Virtual Stores Reveal Customers' Real Needs

Nov. 27, 2007 — -- There is a war going on in the stores. It's a battle for your eyes, your ears and, most importantly, your wallet.

"We're trying to grab their attention," said Mark Rhodes of Kimberly-Clark, the consumer products giant that produces Huggies diapers and Kleenex. "If you think about a shopping trip, a shopper is on a mission. And most of them have a shopping list in hand, and if we're going to interrupt that mission, it's gotta be big!"

Click on our media player to take a look at what your corner store might look like -- in virtual reality.

Deep in a basement in Appleton, Wis., one of the country's biggest companies is trying win this "real" fight -- by going virtual.

Kimberly-Clark built a three-walled, 3-D, giant virtual lab to discover exactly what makes consumers tick.

Company analysts can watch as you push a shopping cart down a virtual aisle and see what turns your head and catches your eye.

Rhodes is team leader of the Virtual Reality Project at Kimberly-Clark. He said, "The design of the shopping cart is such that it actually creates the feel that you're actually in the store and actually shopping."

With the diminishing effectiveness of traditional TV advertising, companies have to use every inch of floor space in stores to reach consumers.

"It's all about what drives your intent to purchase," Rhodes said. "Is it the point-of-purchase material, is it the signage at the shelf, a floor graphic, in-store TV?"

For their research purposes, this virtual lab is a lot faster and cheaper than the actual world. They can test colors, packages and layout -- without manufacturing a single diaper.

One of the interesting features of the project is a retinal scan which tracks the consumer's eye as he looks at a display. The scan deciphers what attracts a customer's focus -- bright colors, big packaging or the price bar.

This measurement is more reliable than customer surveys.

Project manager Sara Austin smiles, "Your eyes don't lie."