Of all the shopper funnel steps, product engagement is the one in which the product is under the brightest spotlight.
If the goal of shopping is to buy a product then product engagement is a very important step in the shopper-product relation because it is the products only opportunity to shine and impress the shopper.

To further visualize why this step is so important I am introducing Laura, the shoe, to recount her life story.

A women running shoe life story

"Hi everybody, my name is Laura, and I am a women running shoe. I was designed 8 months ago after the company board, decided to produce a collection of sports shoes for the summer of 2018.
First, I was sketched on a piece of paper. Later, that sketch was translated in a 3D model with much more precise measurements and details.
A shoemaker took the instructions of how to construct me and together with the materials produced what I am today.
After that, I was put into a box and sent on a trip to a store. During the trip, I spoke to my sister, the left shoe, who explained to me that only one of us will have the privilege to stand proudly on a shoe wall and face the customers.
Upon arriving at the store, an employee unwrapped me and put me on the shoe wall. I thought to myself, this is a big privilege but also a big responsibility.
When a shopper takes me in her hand, there is a lot of people I must not let down: the designers, the manufacturers, the marketers, the staffers. The whole company who put so much effort into producing and promoting me is counting on me, including my sisters who are waiting in the storage room.
At that moment, however short it might be, I must do my best to make the man-hours spent on bringing me to life count."

Letting the data speak

The decisive moment, in which the shopper takes a SKU into his hand is something that can be measured and analyzed in order to really uncover why some products are selling and others are not.
At StoreDNA, we use computer vision to measure the number of touches (pick-ups) each individual item, such as a shoe or a mobile phone, has. Later, we combine this information with sales data to drive insights on the most granular level of a store, the SKU level.

Here we see an AIM (Actionable Insight Map) from the StoreDNA ActionBoard of a shoewall in a store in Chicago.
From the AIM we can decide which actions could be taken to optimize the displayed assortment.

High fidelity detailed data lies at the core of StoreDNA ActionBoard.
The data is combined with easy to understand analytics which provide insights for fleetwide actions.

If you would like to learn how to start optimizing your fleet, store or category contact us at grow@storedna.co and get a free demo.