Looking for a growth opportunity for your product? Consider this: more than 70 percent of the world’s purchasing power is outside the U.S., but less than 1 percent of U.S. businesses export. That’s a vast amount of potential profit just sitting there, waiting to be tapped.
Many companies are unsure about offering their products overseas because they don’t know how to adjust the business strategy for other cultures. That’s where eye tracking comes in: we have performed dozens of studies in foreign countries to help companies understand how foreign consumers differ—and how they don’t—from U.S. customers.
We gathered insights from three of our most experienced researchers to show you the kinds of insights that eye tracking research can give companies that are expanding into international markets. Between them, these guys have done research in over 20 countries. They gave us the inside scoop on three shopper categories in seven countries. In this three part series, we talk about the differences between computer shoppers, beauty care consumers, and grocery store patrons, and our experience doing research in each category with consumers around the globe.
Computer Shoppers in India, Spain, and the U.S.
Jordan Morgan-Barnes, an Eye Faster director, compared how consumers in India, Spain, and the United States go about shopping for and interacting with personal computers in retail stores. The study, commissioned by a chip manufacturer, wanted to find out which factors were important to people and which were less of a concern.
Across all three countries, demographics were similar: college-aged adults, parents shopping for their college-aged offspring, and parents shopping for family computer were the most common shoppers. In all three places, people cared about the chip, but factors like weight, portability, processing speed, and memory capacity were the top concerns. Very few people actually purchased during the study—computer buying is a very long process.
The team spent two weeks in Bangalore interviewing over 200 computer shoppers in two computer stores. “India’s definitely one of the most different places I’ve been to, in terms of retail, than the U.S.,” says Jordan. The stores were small, about the size of a phone store in the U.S., and located in large indoor shopping centers. “People were thoughtful, and they really took their time, speaking with employees and asking lots of questions,” Jordan notes, while explaining the differences in consumer behavior.
The two Madrid stores were also in an indoor mall, but they were large, like the big-box stores familiar to Americans. The study was performed in June, which was a slow time for shopping generally but a fairly busy time for computer shopping. Jordan, who is also fluent in Spanish, explains, “One thing that’s really different there is that during summer most of Europe is at a standstill. A lot people go on holiday, so retail tends to slow down.” But secondary school graduates headed to college and parents doing back-to-school shopping were just starting to scope new computers.
The U.S. study was performed in Kansas City, MO, and Columbus, OH, at two locations of a chain office-supply store. In contrast to the other two countries, most people had done their research online and already knew which models they were interested in. “People would come into store with printed-out pages, trying out at product, and then go buy it online,” notes Jordan. “The retail experience—touching, testing—is so crucial, but people know that they’ll get a better deal from a website.”
Check back next week, where Eye Faster director Mitch Cartwright discusses differences in beauty products in China and the U.S.
Thinking about expanding into the global marketplace? Get in touch with us to learn more about what you need to know before you go global and how to successfully connect with shoppers in other countries.
Tags: Consumer BehaviorEye TrackingGlobal RetailingRetailShopper Research