Tag: Webinar

New pricing study: Reduce pack volume or increase price?

Posted on by sandra

By Saša Radojević, Sr Shopper Insights manager at EyeSee

With almost 2/3 of households in the US living paycheck to paycheck, the additional pressure of inflation pushes consumers to prioritize, rethink and, in some cases, give up on purchases.

EyeSee has just wrapped up the second wave of the pricing tracker in the US to identify how consumer behavior is shifting when exposed to different volume and pricing adjustment scenarios.

The study included two separate samples to gain an in-depth insight into consumer confidence. One group (a sample of 3200 individuals) was exposed to virtual shopping exercises, while the other sample completed a conjoint exercise (a sample of 1650 individuals). Both surveys aimed to identify new patterns of behavior and understand shoppers’ perspectives on the current situation.

To understand the retailer’s perspective on the matter, check out our latest Quirk’s webinar.

So, what buying behaviors have changed over the last year?

In the first wave of the tracker that was conducted mid last year, we asked respondents to forecast how they plan to buy in the upcoming period of six months.

In most categories, such as cosmetics, entertainment, traveling, finance and insurance, and other long-term investments, the behavior and predictions align well. Surprisingly, this time last year, over a third of respondents claimed that they will be stockpiling food and other items over the next six months, yet fewer did so.

Eating out has been affected more than consumers predicted a year ago, as well as the overall purchases of food and beverages. This makes sense when paired with the stockpiling trend among over 28% of respondents, which indicates they are very much looking to cover the basics and stick to essentials.

When it comes to predictions for low frequency categories like household essentials, clothes, and sports equipment, as well as subscriptions and memberships – these have all been affected to a greater extent than predicted a year ago.

Is shrinkflation your best move?

Same as last year, we investigated two lower frequency categories (body wash and dishwashing) and two higher frequency categories (bacon and chips). And within these exercises, consumers faced different scenarios.

  • In virtual shopping, the range of choices included the current pack price and size, increased prices of one third of the shelf and then the entire shelf, but also a decreased pack size of 1/3 of the shelf and then also the entire shelf.
  • And in conjoint, they were primarily faced with different price increase scenarios ranging from 5% increase all the way to 25% increase, but also a size reduction of its tax by 20%.

When looking at conjoint, volume decrease scenarios have low impact on respondents’ behavior. However, virtual shopping data tells a different story. Specifically, if we zoom in on the price sensitive segment, we can see that shoppers are extremely sensitive to any type of shrinkflation, especially in the body wash category.

Chips and dish wash sales are also affected, but primarily when only 1/3 of the packs on the shelf are reduced in size.

Thou shalt not pass price thresholds

Out of four categories we looked at, Bacon is the one impacted the most particularly when the whole category takes a price increase. In our research, we are using today’s pack sizes and prices, however it is important to consider the historical record of the bacon category fluctuation over the last couple of decades to fully understand the shift.

Last year, our study showed little to no impact, presumably because the prices skyrocketed in 2021 and 2022; the consumers were desensitized. However, this year in the scenario where the price was increased by another 25% on top of the already high price, data shows that the consumers walked away from the category at this point.

For each of the categories, there are thresholds – and for bacon, we are nearly there.

Want to know more? Check out the full webinar featuring Heather Graham (Director Client Service @ EyeSee), Sasa Radojevic (Sr Shopper Insight Manager @ EyeSee), and experienced retailer & Awarded 2022 Top Women in Grocery (TWiG) Raina Rusnak.

    The latest in social media testing: Replicated feeds for authentic behavior

    Posted on by EyeSee Research

    The future of shopping is set for a social revolution. Thanks to its accessibility, social media has quickly become one of the essential business operations for brands. And due to the highly competitive digital arena, growing a brand’s social presence has never been more challenging – from standing out in the clutter and ensuring ads actually trigger the conversion into purchases to knowing how to successfully navigate the polarizing timelines caused by turbulent events and crises.

    Check out Laura Hoste (New Business Development Director, EyeSee) give a comprehensive run-down of this innovative research approach to testing social media campaigns:

    What are the current social commerce trends and drivers?

    E-commerce sales have soared in the last years and with that, the way people are shopping has changed fundamentally. And now there is Gen Z – a new consumer group that is completely transforming the face of online shopping. A trend we have seen time and time again since the rise of TikTok is its potential to blow up products to unseen highs of virality and almost permanently clear them from the shelves. The power of social media is immense.

    But these short-format-based apps are certainly impacting our attention spans. In fact, viewers only spend 2.5s per post, according to Facebook. While 2.5s sounds scarce (because it is), the consumer’s attention in actual physical stores is not that much greater – only 7s!

    Of course, researchers and marketers know how precious and hard to obtain attention is in any environment – but the digital arena is way more cutthroat and competitive than anything we’ve seen so far.

    What are the go-to research tools?

    Because of the highly competitive environment, the pressure is on brands to find more innovative data and drive successful campaigns. However, researchers usually take the route of extracting data from live analytics via social media platforms, different social media tools, surveys and focus groups. And while these methods can be handy, they are not without some gaps.

    First off, they are missing the why – why is a certain trend happening, and why are consumers resonating more with this post instead of that one. Then there’s the reputation risk and the opportunity cost of launching a non-tested ad. And, of course, it’s hard to understand if consumers are connecting with your brand – although extremely important when it comes to advertising, tools like live analytics give no insight into which parts of the post or ads are performing well or how they are directly impacting the in-store purchase behavior. And finally, none of these methods can provide strategic insights both across social media channels and other marketing channels such as TVC, digital, print, OOH.

    What is the value of CMS or in-context social media testing?

    CMS stands for content management system, which is a computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content. Essentially, it is a platform capable of cloning or rather replicating social media channels and websites.

    By developing a replica of the social media environment, the quality of research insights significantly boosts. And the more realistic the environment, the more predictive and precise understanding of authentic consumer behavior! But this also means that you can have full control over the testing in terms of stimuli, the target group, the entire timeline, and its features. Shortly, the study setup is completely customized to your particular research needs. And with the help of an in-house design team, any major social media platform can be recreated – and in it, any format of an ad or content can be tested and optimized!

    Testing with combined methods yields higher predictive power and maps out specific elements of an ad that work (or don’t work) with the target audience. As a result, you gain a lot more strategic insights that allow you to create guidelines and frameworks for creative agencies and for developing ads that can be tweaked according to the platform. Especially since each one has unique qualities to it and what works on one, let’s say, putting the brand logo in the left corner on Twitter ads might not work on Instagram, where it needs to be in the bottom right. This is why it’s crucial to pre-test and really understand how your content can be additionally tweaked and optimized for every platform. And that is how we designed this CMS solution – to deliver brands a competitive overview of their ads and content performance across different platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat and Facebook – check out the demo!

    How does in-context social media testing work?

    For reliable and valid insights, it is crucial to use a mix of behavioral and traditional methods that focus on consumer behavior in the timeline and its impact on sales uplift. Surveys help uncover the why behind ad performance – beyond just the clicks, views and other analytics, but digging deeper into consumer perception.

    Eye tracking, in particular, allows granularity into which ad elements are seen and which are often missed, while facial coding identifies whether consumers are engaging with your brand by analyzing their emotions through facial expressions. And virtual shopping provides a direct link between the performance of an ad and in-store purchase behavior with the help of realistic simulated store environments that tap into authentic consumer behavior.

    And because of the online and accessible approach, respondents are recruited from anywhere in the world via a third-party panel, allowing studies across different markets, countries and industries. And the best part is that no extra tech is needed – respondents simply use their own laptops or mobile phones during the test.

    What does CMS testing uncover?

    Every metric and KPI you need to know about your ad performance:

    1. Visibility –  how many users have actually seen your content?
    2. Attention – how long do they watch it for?
    3. Video retention – what are the usual points where you start to lose them?
    4. Emotional reach – is the ad resonating with them?
    5. Survey KPIs – does it fit with the brand, and do users like it?
    6. Sales uplift – does the ad impact sales?

    But going beyond these KPIs, it is important to have a holistic view of how the ad performs across different platforms – to gain overarching best practices and guidelines.

    How are simulated feeds the gateway to connecting with consumers?

    Apart from enabling an incredibly nuanced understanding of ad performance, testing content in simulated social media feeds opens opportunities for brands to connect with consumers and explore topics relevant to them. Since this, too, varies from platform to platform, uncovering the sophisticated differences in behavior that would go undetected with traditional social media research tools is crucial! Here are some insights we have accumulated over the years:

    Instagram: In one of the most extensive mobile behavioral studies conducted on 1800 respondents in an Instagram environment that tackled brand perception, we uncovered that IG users tend to prefer full body shots, celebrities & female protagonists – for most industries, that is. Ads featuring Female protagonists drive more positive emotions and are evaluated as more attractive and transparent, and this stands for Endorsement and Seasonal ads in particular. 

    Twitter: Another study done on a Twitter timeline showed that the key to uplifting sales is that combining and showcasing both brand and product significantly increases the purchase intent. Only showing the brand or product does not have the same impact. Furthermore, the findings showed that placing the brand logo in the upper left corner actually boosts recall!

    Facebook: A Facebook study where 26 ads from 6 different industries were tested found that ads from the Food industry were the ones grabbing the most attention – they outperformed other ads on visibility, attention and emotional reach. And – if you can, avoid GIFs! Videos are proven to be far more persuasive, driving both better brand perception and differentiation.

    Interested in optimizing your social media presence? Reach out to us!

      [Get recording] Win the Battle for Market Share: Launching Risk-Free NPDs

      Posted on by EyeSee Research

      Have NPD launches in the pipeline? Every brand knows that planning and developing NPDs is a challenge – only 20% of cases end in success. How will the NPD perform once it hits the shelves – and will the current market dynamic be affected? The answer to these (and more) questions lies in behavioral in-context research!

      Request the Quirk’s session recording to find out how behavioral methods help uncover:

      • The actual NPD sales potential as well as its market share estimation
      • The impact on the competition and the sources of volume for the NPD
      • The category benefits & opportunities once the NPD is on the shelf

      Speakers: 

        Experts’ guide to 2022: Innovation, sustainability and collecting the right data

        Posted on by EyeSee Research

        This year has brought new approaches to market research for many global brands, and the shift was felt across all industries – but keeping up with the latest trends is no easy task. To help brands get ready for 2022, we handpicked 5 tips from the top experts from Microsoft, Google, Swiggy, Coca-Cola, and Colgate-Palmolive that tackle the innovation process, sustainability, and approaches to collecting consumers’ data in the next year. Let’s dive in!

        The blog before you is just a sneak-peak into EyeSee’s annual publication filled with 40+ industry insights, top experts’ perspectives and handy advice for the year ahead – and beyond. Stay tuned!

        Tip #1 When in doubt, go behavioral

        When lockdowns and restrictions hindered in-store shopping – collecting consumer data became a challenge on its own. To surpass it, tech powerhouse Google sought new ways to obtain reliable consumer learnings – by adopting a behavioral and remote approach to research. Research Lead Southern Europe at Google, Tiphaine Goisbeault, reflected on how user behavior has evolved and is now more complex than ever – and to stay on top of it, the need for innovation became a crucial component at Google. With this in mind, finding space for innovation at every step – while respecting user privacy and vendors’ safety – means opening new areas of thought, challenging well-known marketing frameworks, or testing new methodologies to improve operational marketing.

        Tip #2 Embrace the small company mindset

        When approaching innovation and product development, Tanja Petrović, The Coca-Cola Company’s Insights Strategy Director, believes there are a few key things small companies are acing – that big brands can learn from. First of all – the agile approach. As Tanja put it, it is something that the big systems could not say was one of their key advantages in the past, but are now heavily learning to apply many agile principles in the way they operate. Secondly, the uncertainty – especially during the pandemic but also beyond, is something small companies are successfully managing on a day-to-day basis.

        Having a super-efficient yet authentic vision and mission with a purpose is another way small innovators are changing the game. Larger companies tend to gravitate towards wide portfolios to cover different business needs, making it challenging to stay focused on the vision and mission. Then there is high engagement internally among the employees and externally, especially with the consumers. Tanja believes smaller brands can especially be proud of the consistent interaction with their consumer – and then basing their business model on that interaction. And finally – alternative channels. Big companies usually tend to go to the mainstream channels to distribute products, while smaller companies are going the other way around and plugging into the alternative channels to build the brand and the product there.

        Tip #3 Start with what’s comfortable, but build on it

        Speaking of innovation – Senior Manager Market Research at Microsoft, Krista Bradley touched upon how many companies lack the courage to take that first step. A lot of times, the challenge in doing innovative research lies in the fact that stakeholders lean towards the rinse and repeat approach to avoid risks. Here’s how Krista always finds the room for innovation – while thinking a couple of steps ahead of what the stakeholder’s needs:

        Tip #4 Tap into the sustainable arena

        As the demand for more sustainable alternatives keeps increasing – so are the opportunities for brands to develop these sought-after products. According to Cherie Leonard (Foresight and Sustainability Insights, NA Division at Colgate-Palmolive), the first step to making sustainable products truly competitive is to understand the job that needs to be done – the product has to fit the consumer’s experience, or they won’t use it even if it’s the most sustainable option.

        Tip #5 Combine different types of data for a full picture

        So, how to approach research in 2022? As technology keeps changing the way of collecting data, many diverse research fields are working together to gather actionable insights. Omnath Killekar, Product and Consumer Insights at Swiggy, reflects on the relationship between insights gained from consumer research and those obtained from passive data. As he explained, these are two types of data: primary research data and the data we have from internal systems (from the funnel conversion, etc.). While both types are vital for researchers, the real magic happens when you understand how to marry the two data sets – to obtain a 360° view of consumer behavior. 

        Interested in more insightful perspectives to help steer your 2022? Make sure you check out some advice from our senior top experts!

          Improving NPD success: Best practices from Coca-Cola and General Mills

          Posted on by EyeSee Research

          New product development is the lifeblood of every company – yet only 80% of product launches create a positive impact on the bottom line. With NPDs being one of the more challenging things to develop successfully, experts Tanja Petrovic (Innovation Strategy Director, The Coca Cola Company), Tony Marcello (Consumer Insights Manager – Morning Foods, General Mills), and Nikola Golubovic (Shopper Insights Director, EyeSee) deep-dived into where and how to approach testing NPDs.

          Last year, consumer shopping and how they use products changed – and with it, so did new product development. Studies show that 40% of shoppers are ready to try new brands and products. Did the pandemic impact strategies for new products? Is brand loyalty more of a priority than before?

          Due to its long-lasting legacy, credible products, and a loyal bond with the consumers, the Coca-Cola Company found itself in a privileged situation during the pandemic – most of its key brands were not negatively impacted. But what has changed, under the pressures of a health crisis, is the way people are consuming products.

          Nowadays, consumers are more open to exploring new products and different types of categories – driven by two factors: the inability to travel and have new experiences, but then compensating staying at home by trying new products. According to data from the Coca-Cola Company, in Germany alone, 72% of consumers aged 16-34 are willing to try new exotic flavors. This remains true for France and Spain, where 65% stated they want to try flavors they never had before in an attempt to, in a sense, transport themselves to a different part of the world. Another pandemic-driven change is that consumers are now looking at their products as a vehicle for better health – and functionalities like immunity support, energy boost, etc. are gaining traction.

          Given all of these changes in consumer behavior, how has the new product development process been impacted? What does the process in General Mills look like now?

          While the change in consumer habits transformed the innovation process in General Mills, it is also a natural step for any company that comes over the years. Tony believes that it really comes down to attempting to better understand consumer habits, wants and needs – and doing a lot of research to achieve that. But apart from learning how to truly tap into shopper behavior, understanding how to better communicate at the first moment of truth and how to be better from a marketing standpoint is also crucial.  

          To tap into these (unmet) needs, a lot of research is needed. Consumers don’t always do as they say, so it’s important to find methods that are accurate at measuring what the shoppers are actually doing. 

          What are some of the key reasons NPDs fail? What are the essential things to keep in mind?

          When it comes to new product developments, bottlenecks can occur at any step of the process. The most common reasons behind innovative initiatives’ failures are (mis)understanding consumer behavior, issues in product development, inadequate product communication at the first moment of truth and lack of marketing support.

          On top of this, researchers are often inclined to get as much information out of the shopper as possible – but sometimes that’s not realistic. Consumers can easily state whether they like or dislike a new product or concept, but questioning beyond that is where the real insights lie. And while many shoppers say they are open to trying new products – General Mills’ expert guesses that 90% of their shopping cart is things they typically buy, meaning standing out on the shelf can be a challenge. The aid for this? Instead of doing one test to understand the first moment of truth – do a couple, and bring it earlier in the process in order to fully understand the real potential. Another game-changer is conducting the tests in the consumers’ own space.

          Is there something smaller innovators and disrupters are leveraging that big companies are missing? What can we learn from them?

          Big companies tend to think big – from developing new products and expanding their portfolios to launching campaigns that cover every consumer touchpoint. But, perhaps counterintuitively, small companies’ success lies in just the opposite. Here’s what small innovators are doing that bigger ones should consider, as explained by Tanja Petrovic:

          1. The adoption of an agile approach – big systems don’t tend to lean towards agile principles, but an iterative innovation process and constant improving along the way is the key to a successful launch
          2. Managing everyday uncertainties – instead of the go-to move of attempting to remove uncertainties, large companies need to learn how to deal with them as a normal part of business
          3. Efficient vision and mission with a purpose – with big brands come wide portfolios that need to cover different needs but staying focused on the vision and mission could resonate with the consumers
          4. High engagement internally and externally – what smaller businesses excel at is developing loyal relationships both with employees and consumers
          5. Consistent interaction with the consumer – staying in touch with the consumer through social media provides real-time feedback on a product, service or concept
          6. Leveraging alternative channels – instead of opting for the mainstream channels first, alternative channels are a great place to build a brand and push out products

          On top of this, if small innovators are providing a better or a different quality of a product or service, they can apply premium positioning and pricing strategy OR they provide better convenience while shopping or offer the product at a more attainable price.

          How has researching innovation changed over the years?

          First of all, the context has changed – the ideal store and shopper habits changed and are continuing to evolve – and this has created great pressure for brands, agencies and researchers to do everything faster and more efficiently. Over time, researchers learned how to ask and listen, but nowadays, the key challenge lies in tying all the pieces together, overcoming the obstacles and obtaining the full picture. Recognizing that there is a discrepancy between what consumers say and do, usually means that the outcome wasn’t properly anticipated. As Nikola explained, for EyeSee both the voice of the consumer, and measured behavior are important – and combining the two factors unlocks risk management analyses.

          By doing volumetrics it is possible to estimate actual sales potential all while listening to consumers to help improve the products. This is done through leveraging online virtual shopping environments and putting shoppers in simulated, yet typical shopping situations. The possibilities of this approach are endless – from testing different POS materials, varying different placements, planograms, and types of displays while measuring the sales potential of the new product to repeating purchases and sometimes exposing shoppers to out of stock situations in order to identify what are the risks of listing new SKU – testing in-context holds the key to NPD success.

          Interested in how our experts ensure NPDs are a success? Make sure you check out the full webinar!

            Improving NPD success rates: Lessons learned & best practices

            Posted on by EyeSee Research

            New products are the lifeblood of every company, and yet remain one of the most challenging things to develop successfully. Request the webinar recording now to learn how to approach NPD testing, where to start and how which stakeholders to involve.

            Learn about the newest behavioral NPD testing – and see how to increase your success rate!

            Tune in to find out:

            • What factors impact NPD success – what to be on the lookout for
            • New product testing framework based on behavioral methods and iterative design thinking methodology
            • Which phases of product development require which type of test

            Panelists:

            Host:

            Jonathan Asher, Executive Vice President, EyeSee

              Online shopping optimization roadmap: How to start P2P testing?

              Posted on by EyeSee Research

              Only 47% of planned online purchases are successful – and the ongoing e-commerce boom is pushing everyone to optimize their E-commerce presence to stay competitive. Mapping out the best ways to extract insights along the entire online path to purchase is a complex undertaking – but it does not have to be so hard. Watch EyeSee’s webinar session to untangle online touchpoints, get hold of juggling different retailers, and a clear vision of how to measure experience along the online journey.

              Learn about:

              • How to navigate the e-commerce boom – where should you start testing if you are planning a foray into e-comm research?
              • Why is a behavioral website navigation map one of the key tools for understanding the online shopping experience you provide?
              • What do other clients like you look for in the online path to purchase research, and what are the pain points they encountered?

              Panelists:

              Host:

              Sanja Ćopić, Content strategist, EyeSee

                [Luxury journey] 3 ways to triumph at customer experience

                Posted on by EyeSee Research

                One of the many things the luxury industry excels at is going beyond just the product – but creating exclusive experiences at every touchpoint of the customer journey. Luxury has always been a state of comfort, an intangible feeling of exclusiveness – and as such, not rational. The key challenge for high-end brands lies in capturing that unique and implicit feeling of luxury. How does one go about researching something that is irrational, subconscious and not easily communicated – all while taking into account the pandemic-driven changes in customer demands? Cue behavioral market research to ensure a safe metamorphosis.

                LVMH has been paving the way for changing the luxury customer experience and the ways we approach enhancing it. As a part of the annual LVMH Innovation awards, EyeSee had the honor of being amongst the 28 finalists dedicated to providing tech-driven solutions and bringing the future of customer experience one step closer.

                Check out Milica Kovac‘s quick guide to winning big with behavioral insights:

                Here are 3 ways brands can embrace the evolution of customer experience:

                Tap into transformative in-store trends

                The pandemic has pushed a lot of brands across industries into fight or flight mode – some flourished and some failed to adapt to the new dynamic the health crisis has brought on. However, now, as more vaccines are administered every day, buyers have started to go back to the stores after a year-long pause. But just as shopping habits continue to evolve, in-location gadgets, protocols and regimens will have to be reinvented and tested to fit the new needs.

                One of the ways to keep up with the consumers is by putting them in context, a completely simulated virtual environment of any store, and testing new touchpoints to tap into which store elements work with the consumer – and which ones don’t, beyond the explicit.

                On top of it, mapping out their entire decision-making process and identifying the type of customer is crucial when it comes to brand loyalty – and luxury is all about loyalty, but having a loyal customer is a luxury. From there on it’s all about how to assist and improve their shopping journey to ensure they stay with your brand and understanding where new buyers come from, and what allures them to your brand.

                Lean into digital

                Luxury brands have been on a mission to tap into the digital experience, but most of them have met the same challenge – making it feel exclusive to the consumer. The rise of Gen Z and the perpetuated need for digitalization are disrupting the market and pushing high-end retailers to get innovative. From virtual try-ons, to digital shopping assistants, even the likes of Ralph Lauren and Gucci have invested in the development of digital platforms to unlock a new way of connecting with their customers. So, how can brands engage with luxury e-shoppers and meet their new demands?

                Over 53% of planned online purchases fail to be completed – consumers tend to get frustrated and give up if there are any setbacks in their online path to purchase. Understanding how to navigate all the steps consumers take (or don’t take) while shopping online will determine the common pitfalls and pain points where you could be losing shoppers – but ultimately the opportunities ahead. To uncover the fine nuances in the ways consumers are interacting with shopping platforms, you must tap into the online path to purchase.

                Bridge the in-store – online gap

                The need to tie in both commerce and e-commerce and create a seamless experience across all platforms has been something companies from every industry are trying to achieve. One of the trends that emerged in the Auto Industry, for instance, is the development of virtual showrooms where consumers are able to view and browse vehicles as they would in person – and this trend found its way across many industries.

                Click-and-collect is becoming a more and more popular choice among buyers, and as Google reports, 63% of shopping begins online. But what’s certain is that consumers still want to experience the immersiveness a physical luxury space can offer – from social interactions to touching and seeing a product. The key to ensuring a smooth omnichannel path to purchase lies in truly understanding the consumer, their expectations and needs – and, perhaps more importantly, their behavior.

                  [Request recording] How Microsoft gets behavioral insights to work on global and local levels

                  Posted on by EyeSee Research

                  In the IIeX Behavior webinar, Microsoft’s Krista Bradley (Senior Market Research Manager, Research+Insights) and EyeSee’s Heather Graham (Business Development Director) sat down for a conversation on the award-winning online path to purchase project that brought us together. The expert tandem covered all the steps researchers should take when preparing and implementing complex studies – and how to then socialize the behavioral insights throughout the organizational ecosystem, past the initial presentation to stakeholders.

                  What does designing complex research projects look like at Microsoft?

                  A great place to start any project preparation is venturing out and getting input from a wide variety of stakeholders working in field teams, corporate teams or with partners and making sure everyone is on board and in line with the focus. However, the more the stakeholders, the higher the complexity of the project.

                  “It is really important when I am designing a study, to really understand each of those cohorts. I want to learn more about what are the big things they are thinking about this year or in the next three months” said Krista.

                  The next step is writing the research brief based on all the input – the who, what, where and why’s of the study – and getting all the stakeholders aligned with it. Ensuring this will provide a very clear and concise perspective, and ultimately solidify a good partnership with the vendors.

                  How should researchers approach a study with many moving parts and extract relevant insights across the board?

                  Keeping a global view in mind and streamlining things where you can is key. At Microsoft, most studies are conducted on multiple levels – from the high, corporate level to the local ones. The corporate level is all about consistency in branding and strategy, so planning more of a high-level deck that covers the different topics for stakeholders is crucial. When it comes to the local markets – don’t be scared of using templates! Think of the core of the study findings and adjust the rest of the deck to the nuances of every market.

                  But the insights truly come alive when sharing them with the customers and teams. Doing so while assessing how they react to the data produces very practical and valuable implications for any future research. In short – Microsoft makes sharing data into a workshop. This goes along with their approaches to innovations. With a constant effort to build on top of the quantitative studies they’re conducting and push the boundaries, they are able to unlock and tap into many new areas of research.

                  What was the role of behavioral methods in this project?

                  The project focused on Microsoft’s website with an aim to understand the effect of the home page, the search results page and the product detail page have on customers and their experience. By destructuring the online platform into separate pieces, Krista and her team were able to break apart all the learning into separate recommendations for each segment and for all of the retail partners.

                  Microsoft used eye tracking to gauge where the viewers were looking on the pages while assessing their engagement of what they click on as their areas of interest. To tie in all of the findings, the behavioral part of the study was topped with a customer survey. The combination of methods actually uncovered that one of the elements on the product description page, which was a true passion project for Microsoft, severely underperformed – only 34% of people were seeing what was put on the page – and only 2-4% actually click on it.

                  As Krista put it: “To be able to really utilize those three big bodies of information, we can understand on any given page are consumers even seeing the pieces of real estate that are on the page – and if they see it, do they even care about it.”

                  Can clients be confident when going into unexplored research areas, such as e-commerce?

                  The role of the research supplier is to always let the data tell the full story of consumer behavior – regardless of the area is something well-explored or completely new. The researchers represent the voice of the consumer – but a layer of business expertise needs to be added for the stakeholders. Apart from this, helping clients navigate complexity by taking every possible step when setting up extensive studies is critical – from desk research, talking with counterparts in different categories or countries to connecting dots from other research initiatives.

                  E-commerce is still an up-and-coming research field so with it comes a lot of uncertainty. More and more data-based solutions are being pushed out with an aim to simplify the complexity of these studies for clients and their stakeholders. The approach to the online path to purchase used in this study won the 2019 Global MR project award at the Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards by Quirk’s. Based on this successful collaboration,  here are the 3 steps for testing an online platform to make an actual impact:

                  Step 1: Choose the level of the study and invest in the bottom-up approach (start with tactical, and then address strategy), which will provide you with have quick wins that demonstrate impact to your stakeholders.

                  Step 2: Combine the right conventional (survey) and behavioral (eye tracking, virtual shopping) methods to increase the predictability by up to 30%.

                  Step 3: Test in-context on a (mockup of a) specific website  

                  Interested in our award-winning e-commerce solution? Check out the demo and make sure you watch the full webinar session!

                    A glimpse of the future: E-commerce insights from APAC experts

                    Posted on by EyeSee Research

                    Watch EyeSee’s expert panel discussion looking into e-commerce practices and habits in the APAC region. With an e-commerce-first approach to business in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, both retailers, manufacturers, and delivery businesses along the value chain, everyone is feeling the changes. 

                    Having deep knowledge about regional differences, category insight and research technology is essential – but how can we use these learnings to optimize performance across platforms? Which trends are on the cusp of adoption, and where is the rest of the world still lagging behind advanced Asian platforms and established consumer behaviors?

                    Guests:
                    Anatole Rousseau, Director Foodservice and E-commerce, Barilla
                    Delphine Dierckx, Head of Commercial APAC, Foodpanda
                    Omnath Killekar,Product and Consumer insights, Swiggy
                    Tom Vande Moortel, Business Development Director

                    Host:
                    Sanja Copic, Content strategist, EyeSee

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