Have you heard that Facebook is no longer popular with teens? That Millennials aren’t brand loyal? That Hispanic shoppers buy more fresh produce?
These important insights have all been reported in recent market research, and they shouldn’t be ignored. Market research brings a wealth of information about groups of people, information that you might not be able to access directly.
But they may not be true of your particular shoppers. Look at a recent market research insight: white consumers are more likely to use coupons than Asian Americans. If your goal is to reach Asian Americans. you might immediately assume that coupons would not be a useful strategy.
However, the data looks a little different when you dive deeper. 43% of shoppers who identified themselves as white use coupons. 36% of those who identified themselves as Asian Americans use coupons. In both cases, the number is between 1/3 and 1/2. Either one could still bring a worthwhile number of sales. You’ll know from analytics — the specific data from your POS system and your promotions tracking.
Here’s a little more market research. Asian Americans are more likely to be early adopters of technology, are more likely to use coupons from sources in their native language, and are more likely to shop at warehouse clubs than European Americans.
So if your product is in Sam’s Club and you have a chance to offer paperless coupons on a mobile-friendly Korean language website, you might find it very successful.
Would you find any of that information in your Retail Link data? Only the part about being successful. Market research is valuable.
So use market research to guide your hypothesis formation when you plan promotions and forecast sales. Use your own data to test those hypotheses. The combination of the two information sources will allow you to make the strongest decisions.
Contact 8th & Walton for more information about our business services, including analytics.
