Seventy Percent of Purchase Decisions Made at the POS?

Posted on October 31, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

That is a pretty big number to get one's head around, but conventional wisdom and some research support it. But is it true? Frankly, I think that 70% number needs to be qualified and placed in a context.

There is no question a final decision what to buy is often made in the store, but - BIG BUT - I believe there is much that fed, supported, and facilitated that decision, and most of that feeding, supporting, and facilitating took place before the consumer even entered the POS. Consumers buy the products they know and trust. That trust often comes as a result of being exposed to promotional messages about the product, and that usually means some form of advertising, be it traditional, new media, word-of-mouth, or PR.

When the consumer gets in the store and is faced with an array of products to choose from, they will choose the brand they feel at least some minimal level of comfort with. That comfort (or trust) must be based on something. It may be based on having seen advertising on the product, which gives it credibility, or it may be because someone they trust has used the product and vouched for it. They have somehow somewhere been exposed to a promotional message about the product. I believe it is rare that a purchase decision is made in the store without the consumer having some level of familiarity with the brand.

In the absence of previous exposure to a brand message, is it possible to make the sale at the POS? Yes, it is, but much harder, and it must be done in an extremely efficient manner, because the POS environment, by nature, does not generally allow for complicated brand-building efforts. In-store promotions are good at supporting other brand building efforts, but less effective as the only brand-building effort. If you expect to only promote your brand in the store, you should also expect be outsold by your competitors who build their brands outside the store.