CPG economy Research Methods + Real-globe Examples

If you sell buyer packaged goods, you exist in a globe that tends to be high-volume and low-markup. CPG companies remain afloat by capturing as wide a swath of the economy as feasible. To do so, they depend on CPG economy research for insights into buyer needs and competitor strategies.

What is CPG economy research?

CPG economy research is a technique buyer packaged goods companies use to comprehend buyer behavior. It involves assembly and analyzing data on subjects like customer preferences, shopping habits, and brand perception. CPG companies often merge multiple research techniques to develop a comprehensive understanding of their target spectators.

Analyzing this data helps CPG companies make informed decisions. Insights gleaned from economy research can assist businesses optimize product advancement efforts, packaging design, and marketing strategies. Conducting research helps businesses earnings a competitive edge and remain relevant in a quick-paced CPG industry.

Types of CPG economy research

CPG companies have access to a range of research methods. The most effective type of research depends on the corporation’s objective, advancement stage, and product. buyer packaged goods economy research methods fall into two broad categories:

• Primary research. This way involves data collection and original research conducted via surveys, customer interviews, focus groups, and ecommerce analytics tools.
• Secondary research. Secondary research focuses on analyzing data from third-event sources, such as industry reports from dedicated research organizations.

CPG data falls into one of these two categories:

• Quantitative data. Quantitative data is numerical and structured. ponder sales records, financial details, and numerical surveys.
• Qualitative data. Qualitative data is non-numerical. This type of information can arrive from customer service reports, direct observations, and buyer interactions.

CPG economy research methods

• Focus groups
• Brand ownership surveys
• Product testing
• Social listening
• Customer interviews
• Syndicated research

Both large and tiny CPG companies alike depend on economy research to gather actionable insights and refine their operational strategies. CPG companies may conduct research to test ideas prior to launch, assess product act, or develop ideas for recent marketing campaigns. These are some of the research methodologies businesses use to gather data:

Focus groups

CPG companies use focus groups to earnings detailed, qualitative insights into buyer behaviors and preferences. Conducting a focus throng involves assembling and interviewing a tiny collection of customers representing your target economy. A brand representative guides the customers through a series of product or economy-related talk questions.

Viewers of the hit AMC drama Mad Men may be familiar with this way. The enigmatic advertising executive Don Draper often gained spectators insights by observing focus groups through a two-way mirror.

Brand ownership surveys

Brand ownership surveys focus on assembly information about brand perception. CPG companies can use these surveys to assess brand awareness, customer loyalty, perceived standard, and brand associations by helping to identify buyer pain points and highlight opportunities for growth.

Product testing

You can test products by providing a selection of them to a throng of target customers. CPG brands use product testing to solicit buyer feedback—it can provide meaningful insights into perceived standard and item act.

Key metrics vary depending on the industry. In the food and beverage segment, for example, brands may inquire customers to assess taste and texture. You can conduct product testing in focus groups, through surveys, or with blind comparison tests, where consumers assess competitor goods alongside a brand’s other items.

In a brick-and-mortar surroundings, you can also try out shelf testing. This procedure involves displaying products alongside competitor offerings and observing buyer behavior. Watching how customers interact with product displays provides valuable insights into product visibility, shelf placement schedule, and competitor act.

Social listening

Social listening is the habit of monitoring conversations on social media platforms about your products. CPG brands can use social listening to comprehend customer sentiment, observe buyer trends, and monitor competitors. This secondary research technique can yield both qualitative and quantitative data.

Customer interviews

Customer interviews revolve around engaging select members of your target spectators in short conversations about your products. Interviewers may inquire a set of predetermined questions or let the exchange unfold organically. Customer interviews can provide detailed qualitative data.

Syndicated research

Third-event economy research companies such as Nielsen and Gartner conduct broad economy research and assemble reports on various industries. CPG companies can buy relevant studies to conduct syndicated research.

These reports often contain a thorough economy analysis and buyer insights. Details may include economy size information, a competitive landscape analysis, and a buyer demographics update. Purchasing a CPG economy research study is a way to access large quantities of data without dedicating internal resources to research.

CPG economy research examples

Successful Shopify merchants use CPG economy research to shape their product and marketing schedule. Consider these examples to view how research strategies are integrated into business plans:

Tatbrow

commence-up founder Razvan Romanescu is the founder of Underlining, a holding corporation operating several beauty brands, including Tatbrow, an eyebrow pencil. On an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast, he explained how analyzing economy trends influenced his product positioning schedule.

“You always have to have a distinctive selling point or a differentiator,” Razvan says. To determine how to set Tatbrow apart, he started with economy research. “We looked at microblading, which is a medical procedure to tattoo your eyebrow a sure color. There was a lot of virality coming out around it. People having horror stories, the pain, and since it’s semi-permanent, people would get their eyebrows dyed and it’ll be the incorrect color.”

After assessing the competitive economy, Razvan determined there was a obvious chance to introduce an accessible microblading alternative. The Tatbrow throng considered customer needs and current pain points. By positioning his product as a practical alternative to an existing pattern, Razan was able to earnings a competitive edge and capture buyer attention.

SURI

Gyve Safavi and Mark Rushmore are the co-founders of SURI, a sustainable electric toothbrush corporation. The pair stopped by the Shopify Masters podcast to distribute how they used research to assess the economy landscape and validate their concept.

The toothbrush industry is highly competitive. After conducting research, Gyve learned that a few well-established brands controlled most of the sector. “I tried to capture a lot of that research early on,” he says. “We found that there were probably just two main brands that dominated most of the distribute in most developed markets.”

Running surveys and conducting interviews helped the throng earnings a better understanding of economy dynamics. “The first thing Mark and I did was we ran a lot of surveys,” Gyve says. “Then we did in-person interviews with people. What we found was, people weren’t in adore with the brands they were using. Half the period they couldn’t name it.” Although competition was high, brand loyalty was low. This research revealed an chance for product recent concept.