Get to the Truth

While I was at the Newsagent Conference in the UK where I was the keynote speaker I was fascinated by some research presented by John Kenny of the Today Group. The questions asked of retailers were: What do shoppers do when they are unable to find a product?” Retailers response – 55% come and ask, actual action – 1% of customers did “How much sales are lost do to not finding the product?” 33% lost sales according to retailers, actual loss was 71% in lost sales “Do consumers switch brands?” Retailers said 31% of consumers switched brands, 15% actually did. Do not assume you know what is going in your store, go and find out.