Case Study
WRAP (loose product interventions in partnership with Waitrose)
Sectors:
Food Industry
Charities & Not-for-profit
Service(s): Accompanied Shops/ Intercepts, Eye Tracking, Face-to-face, Quantitative
Approach(es): Branding and Advertising
The Challenge
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (which operates as WRAP) is a registered UK Charity which helps citizens, businesses and Governments protect the planet by changing the way things are produced, consumed and disposed of.
WRAP reports, in ‘Unpacking fresh fruit and veg: A UK behavioural insight study' that 78% of UK consumers buy at least one fresh fruit and veg item loose. 60% agreed that they ‘would prefer to buy fresh fruit and veg loose/not in packaging’.
However, there is currently a disconnect between retailers offering loose and customers choosing to buy when it is available. WRAP, in partnership with Waitrose, commissioned DJS Research to assess the effectiveness of in-store messaging designed to encourage consumers to purchase more loose produce. The in-store messaging was placed in one treatment store.
The Approach
Our approach combined qualitative shops and quantitative surveys:
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Accompanied shopping trips, with eye tracking in the POS treatment store; eye tracking glasses recorded the eye gaze data of shoppers, to understand what customers are actually looking at as they browse. Discussions and retrospective ‘think-aloud’ commentary provided insight into why consumers shop the way they do.
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Quantitative exit surveys in the POS treatment store and one control store as shoppers completed their fresh produce shop allowed for robust data to gauge intervention awareness and impact.
The Results
Recommendations to optimise the effectiveness of POS in supermarkets were made, as well as identification of basic factors that must be addressed for any POS to be successful; these included:
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Ensure there is sufficient varietal choice of loose produce,
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Make price comparison easier between packaged (single price point) and loose (weight by item or by kg),
- And finally to ensure buying loose is the most convenient and easy solution.
The research has been featured by The Guardian newspaper - https://theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/05/loose-fruit-veg-waitrose-supermarket-food-waste-eye-tracking
WRAP
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