The technological revolution has resulted in increasingly blurred lines between a customer’s online and in-store experience. This process has also given market researchers deeper insights into not just what and why consumers buy what they do, but also how they shop. Here are five pointers for capitalising on technology trends in market research:
Leverage The Internet To Obtain Details About Consumers
It’s now standard practice for businesses to track customer data online and use this to provide more personalised, appealing messaging and offers. Key customer insights remain a crucial source of market research.
Think Outside The Constraints Of Focus Groups
Focus groups are problematic in that they do not provide real-time insights into how and why people make the purchasing decisions they do. Newer tech trends are combining digital technology with advanced monitoring. Now research marketers can track how shoppers shop in a mall via an app, for example, for real-time insights into consumer behaviour.
Meld Customer Insight Data
Understanding consumer behaviour and attitudes in the context of how they shop gives you a better idea of how to solicit desired consumer behaviour. Many companies stick their staff in silos where there are communication barriers, thus placing an obstacle to sharing and combining data for deeper insights. Using the latest technology, you can provide your clients with market research data drawing on each core area of insight and present this information in a meaningful, visual way.
Understand How Your Shoppers Shop
Market researchers are now using technology to determine how shoppers find and decide on purchases. Older technologies video-taped shoppers in-store, or else saw marketing assistants accompany shoppers who relayed their choices in real-time, verbally. Now marketers are increasingly using more simplified technologies such as smartphone tracking to analyse behavioural patterns in shoppers and gain deeper behavioural insights.
Use Technology That Allows An Aggregative Viewpoint
The pro of new technology is that it enables market researchers to obtain a longer view of aggregated customer behaviour. For example, in a supermarket environment where shoppers’ purchase histories are saved to a digital loyalty card, researchers can now advise supermarkets more strategically regarding in-store advertising positioning for different customer segments.
Do you need technology-driven customer insights? Speak to Interact RDT today.