Locked-Up Goods a Double-Edged Sword

Three-fifths of shoppers report seeing locked-up merchandise on a regular basis, and 27% said they would switch retailers or abandon the purchase rather than wait for help getting access to such product. Those figures are from a new report by data/tech company Numerator, which was sourced from verified purchase data and a sentiment survey of over 5000 consumers.

Other key findings from the survey include:

• 60% of shoppers report seeing locked-up merchandise on a regular basis. Among shoppers who encounter locked-up products, 28% report seeing them every time they shop, 32% see them sometimes, and 29% see them often. Only 11% of shoppers say they rarely see locked-up products.
• Shoppers are noticing more locked-up products than ever before, with 61% of shoppers reporting seeing an increase in the number of products under lock and key over the past year, 33% have not noticed a change and 7% say there are fewer items locked up now.
• Shoppers most often see locked-up items at drug stores and mass retailers. The stores where consumers see the most product lock-ups are mass retailers (68% of consumers), drug stores (62%), grocery stores (31%), department stores (25%), and home improvement stores (23%). Dollar stores (18%) see the lowest levels of lock-ups.
• Drug stores provide better assistance accessing locked-up merchandise. At a retailer level, CVS (+16%), Walgreens (+12%) and Target (+12%) had the highest net ratings for easy assistance retrieving locked items, while Walmart (-13%) had the lowest. (Net ratings showcase the difference between the percent of consumers who say getting assistance is easy and the percent who say it is difficult.)
• The most observed locked-up items are personal electronics such as smartphones and tablets (58% of consumers report seeing), OTC medications (38%), physical media (36%), personal hygiene products (34%), makeup & cosmetics (33%), large electronics (32%), and accessories (29%).
• More than a quarter of shoppers say a retailer loses their purchase when items are locked up. On the other hand, 62% of shoppers say they typically wait for assistance when they encounter such merchandise and 9% say they order the item online from that same retailer. However, 17% say they will switch retailers (10% online, 7% in-store), and 10% say they will abandon the purchase altogether.

Click here for more from the study.