Shoppers need help: Robinsons Mini fruit squash

A shopper’s tale of confusion, disappointment, & finally happiness. Good morning Britvic plc!

Last weekend I was at Waterloo station, after a day out with my young nephew. He always wants a bar of chocolate to eat on the train, so we go to WHSmith. On this day we were in a hurry to catch the train. I was standing at the self checkout till with his bar of Dairy Milk, being quick. I was thirsty but didn’t want to leave the till to get a bottle of water.

Then I saw this item at the checkout. Recognised the Robinsons name and the orange colour. The packaging says ‘mini’ but doesn’t explain what the product is. Because of its proximity to the till, where one normally finds chewing gum and small sweets, I thought it must be a format like Tic-Tacs. Small thirst-quenching pellets. The right size to fit into a small pack like that. Also the image of the tiny slices of orange was making me think ‘small pieces of something to quench your thirst’. I paid for it and the chocolate and we hurried away.

As we walked to the train, I unwrapped the pack. I was disappointed to find I was wrong about the Tic-Tacs. I wasn’t expecting liquid. I didn’t know what it was for. I squeezed a bit on to my tongue and recoiled. It was very concentrated and almost salty. Now I was thirsty AND I had an unwelcome taste in my mouth AND I felt stupid for making a mistake.

I put it in my pocket and took it home. That’s where I realised what it is for. It’s for water. You squirt it into a glass or bottle of water and it makes the water taste nicer. NOW I love it. I LOVE tiny, decorative & functional things that I can keep on my desk. I try my hardest to drink enough glasses of water each day but it’s not easy. This really helps. It tastes yummy. And quite unexpectedly, it’s very gratifying to use. The tiniest bit of pressure on the squeezy bottle squirts a miniature jet of orange into the water. It’s so responsive. I love testing how little pressure I need to apply to make the orange liquid shoot out. Now it’s a favourite product of mine. Are there other flavours? I will buy them.

Conclusions:
– Shoppers need HELP to understand what they are buying. If it looks like Tic-Tacs and it’s located in store where the Tic-Tacs are normally found, that’s what people are going to expect.
– You don’t need to depict a glass of water on pack, but how about placing the product next to the bottled water OR putting a few bottles of water next to the product?? I needed to quench my thirst at that exact moment of purchase and I did not get what I needed.
– Great job on the adorably tiny and responsive packaging that is a pleasure to use. Totally redeemed itself. Please do more to help shoppers find & understand it.

More insights concerning shopper expectations can be found in “Using Semiotics in Retail”, best book on Sales & Marketing, Business Book Awards 2023.

#Robinsons #WHSmith Cadbury UK #packaging