New concept for qualitative trade research at the POS
Cooperation with Heldberg Trade Research
A new customer group is growing within society: consumers are becoming increasingly critical and don’t regard trademarks as an added value any more. The purchase decisions of these “smart shoppers” are influenced by the objective service criteria and the question of what one can get for one’s money.
The downtrend of respect for brands is also testified by the increasing price aggressive Point of Sales (POS). In order for a trademark to succeed at the POS it must fortify the required quality criteria as well as possess a coherent image. Facing this is the problem that commerce as well as producers often perceive the POS as a black box, at which the consumer’s motive for the choice of a certain product can only be guessed.
But commerce has a great influence capacity: On the one hand it serves as a means of communication, for it is here that the contact with the product / brand takes place and influences the purchase decision. The POS becomes a Point of Decision. On the other Hand commerce has a filtering function, because the marketleader, the shopkeeper and the sales assistant are left to decide almost freely on the spot about purchase function, the store’s arrangement and product placement and are considered trustworthy councillors and therefor protagonists of the brand by the customer. In order to comprehend and evaluate purchase decisions and trademark perceptions on the consumer’s side a qualitative questioning at the Point of Sales / Decision is necessary. These questions are gaining importance against the background of the mostly centralised distribution control of a large number of branded goods. Often not only local relations to the people making the sales decisions on the spot are lacking, but also local information on the POS for strategic decisions of the active brand management.
It is from this point that the research approach of the co-operation – founded in September between Psyma Marketing Research GmbH, one of the leading qualitative trade research institutes founded almost 50 years ago, and the Heldberg trade research, an expert on POS research – is going to proceed. This co-operation combines renowned examination methods, trial and evaluation capacities of Psyma with Heldberg’s marketing competence in commerce. Subject’s to this qualitative interview can be consumers at the POS just as well as multipliers such as market leaders, sales assistants or shopkeepers. Additionally it is also possible to digitally document the brands’ placement as well as their display at the outlets.
Jürgen Heldberg: “Thanks to our co-operation we offer commerce and consumer surveys from one source. Through this twin survey we receive a valid evaluation and can exclude one-sidedness and bias, as often occur in own inquiries by commerce and producers.” Psyma and Heldberg have already successfully consulted well-known companies such as Adidas, BASF, KarstadtQuelle, Olympus, Philips, Nestlé, Intersnack, Pelikan and Westlotto in questions of commerce.
