E-marketing research: Ecommerce Market Research on the Internet includes a wide variety of information gathered for e-business planning and prospecting. Free ecommerce research found online is not always accurate but can be useful to track opinions, profiles and customer behavior.
Focus groups: Groups of potential customers are brought together to discuss their feelings about a product or market. Focus groups are a good way of getting detailed information about customer tastes and preferences.
Panels: A marketing research panel is a reliable source of primary marketing research information. For B2B marketing research, or consumer marketing research, ongoing marketing research panels are an effective research method to efficiently tap customer attitude and behavior patterns.
Field trials: A limited pilot test of a product under real conditions. A field trial is undertaken to test the physical or engineering properties of a product in order to identify and iron out any technical shortcomings prior to marketing. Customers may be involved in some trials, for example, in testing a new laundry detergent. Field trials should not be confused with test marketing, which is used to determine the likely market for, and likely customer response to, a new product or service.
Piloting: Pilot is a mini piece of research which is used to make sure that the questions set are answerable and that the tools to be used actually work. It can also be used to determine next steps such as sample size and the main aim is to make sure that the research planned will actually work.
- Secondary research makes use of existing data from whatever sources are available. There are government censuses, Mintel surveys, and many private market research agencies that allow access to their data; some of it for free. It can be hugely beneficial, especially as a place to begin. Secondary research more often than not, proves to be a solid base on which to develop your own primary research. It plays the same role as research in general does to your product launch, and should be seen as just as vital. Also, it is often cheaper and generally quicker than creating your own research from scratch. The negatives, the other side of that coin is that you have neither picked the panel to suit your exact needs nor the questions. It is possible that you can find some research somewhere that agrees to what you are trying to achieve but it will almost certainly require some change, and will not necessarily be the people you wish to question with; the use of qualitative research designed by someone else will almost certainly make the target specialised away from your goals. Another main issue from secondary research is that by the time it reaches you it is outdated; markets change so quickly in businesses that the only way to be truly up-to-date is through new research.
Internal sources
Data collected from a source that has already been published in any form is called as secondary data. The review of literature in any research is based on secondary data. Mostly from books, journals and periodicals.
Importance of Secondary Data:
Secondary data can be less valid but its importance is still there. Sometimes it is difficult to find primary data; in these cases getting information from secondary sources is easier and possible. Sometimes primary data does not exist in such situation one has to restrain the research on secondary data. Sometimes primary data is present but the respondents are not willing to reveal it in such case too secondary data can do, so you can collect data from books or other published sources.
Loyalty schemes
Consumer loyalty is one of the most valued assets a retailer could have. With increased competition from challenging stores and brands, a massive range of product choice and differences, and the increase of internet trading and contrasting websites, loyalty barely exist in the modern selling environment. The investigation into loyalty schemes founds their effectiveness in living up to their name. Research has extended knowledge of previous authors, and examines what does and does not make a customer loyal, taking into account the effect of loyalty cards for both the customer and retailer. It goes to develop an understanding of the most effective way for retailers to turn a simple customer into a loyal customer. The development of loyalty models and an investigation of research begin to suggest that loyalty schemes are successful when offering maintainable benefits to the customer such as special offers, reduced pricing, and free gifts, however the effectiveness of loyalty schemes are extremely decreased when the participants privacy is overrun with purchase tracking and direct mail.
EPOS (electronic point of sales)
The EPOS engage independent research agencies to study the effectiveness of in-store campaigns using business data received directly from the retailers. Research is tightly controlled to account for all other persuading activity, including other media running, price promotion, secondary space, product delivery and disposal. Test and control stores allow the researcher to see the real difference in-store media makes to product sales both during and post campaign. This is then presented back to advertisers in a simple, understanding format with the results clearly set out. For example; a selected trolley media to guarantee their message was frond of mind at the points of choice and purchase in-store. They then wanted to ensure sufficient time in front of shoppers to drive them to the passageway and the Glen Fiddich brand. The campaign delivered excellent sales uplifts, tracked through EPOS data. They would definitely consider putting trolley media on the plan for future campaigns.
Website monitoring
Website monitoring is the process of testing and verifying that end-users can interact with a website or a web application. Website monitoring is used in all different businesses to ensure that their site is live and responding.
A website or web application’s high availability is very crucial; users who are constantly meeting problems accessing the content of a site will not likely come back. For web applications – poor uptimes means users won’t be confident about your product: if they constantly experience issues with your apps’s availability, they will likely look for another solution that isn’t as difficult.
E-transaction
E-transaction is the third stage of a Web site takes the e-integration stage one step further by adding the ability for customers to enter orders and payments online.
Accounting records
Accounting records are documents and supporting materials used by individuals and companies in the preparation of financial statements, tax documents, and so forth. Accounting records can be used to evaluate the success of various marketing strategies such as incomes from a direct marketing campaign. There are several problems in using accounting data. One is the timeliness factor – it is often several months before accounting statements are available. Another is the structure of the records themselves. Most firms do not sufficiently setup their accounts to provide the types of answers to research questions that they need. For example, the account systems should capture project/product costs in order to identify the company’s most gainful (and least gainful) activities. Companies should also consider beginning performance indicators based on financial data. These can be business standards or unique ones designed to measure key performance factors that will enable the firm to monitor its performance over a period of time and compare it to its competitors. Some example may be sales per employee, sales per square foot, expenses per employee (salesperson, etc.).
Production information
Product information is management or PIM that refers to process and technologies focused on centrally managing information about products, with a focus on the data required to market and sell the products through one or more distribution channels.
Sales figures
Sales figures are the overall sum of expenses made by consumers of a product or set of products within some time frame and/or economic region. A marketing analyst working for a manufacturing business might look at overall recent sales figures within product categories relevant to their company’s product line to assess how confident consumers are in spending within the present economic environment.
Sales personnel
Sales personnel are an individual who sells goods and services to other people. The successfulness of a salesperson is usually measured by the amount of sales he or she is able to make during a given period and how good that person is in persuading individuals to make a purchase. If a salesperson is employed by a company, in some cases compensation can be decreased or increased based on the amount of goods or services sold.
Delphi technique
Delphi technique is a method of group decision-making and forecasting that involves successively organizing the judgments of experts in a business.
External sources
Internet
The internet or World Wide Web is a great tool for businesses undertaking research. Market and Marketing Research are both essential tasks for companies wanting to stay ahead of the competition; the internet contains a wealth of information to help them do their research. Primary data can be collected via clever use of online surveys and the internet contains many websites providing Secondary data. The internet can save companies valuable time and money by proving information at the click of a button. The important thing is to have an understanding of the type of information available and how to access it.
The difference between qualitative and quantitative
Quantitative research focuses on numbers or amounts. Measurable studies have results that are based on numeric analysis and statistics. Often, these studies have many participants. It is not unusual for there to be over a thousand people in a quantitative research study. It is ideal to have a large number of participants because this gives analysis more statistical power. Qualitative research studies are focused on differences in quality, rather than differences in quantity. Results are in words or pictures rather than numbers. Qualitative studies usually have fewer participants than quantitative studies because the depth of the data collection does not allow for large numbers of participants.
Triangulation
Triangulation is a way of assuring the validity of research results through the use of a variety of research methods and approaches. It is a means of overcoming the weaknesses and biases which can arise from the use of only one of the methods described, such as observation, questionnaires etc.
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