VR Signage Revolutionizes Pharma Sales Strategy

A major pharmaceutical company aimed to boost brand and category sales while maintaining private label sales in the over-the-counter (OTC) category at a specific drugstore. They planned to enhance existing in-aisle signage targeting shoppers with specific symptoms to improve the shopping experience and encourage repeat purchases.

Challenge

The company wanted to test three different signage concepts to determine their impact on:

- Sales Growth: Which signage drives the highest overall sales for the category and brand, and how it affects private label brand sales.

- Increase in Number of Shoppers: Whether the signs attract customers who typically buy these products elsewhere.

- Ease of Shopping: Which signage helps shoppers choose the right product for their primary symptom.

Test

InContext collaborated with the client to conduct a virtual store test using a 3-cell layout to assess the effectiveness of different signage types in encouraging shoppers to buy products for specific symptoms. Shoppers navigated virtual shopping scenarios, mimicking their real-life behavior in the store.

Results

Analysis revealed that signage featuring product images led to a 5% increase in category sales and a significant 31% increase in private label brand sales. Although the "ease of shopping" ratings remained unchanged, indicating room for improvement, this insight helped refine the new signage before deployment, saving time and costs. The client used these findings to influence the retailer's signage content, benefiting the overall category and brand. Subsequently, the retailer implemented the revised signage in thousands of stores based on InContext's research.

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