Sample of monthly newsletter Tom Dowdy pioneered at National In-Store. The "Measure" newsletter set NIS apart as a "thought leader" in the retail services sector.

1. MEASURE
A MONTHLY MEASUREMENT OF THE RETAIL EXPERIENCE
March 2007 Issue 1
powered by National In-Store and M/A/R/C ® Research
Does Your Speed to The study included shoppers at
Register Check Out? stores in six categories: grocery,
drug, consumer electronics, office
Find out the impact long supply, mass merchandisers like
Target and Wal-Mart, and clubs
check-out lines have on
like Sam’s and Costco. The study,
your bottom line. conducted in February, included
responses to an online survey from
While it’s no surprise to anyone
over 17,000 shoppers; and in-store
that customers don’t like long
audits of more than 3,500 office
waits, a recent study by National
supply and consumer electronics
In-Store and M/A/R/C® Research
stores.
provides insights into the effects
of long check-out lines on sales
Conversion rates, or the percentage
and customer satisfaction. The
of shoppers who made a purchase,
study combines the in-store audit
averaged 83%. This rate ranged
expertise of National In-Store
from a high of 91% in grocery
with the marketing research ex- “It’s no surprise... stores to a low of 49% in consumer
perience of M/A/R/C. customers don’t electronics stores.
like long waits...”
SHOPPER CONVERSION RATE BY STORE CATEGORY
Grocery Stores 91%
Mass Merchandisers 87%
Drug Stores 87%
Club Stores 83%
Office Supplies Stores 67%
Consumer Electronics 49%
MEASURE 1

2. MEASURE
A MONTHLY MEASUREMENT OF THE RETAIL EXPERIENCE powered by National In-Store and M/A/R/C ® Research
Among shoppers who left the store without SHOPPERS REPORTING CHECK-OUT
making a purchase, one in ten cited the wait TIMES INFLUENCED THEM TO LEAVE
to check out as a factor in their decision to not WITHOUT MAKING A PURCHASE
make a purchase. This figure ranged from 6% in
office supply stores to 11% for grocery stores. Grocery Stores 11%
Mass Merchandisers 9%
“We have reconfirmed one important fac-
tor influencing conversion rates. Retailers Club Stores 8%
wishing to win must continually identify the
other factors that have the greatest relation- Consumer Electronics 7%
ship towards improving results.”
Drug Stores 7%
Steve Greenstein, NIS RetailMetrics Office Supplies Stores 6%
Customer satisfaction declines sharply as tion levels fall below 80% for all but club
check-out times grow. More than 90% of stores, where shoppers are slightly more
shoppers were extremely or very satisfied with tolerant of the longer check-out times.
a quick check-out of 1 to 3 minutes. When Satisfaction declines sharply for waits
the process takes 4 or 5 minutes, satisfac- longer than five minutes.
SATISFACTION WITH CHECK-OUT TIME
100%
Club Stores
(% Extremely or Very Satisfied)
80% Consumer Electronics
Office Supplies Stores
SATISFACTION
60% Drug Stores
Mass Merchandisers
40% Grocery Stores
All Stores
20%
0%
1 2 to 3 4 to 5 6+
CHECK-OUT TIME (minutes)
MEASURE 2

3. MEASURE
A MONTHLY MEASUREMENT OF THE RETAIL EXPERIENCE powered by National In-Store and M/A/R/C ® Research
Men are more likely to forego a purchase CHECK-OUT WAIT INFLUENCED
because of long check-out times, as are DECISION NOT TO BUY
adults in the 35–54 age group. Male 10%
Field audits show the average number of
Female 7%
customers in line to check out varies by day
of week and time of day. In office supply
18-24 8%
stores, lines are shortest in the morning and 25-34 8%
longest during lunch hours. In consumer 35-44 9%
electronics stores the lines grow during eve-
nings and weekends. Overall, stores in both 45-54 10%
categories tend to keep average line lengths 55-64 7%
to about two customers.
65+ 7%
CUSTOMERS PER LINE
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
3.9 3.9
2.4 2.5 2.7
2.0 2.0 2.3 2.2
1.9 2.1
1.8 1.8 2.0
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS OFFICE SUPPLY
“The variability we are seeing by day of
week is a great indicator of opportunity
for most retailers. Identified variability in
performance should be subject to root cause
analysis, starting with the question “Why”.”
Steve Greenstein, NIS RetailMetrics
MEASURE 3

4. MEASURE
A MONTHLY MEASUREMENT OF THE RETAIL EXPERIENCE powered by National In-Store and M/A/R/C ® Research
National In-Store M/A/R/C Research
Kathy Hartman Tony Amador
Business Development VP, Client Development
2 North Tamiami Trail, 9th Floor 1660 North Westridge Circle
Sarasota, FL 34236 Irving, TX 75038
tel 941.554.2666 tel 972.983.0436
khartman@nis-retail.com tony.amador@marcresearch.com
www.nis-retail.com www.marcresearch.com
®
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Retail Metrics, a division of National In-Store, is built and consulting firm that uses innovative qualitative
around the philosophy, “What gets measured, gets done.” and quantitative methodologies to help clients launch
We provide retailers in-store Inspections, Measurement, better products and services, find new and valuable
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is to improve sales and profits through improved in-store brand building efforts.
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tential of developed offerings, or optimize marketplace
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MEASURE 4