Virtual 3D Shop

COMCON presents its new intellectual development of a virtual 3D Shop for studies of supermarket buyers’ behavior. Manufacturers and retailers have already expressed their interest in this new tool.

Studies using 3D Shop mainly aim at finding a scenario for supermarket and hypermarket channels to increase a brand’s share in a category or have category growth overall.

The virtual shop developed by COMCON allows us to evaluate displays and scenarios that are not easy to reproduce at a real store. In addition, different options of category related strategies and solutions can be studied. The new method of studying buyers’ behavior offers an advantage. Research timing is shorter and the cost goes down compared to observation studies and market tests.

What is 3D Shop?

The virtual 3D Shop is an interactive 3D computer model of a typical supermarket. The software models many factors that influence buyers enabling them to be in a situation of a real shop during a test.

Respondents are free to move in a shop’s virtual space. They can purchase using a computer mouse and keyboard. All features are user friendly, so respondents can learn them within a few minutes. In addition, virtual shopping reminds respondents of a computer game making them really interested in doing the test.

Similar to a real supermarket, 3D Shop has shelves, coolers, pallets, realistic packs, price tags, signs with department names and cash desks. This engine allows us to shelve products both horizontally and by several rows, as well as reproduce a merchandizing plan, display different options of advertising material (e.g. wobblers, shelf talkers, wall posters, etc.), and show TVCs on a monitor.

What can be done with 3D Shop?

The virtual study gives answers to the following:

• Will a new display option boost sales of a brand?
• How can changing a pack affect sales?
• Can price promotion increase sales sufficiently?
• What POS material types are most effective?

The new tool measures indices such as the route and time spent shopping, stops before shelves, taking a pack from the shelf, studying information on the pack, product purchase (when respondents put a product in the shopping basket), and rejection to purchase (when they put the product back).

Importantly, one of 3D Shop’s advantages is an ability to be integrated with the Eye Tracker device to track respondents’ gaze. This allows us to evaluate respondents’ attention distribution while shopping in 3D Shop.

To watch a demo video of 3D Shop please use this link: http://www.comcon-2.com/Video/3DShop_Movie.avi.