Gideon Wilkins is a qualified member of the Market Research Society. He is Managing Director of Wilkinet Ltd, manufacturer of the Wilkinet baby carrier, baby carrier rain cover and the Wilkinet clothing range.
The Wilkinet Survey – The voice of the consumer
Published: 01 July, 2007 in Nursery Industry Magazine: http://www.nursery-industry.co.uk/news/search.php?_FB%5Bq%5D=wilkinet
What goes through a person's mind when they are planning a purchase? What is it that prompts them to choose one model or brand over another? Of all the questions I've been asked since setting up the Wilkinet Survey, this is the one that comes up most often.
Knowing what motivates and influences your customer's buying decision can give you a head start that could mean the difference between making the sale and seeing them walk away to the next shop.
Each nursery category will also have different priorities so this section will mostly focus on the two main 'hard goods' - pushchairs (PC) and car seats (CS).
Looking through the insight we have, it's possible to split the motivations for purchase into two separate groups - Concerns and Extras.
Concerns
Whenever I meet parents face-to-face (whether speaking to them at parenting groups or when we exhibit our baby carrier at the consumer shows) there is one question that almost always comes up… 'How safe is this for my baby.' This is particularly, and understandably, prevalent in first time parents. In our surveys, 'Safety features' is the run away top priority (77% of people say it's the most important feature on pushchairs and 84% say so for car seats).
Once the parent has established their child's well being they start to think about their own experience of using the product. Will it be easy for them to use, store, fit into a car? With baby carriers we also often find people particularly interested in how comfortable it will be for them to use.
Extras
Having allayed any fears or concerns your customer might have, you then have the opportunity to identify the extras that usually come down to personal preference.
Some of the features that are considered most important are, suiting a wide age range (PC: 41%/CS: 25%) appearance & design (PC: 19%/CS: 8%), innovations & gadgets (PC: 9%/CS: 7%) and, of course, price (PC: 26%/CS: 16%).
Certain 'Extras' sometimes become prerequisites. Before you can even talk about safety/convenience you may have to answer questions on whether you stock brand x or colour y.
We discovered the information in this article by asking (lots of) parents questions… when you've got just one of them in front of you the best policy is to take the same approach - keep asking questions to establish the concerns to resolve and the extras to offer.
Gideon Wilkins
Showing posts with label market research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label market research. Show all posts
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wilkinet Trade Research: Do shoppers want 'Private Consultations'
Originally Published: 15 April, 2007 in 'Nursery Industry Magazine' - for more information visit: http://www.nursery-industry.co.uk/news/search.php?_FB%5Bq%5D=wilkinet
Imagine for a moment you are in front of a crowd of 300 people. Many of them are pregnant; some already have babies and toddlers. There are a few new Dads in there too. All of them are your potential customers. As your audience settles down you hold a megaphone to your mouth and shout…
"So… I was thinking of stocking up on ten of the new Widget 3000s from Widgets’R’Us… what do you think of it? Would you buy it?"
After a few murmurs from the crowd and a general lack of interest you quickly cross it off your list and move on.
When I took a sideways step 12 months ago from the market research industry to take the reigns of Wilkinet (we manufacture and wholesale the Wilkinet baby carrier and Wilkinet clothing range) the first thing on my to do list was to get to know my customers better. The Wilkinet Survey was born.
Starting today the Wilkinet Survey is available to the nursery trade. Every month over 500 people complete our surveys on topics ranging from what their favourite brand or colour of pushchair is (it’s a black Mamas & Papas travel system by the way) through to whether a free cup of tea would make them more likely to shop at their local independent nursery retailer (it wouldn’t… but offering a home delivery option gets a big thumbs up).
The Monthly Quick Question: The Private Consultation
This month’s hot topic is the private consultation… a parent gets one-toone advice about baby products and then walks away with a shopping list (or in some cases the consultant will buy, deliver and build it all for them). The service is getting a lot of press attention and several people in the trade have asked me whether this is an area the independent retailer could get into (with some consultants charging up to £2,500 a go it could be a lucrative sideline). The short answer to paid consultations from nursery shops in most cases is no... but don’t rule it out entirely.
With half the respondents saying they’d be interested if it were a free service this could be a good opportunity to package and market the expert advice and customer service you give to your customers already. The free service could be a simple ten-minute chat and a printed list of recommendations and price bands. It’s still the product sales you would be making your profit on – but if it increases footfall then it’s worth considering.
There is also a smaller group of people who would be willing to pay for your time – or at least pay and then redeem on purchases. We asked how much to charge and most people thought £20 to £50 would be reasonable.
Gideon Wilkins is a qualified member of the Market Research Society. He runs Wilkinet Ltd – a manufacturer and wholesaler of the Wilkinet baby carrier, baby carrier rain cover and the Wilkinet clothing range.
Imagine for a moment you are in front of a crowd of 300 people. Many of them are pregnant; some already have babies and toddlers. There are a few new Dads in there too. All of them are your potential customers. As your audience settles down you hold a megaphone to your mouth and shout…
"So… I was thinking of stocking up on ten of the new Widget 3000s from Widgets’R’Us… what do you think of it? Would you buy it?"
After a few murmurs from the crowd and a general lack of interest you quickly cross it off your list and move on.
When I took a sideways step 12 months ago from the market research industry to take the reigns of Wilkinet (we manufacture and wholesale the Wilkinet baby carrier and Wilkinet clothing range) the first thing on my to do list was to get to know my customers better. The Wilkinet Survey was born.
Starting today the Wilkinet Survey is available to the nursery trade. Every month over 500 people complete our surveys on topics ranging from what their favourite brand or colour of pushchair is (it’s a black Mamas & Papas travel system by the way) through to whether a free cup of tea would make them more likely to shop at their local independent nursery retailer (it wouldn’t… but offering a home delivery option gets a big thumbs up).
The Monthly Quick Question: The Private Consultation
This month’s hot topic is the private consultation… a parent gets one-toone advice about baby products and then walks away with a shopping list (or in some cases the consultant will buy, deliver and build it all for them). The service is getting a lot of press attention and several people in the trade have asked me whether this is an area the independent retailer could get into (with some consultants charging up to £2,500 a go it could be a lucrative sideline). The short answer to paid consultations from nursery shops in most cases is no... but don’t rule it out entirely.
With half the respondents saying they’d be interested if it were a free service this could be a good opportunity to package and market the expert advice and customer service you give to your customers already. The free service could be a simple ten-minute chat and a printed list of recommendations and price bands. It’s still the product sales you would be making your profit on – but if it increases footfall then it’s worth considering.
There is also a smaller group of people who would be willing to pay for your time – or at least pay and then redeem on purchases. We asked how much to charge and most people thought £20 to £50 would be reasonable.
Gideon Wilkins is a qualified member of the Market Research Society. He runs Wilkinet Ltd – a manufacturer and wholesaler of the Wilkinet baby carrier, baby carrier rain cover and the Wilkinet clothing range.
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