NORTHBROOK, Ill.—Retailers are missing opportunities for impulse sales form front-end checkouts suggests a new study called Front-End Focus, sponsored by Mars Chocolate North America, a Division of Mars Inc., Time-Warner Retail Sales & Marketing a division of Time Warner, The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and The Coca-Cola Co. They found around 90 percent of all shoppers will occasionally purchase items from the checkout, many of them buying on a weekly basis; and about 15 percent of the store shoppers will make a purchase from the checkout on a shopping trip. This conversion rate tends to be higher at regular lanes and lower at the express and self-scan checkout lanes.
Confectionery, magazines and soft drinks are purchased by the most shoppers, purchased most frequently, and purchased on an impulse basis. Shoppers tend not to switch lanes or shop across lanes. Almost 30 percent of consumers said that if the front-end item they were looking for was not available, they would not buy anything that trip.
Based on the Front-End Focus research, checkout sales represent over 1 percent of total store sales.
The research was conducted in partnership with leading grocery retailers representing more than 3,200 stores and 12 percent of U.S. grocery volume. The retailers provided data on product sales and merchandising conditions. They also provided transaction data from frequent shopper cards. The study included in-store interviews with more than 1,300 consumers relative to attitudes and buying behavior at regular, express & self-scan checkout lanes. Industry consultants Dechert-Hampe & Company were engaged to conduct the study and develop objective conclusions.