Mandatory masks, admission restrictions, waiting times - shopping is currently associated with all kinds of inconveniences. In some cases, the virus is even affecting the product range. One thing is clear: the frequency of visits to shops is a far cry from pre-corona times and may remain so for a long time to come.
This makes it all the more important to make shopping as pleasant as possible for customers who come to the shops despite the restrictions. After all, the experiences of these "first" customers can be used to derive valuable steps for improving the shopping experience.
POS surveys are therefore extremely important. They often reveal astonishing results and show whether self-perception actually corresponds to external perception. For example, hygiene measures that retailers consider to have been implemented successfully may be perceived as tedious by customers. Advertising measures that were efficient before the crisis may no longer be.
Hans-Joachim Klemke, Head of Marketing at EDEKA Rhein-Ruhr, confirms: "POS surveys play an important role in measuring customer satisfaction at our retailers. Especially during the coronavirus crisis, it is important that we keep an eye on the effects of the changes in the stores."
MEDIA Central regularly conducts POS surveys on behalf of its customers. The example of an EDEKA store in the Aachen area shows that interesting insights are being gained right now.
Based on the results, the EDEKA retailer now knows that the cleanliness of its store and the processes at the meat and cheese counters are decisive reasons for customers to shop with it. However, there is room for improvement in terms of store design. The result was very clear when it came to the question of using the leaflet: 83 per cent of customers are familiar with his leaflet. Of these, 84 per cent prefer to read it on paper, with only 16 per cent preferring the digital version.
As part of the POS surveys, MEDIA Central also determines the postcode of the customers surveyed and prepares this in a detailed customer origin analysis. This means that our retailer now knows that an above-average number of commuters are currently shopping at its stores and can draw conclusions about the ideal composition of its product range. MEDIA Central, in turn, can adjust the distribution area for the leaflet advertising on the basis of the customer origin analysis. This means that POS surveys not only offer opportunities for optimising market design in times of coronavirus, but also for optimising the advertising strategy.