The European Shoppers Insight Report conducted by data provider IRI has revealed that a wide product range is key to attracting consumers.
The study asked 2,600 shoppers across seven European countries to evaluate each retail channel based on a list of features including: innovation, shopping experience and quality.
The results, it showed that emerging specialist beauty channels, such as drug, make-up and perfumery stores, are more popular with customers because of their wide product range.
The report stated that 56% of shoppers chose to visit a drug store because of the wide variety of products; meanwhile 59% of consumers selected a make-up store based on product variety.
Considering other factors, 49% of shoppers were also attracted by in-store services at make-up retailers and 34% by quality.
As well as a wide product range, specialists stores are outperforming hypermarkets and supermarkets when it comes to customer satisfaction.
“This a major challenge, that manufacturers and mass market retailers need to work out together; identifying the right range, product and brand positioning, as well as pricing strategy, in order to offer a real alternative to these specialised stores,” said, Laura Fusi, Shopper Insight Senior Manager at IRI.
According to the results, a higher level of customer satisfaction is experienced in specialist stores due to customer experience aligning with expectations.