Tobii Technology, a global leader in eye-tracking research solutions and gaze interaction, announced its partnership with InContext Solutions, an award-winning technology-based insight services firm specializing in 3D virtual simulations. Tobii will provide its eye-tracking solutions to enhance InContext’s 3D virtual research offering. 

“Our virtual simulations allow brands and retailers to conduct research that is cost-effective, timely and non-disruptive, but most important, the research yields key insights into how their customers think and behave,” says Mary Shea, chief commercial officer at InContext Solutions. “With Tobii’s world-class eye-tracking services, we are now able to provide our clients with deeper data, taking them into the mind of the shopper and, ultimately, helping them determine what drives purchase decisions at the shelf.”

Through its unique technology platform, InContext Solutions harnesses the power of immersive 3D product and store simulations to provide value to clients through all phases of the concept life cycle — ideation, development, testing and commercialization. As a research tool, 3D shopping environments, distributed to participants via the Web or at a central location, provide decision-makers with a fast and cost-effective method to investigate and measure a multitude of traditional shopping variables, including basket size, conversion, product and shelf interaction, traffic patterns and time spent in store.

Through the addition of Tobii eye-tracking research services to InContext’s immersive virtual shopper studies, it is now possible to see what a consumer looked at specifically on a shelf or package, providing insight into the habitual behavior that a consumer engages in while making a purchasing decision. From here, researchers can evaluate the quality of these gaze actions through the length and frequency of views as well as visual comparisons made by the consumer, providing manufacturers and brands with deeper understanding and actionable insights into shopper motivation and product engagement at the shelf.

“Prior to the inclusion of eye tracking within research studies — both virtual and in-store — the researcher had to infer where the respondent looked based on direct observation or through post-study surveys, which are notoriously incorrect,” says Barbara Barclay, general manager of Tobii North America. “With the addition of our robust eye-tracking technology, a researcher can now understand precisely what the respondent looked at just prior to taking a desired action, helping define product visibility and offering a way to standardize and benchmark product consideration in similar categories.  Because eye tracking links behavior directly to what is seen, brands can make changes to package design and facings to improve desired actions with shoppers and achieve better sales outcomes.”

InContext Solutions will showcase its eye-tracking-enabled research offering in Booth 626 at the Shopper Marketing Expo in Chicago on Oct. 16-18. For more information, visit www.tobii.com.