Learn how to use market research to gain insights into your customers' needs and preferences, and adjust your product assortment and merchandising accordingly.

In my experience, when you really listen to your customer, you get free consultancy. We are trained to give answers but very few executives developed the ability of making the right questions. It is mandatory to define what we need to understand, analyze data from the research, and define a clear roadmap of actions based on priorities.

How can you use market research to anticipate changes in consumer demand?

Market research is a vital tool for retail marketers who want to stay ahead of the curve and offer products and services that meet the changing needs and preferences of their customers. By gathering and analyzing data from various sources, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, online reviews, social media, and sales records, you can gain insights into what your target market wants, how they behave, and what factors influence their purchase decisions. In this article, we will explore how you can use market research to anticipate changes in consumer demand and adjust your product assortment and merchandising strategies accordingly.

1 Identify trends and gaps

One of the main benefits of market research is that it can help you identify emerging trends and gaps in the market that you can capitalize on. For example, you can use market research to find out what new products, features, or benefits your customers are looking for, what problems they are facing, what values they care about, and what competitors are offering. By spotting these opportunities early, you can create or source products that match your customers' expectations and differentiate yourself from the crowd.

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Claudia Abreu

LinkedIn TOP VOICE | Board Member| CEO | Growth | Retail and Consumer Goods
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In my experience, when you really listen to your customer, you get free consultancy. We are trained to give answers but very few executives developed the ability of making the right questions. It is mandatory to define what we need to understand, analyze data from the research, and define a clear roadmap of actions based on priorities.

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Robert Stephan, PhD

Experienced Market & Commercial Insight Professional | Expert in Market Research, Competitive Intelligence, Data Analysis, & Strategic Consulting, especially in Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology
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In order to use MR to identify trends, the research needs to be done on an on-going, regular basis. Too many people think an ad-hoc research project is all that is needed. The consistent interaction is needed to identify upcoming trends so you can join at the beginning, instead of just jumping on the bandwagon.

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2 Segment and target your customers

Another way to use market research to anticipate changes in consumer demand is to segment and target your customers based on their characteristics, behaviors, and needs. By dividing your market into smaller groups with similar attributes, you can tailor your product assortment and merchandising to suit each segment's preferences and motivations. For example, you can use market research to find out how your customers differ in terms of demographics, lifestyles, attitudes, shopping habits, and loyalty. By understanding these differences, you can offer products that appeal to each segment and display them in ways that attract their attention and interest.

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Robert Stephan, PhD

Experienced Market & Commercial Insight Professional | Expert in Market Research, Competitive Intelligence, Data Analysis, & Strategic Consulting, especially in Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology
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Market segmentation not only helps with customized targeting, but may uncover additional products or services a currently unserved segment is wanting. This may result in new product development or attributes.

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3 Test and optimize your products and merchandising

Market research can also help you test and optimize your products and merchandising before you launch them or make changes to them. By getting feedback from your customers or potential customers, you can evaluate how well your products and merchandising meet their needs and wants, and how they compare to your competitors. For example, you can use market research to test your product features, quality, price, packaging, and positioning, and see how they affect your customers' satisfaction and purchase intention. You can also use market research to test your merchandising elements, such as layout, display, signage, lighting, and promotions, and see how they influence your customers' attention, engagement, and conversion.

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Stephanie Scaglione

Paralegal and Notary, Event Manager, Social Media Manager and Content Designer, Field Marketing Manager, Brand Ambassador and Agency Owner
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For rolling out of our new energy drink we did a soft launch into independent retailers which allowed us to conduct more feedback and address issues with manufcaturing and price points. Through this soft and slow roll out we have been able to roll out 6 total drink SKUs with an exclusive distrbutor and have now through those gains and metrics proven to larger retailers that our drink should be on their shelf. We recently launched the drink into over 300 Publix locations in the state of FL theough a multi year merchandsing support program through 5 hour energy. this is just one of the many initiatives we have accomplished through this program, and the metrics we have gathered.

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4 Monitor and measure your performance

Finally, market research can help you monitor and measure your performance and see how well you are meeting your customers' changing demand. By tracking and analyzing data from your sales, inventory, customer service, and feedback channels, you can assess how effective your product assortment and merchandising are in generating revenue, profit, and customer loyalty. You can also use market research to identify any issues or challenges that you need to address or improve, such as customer complaints, returns, out-of-stocks, or competitive threats. By monitoring and measuring your performance, you can make informed decisions and adjustments to your product assortment and merchandising based on the latest market conditions and customer feedback.

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Robert Stephan, PhD

Experienced Market & Commercial Insight Professional | Expert in Market Research, Competitive Intelligence, Data Analysis, & Strategic Consulting, especially in Oncology, Hematology, and Immunology
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In order to be consistent in your monitoring, spend some time up-front to develop your Key Performance indexes ("KPIs"). I have heard that Elon Musk likes to boil everything down to only 1 KPI (I have no idea if this is true or not!). I have seen clients try to use too many KPIs, which just dilutes their management efforts. So, keep the number to a minimum to make sure they are really KEY.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Kimberley Upton

Head of Effectiveness
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Don’t underestimate the value in looking backwards to go forwards. COVID, for example, was a curveball that the world never expected. But 100-year old lessons from the Spanish Flu helped market analysts better forecast & mitigate against the likely socio-economic outcomes. History repeats itself. Learn from it.

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How can you use market research to anticipate changes in consumer demand?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Identify trends and gaps

2 Segment and target your customers

3 Test and optimize your products and merchandising

4 Monitor and measure your performance

5 Here’s what else to consider

Retail Marketing

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How can you use market research to anticipate changes in consumer demand?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Identify trends and gaps

2 Segment and target your customers

3 Test and optimize your products and merchandising

4 Monitor and measure your performance

5 Here’s what else to consider

Retail Marketing

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