Price, placement, stock availability? For many manufacturers, the POS is a real black box. It is difficult to check whether retailers are implementing all of your guidelines and recommendations in order to get the maximum sales. The intelligence of the crowd can solve this problem.
In a prior blog post about collecting market research in real time, we explained the basics of how market research at the POS can be achieved through crowdsourcing. In this post, we cover how this revolutionary form of market research can be applied. One primary statement can be made: crowdsourcing can be used in many ways and can be individually adapted to the most diverse needs.
In short, the areas of application of market research via crowdsourcing can be divided into six areas:
- Promotions
- Stock Checks
- Price Checks
- Surveys & Shopper Insights
- New Product Insights
- Retailer Acceptance and Carriage
Below we demonstrate the differences and possible use cases of these six areas.
- Promotions
Imagine you are planning a promotion for months, for example, at the run-up to December holiday shopping. You and your team test and execute designs, promotions and the placement of secondary displays. After one to two weeks in stores, the result is that the numbers are disappointing--the expected additional sales are missing. What could be the problem? Experience has shown that numerous retail promotions are improperly implemented at the POS or not at all. However, it is impossible to monitor every single POS yourself or with the help of your own sales force. This is where our Taskers around the globe come in. With the Simply Tasks app, they go to all of your points of sale and collect real-time information-- including photo evidence --and you can react quickly to turn the situation around.
- Stock Checks
What do shoppers do when their favorite product is not available on the shelf? Go to another store for the product? No, 90% of shoppers buy competing products there and then! The lack of stock availability results in enormous loss to the manufacturer. But here, too, you can take countermeasures with the help of crowdsourcing: simply have product availability monitored by our Taskers. In this way you can see exactly where your products are out of stock and react in real time.
- Price Checks
Prices usually not only differ from retailer to retailer, but also show enormous regional differences. Keep track of all your retail prices with crowdsourcing and gain intelligence about the prices of competing products at the same time. All price checks flow into a dashboard in real time, where you can see trends as well as determine whether your measures are having positive effects.
- Surveys & Shopper Insights
Get information about the purchasing behavior of your target market when they are physically standing in the POS. Through the deployment of crowdsourcing, you can get answers to quick, location-dependent queries. It is easy to ask real-time questions about consumer behavior and preferences or open-ended questions about product satisfaction.
- New Product Insights
Have shoppers noticed your latest product? Is it placed in the logical or optimal location in the store and how is it rated by consumers? This can also be queried quickly and easily. One Simply Tasks client, a large manufacturer, found out through crowdsourcing that his product was not placed where customers expected it to be in significant stores– so sales opportunities were missed. He was able to take countermeasures quickly and significantly increase sales through new placement.
- Listing Boost
Is your product not available in some of the major chains because you are having difficulties getting those retailers to agree to carry it? We send shoppers to stores to tell store managers there that they want to buy your product. As soon as the retailer notices that the demand is there, they will definitely want your product in their range!
Of course, it is also possible to combine the various options above in a crowdsourcing application or to ask different questions at different times. Our experienced specialists will be happy to advise you!
