Project Showcase
Changing the home paint shopping experience.
A system, strategy, and strategic product design.
Shopping for DIY paint products in big-box retailers is a daunting experience. How can we turn the consumer’s frustrations into a shopper-centric experience?
Partnering with the Newell/Rubbermaid brand Shur-Line, a manufacturer of paint application products for DIY consumers, IN2 Innovation set out to explore merchandising innovations for paint products by gaining a comprehensive understanding of consumer shopping behaviors at home improvement centers.
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We started by devising and conducting an extensive countrywide ethnographic research plan that included in-home site visits to understand the planning process of a painting project. Next, we accompanied these participants while they shopped, to observe and understand the decision making and purchasing process within the retail environment.
The research data provided valuable insights that were converted into Incremental, Transitional and Breakthrough ideas through a series of workshops with the client. A combination of 35 ideas was refined and prototyped, 25 of which were implemented into a full-scale aisle mock-up. These concepts were then tested with recruited respondents in the aisle environment for acceptability and adoption.
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Impact
The impact of the full-scale aisle prototype, along with implemented concepts, were positive indicators to increase point-of-sale, drive growth and simplify the consumer shopping experience. The results have been guiding both short-term and long-term merchandising innovations for messaging, graphics, signage, packaging, and products in various national home improvement and big-box retailers.