings to hold products in place. Sometimes products
fit too tightly into mouldings.
- Over stacking of shelves. In some cases products are packed so tightly on
the shelves that shoppers find it difficult to get leverage.
- Boxes being placed on the shelf back to front can result in the product
being difficult to remove if the back is higher than the front.
Other RRP issues
Other shopper concerns relating to RRP in supermarkets relate to:
- The possibility that additional packaging will mean extra costs which will be
passed on to the shopper
- Additional packaging will increase waste – some shoppers want to understand
supermarkets commitment to recycling
- Increased packaging can have a detrimental effect on brand and store if not
designed and implemented to a high standard.
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