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Lume Customer Journey Mapping Case Study

Lume Identifies Multimillion-Dollar Revenue Leakage Recovery Opportunities and Growth Blueprint from Customer Journey Mapping

Written by Gold Research Inc. on . Posted in Blog, Case Studies, Gold Journey Mapping.

The Challenge

As competition intensified in the growing Whole-Body Deodorant (WBD) segment, Lume and its parent company Mammoth Brands were challenged to step forward with strategic category insights to fuel long-term growth. Lume needed to:

  • Expand the overall APDO category
  • Accelerate Whole-Body adoption
  • Improve shelf planograms and in-store messaging
  • Influence Walmart and Target merchandising strategies
  • Strengthen its leadership position with retailers

The Solution

Mammoth Brands partnered with Gold Research, an award-winning customer journey mapping and research firm, to help Lume move from brand participant to category visionary. Working with Gold Research, Lume designed a comprehensive, end-to-end shopper study combining behavioral science and large-scale qualitative and quantitative validation that would:

  • Decode the full shopper journey and Consumer Decision Tree (CDT).
  • Identify barriers to trial, repeat, and Whole-Body adoption.
  • Reveal revenue leakage points across channels.
  • Provide actionable merchandising and messaging guidance.
  • Quantify retailer and brand revenue upside.

To ensure robust and representative insights, this multi-mode research effort included:

1. In-Aisle Behavioral Research (Eye-Tracking + IDIs)
Shoppers wore mobile eye-tracking glasses while shopping at national retailers like Walmart and Target revealing:

  • Visual attention heatmaps.
  • Gaze sequences and dwell time.
  • Decision hierarchies and switching triggers.
  • Friction points and hesitation moments.
  • Emotional engagement with merchandising elements.
  • Eye-tracking sessions were immediately followed by retrospective think-aloud qualitative interviews in which shoppers verbalized their thoughts while watching playbacks of their own shopping experiences — revealing subconscious decision drivers and confusion points.

2. A Post-Purchase Quantitative Study
Segmented across Whole-Body users, considerers, triers, and non-considerers, the national study mapped:

  • Full purchase funnel drop-offs.
  • Trial and repeat barriers.
  • Retailer/channel differences.
  • Trade-offs influencing purchase decisions.

3. Merchandising & Opportunity Modeling
Gold Research translated insights into:

  • Multiple shopper journey maps (customized by specific retailers and shopper segments).
  • Retailer-specific decision trees.
  • Planogram optimization recommendations.
  • In-aisle messaging strategy.
  • Promotional prioritization roadmap.
  • Revenue leakage analysis.
  • Category and Lume growth opportunity estimates.

The Results

This research provided Mammoth Brands and Lume with:

1. A Category Growth Framework and a strategic blueprint to expand APDO by:

  • clarifying the role of Whole-Body Deodorant.
  • improving navigation speed and confidence.
  • reducing cognitive overload at shelf.

2. Data-backed merchandising guidance on:

  • shelf adjacency strategy.
  • benefit-forward communication.
  • placement of natural vs. traditional segments.
  • messaging hierarchy to accelerate decisions.

3. Journey maps and decision trees that became powerful tools for:

  • retailer presentations.
  • strategic account planning.
  • trade marketing activation.
  • cross-functional alignment.

4. Revenue leakage modeling identified:

  • category expansion potential.
  • Lume share capture potential.
  • loyalty improvement pathways.
  • revenue leakage recovery opportunities.

5. Strategic Outcomes

  • Elevated Lume’s positioning as a category visionary.
  • Provided actionable growth strategies.
  • Delivered immediate promotional and merchandising activation priorities.
  • Built a foundation for long-term APDO and Whole-Body expansion.

Testimonial:

“Gold Research delivered far more than shopper insights — they provided a strategic blueprint for category growth. The combination of live eye-tracking behavioral research and robust quantitative validation gave us a level of clarity we’ve never had before about how shoppers truly navigate the deodorant aisle. Their work helped us understand the decision hierarchy, the barriers to Whole-Body adoption, and exactly where revenue leakage was occurring.

Most importantly, they translated insights into actionable merchandising and retailer-ready recommendations. This research fundamentally elevated how we approach marketing, trade strategy, and category development.”

Jeff Strong, Senior Advisor, Lume & Mammoth Brands