How we helped Tesco to develop their store strategy

Uncovering the psychology of the supermarket shopper

The puzzle

Tesco wanted to learn how behavioural economics affected the in-store grocery shopping experience.

• Could behavioural economics shed light on consumer behaviour – and change it?
• We tailored our approach to help Tesco truly understand the shopper psychology.

The pieces

We used a blend of techniques centred on the in-store grocery shop.

• Desk research to revisit previous research and hypothesise likely biases.
• Pre-visit shopping diary.
• ConsumerCam glasses to help us understand subconscious, System 1 behaviour.
• Observation of in-store behaviour.
• Interviews to provide System 2 commentary and rationale.

 The picture

The research was presented at the Tesco brand day, a UK board workshop and two other major forums.

• We identified six major biases, providing Tesco with ideas to remodel the shopping experience around BE principles.
• We also gave direction to feed into ongoing store strategy.