Case Study:

Furniture Retail Interviews

Discover how our expertise, clarity and communication enabled our client to recruit a full quota of 200 participants in aid of conducting market research remote interviews, one-to-one, over Zoom.
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The Client

A renowned research and insight agency on behalf of a well-known British furniture retailer.

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The Objective

To uncover respondent’s perceptions of specific furniture brands by conducting market research interviews, to help their client improve future in-store and online shopping experiences.

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The Methodology

A one-on-one interview with a researcher via Zoom.

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The Duration 

20 minutes.

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The Incentive 

A £15 e-Gift voucher.

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Our Participants 

200 individuals who had purchased a sofa or armchair in the last 24 months.

Introduction

This was a study that truly proved the importance of clear communication and an overrecruit.

When our client wanted to set about conducting market research remote interviews with 200 participants to gather insights on furniture retail for their end-client, we knew the recruit was going to be a challenge – and an exciting one!

Discover how, with open and honest communication, clear milestones, tight quota management and an expertly-coordinated overrecruit, we helped our client recruit achieve the 200 high-quality, insightful qualitative interviews they needed.

Who was our client?

Our client was a renowned research and insight agency, dedicated to understanding how humans think, feel and behave in order to drive purposeful change. For this project, they were working on behalf of a well-known British furniture retail company.

What was the end goal? 

Our client wanted to discuss respondents’ perceptions of specific furniture brands in order to help their client improve future in-store and online shopping experiences for their customers.

In order to do this, their end goal with us was to recruit 200 participants of varying quotas to complete one-to-one interviews via Zoom with a researcher.

Who were the participants?

For this study, our client wanted to recruit 200 participants for interviews who:

  • had purchased a sofa (or armchair) in the last 24 months
  • were UK residents
  • were a mix of age ranges
  • were a mix of genders

These participants (of which we included an overrecruit of 20 additional participants in case of drop-outs) were split into the following three segments:

SEGMENT 1: 50% (110) needed to have purchased from a specific large furniture retailer.

SEGMENT 2: 25% (55) needed to have considered buying from a specific large furniture retailer, but purchased from a mix of different competitor types and brands.

SEGMENT 3: 25% (55) needed to have NOT considered buying from a specific large furniture retailer, and have purchased from a mix of different competitor types and brands.

What challenges did we face?

Ensuring the project set-up and online application was accurate and seamless

For this study, we were validating 50% of the overall sample, and needed to be able to select eligible candidates from the online data provided.

Fieldwork dates and timings

A large number of interviews were being held within small timeframes, and we needed to effectively manage multiple moderators’ availability.

Managing rolling recruitment and fieldwork

With a large number of participants to recruit and such a short timeframe for the research, we were required recruit as the interviews were being carried out. This meant that it was imperative to keep on top of quota management!

Scheduling management

The large number of participants also meant that we needed to remain vigilant in re-scheduling interviews if respondents cancelled, replacing drop outs as quickly as possible where needed.

The Angelfish twist... 

With our experience in recruiting large qualitative samples in short timeframes, we knew that conducting a first wave of this project – as well as taking the time to establish a fully collaborative and open partnership with our client – was a must.

From this first wave with around 100 respondents, we confirmed that:

  • the screener would need to be crafted to collect additional valuable information to ensure quotas were met, and that non-validated respondents were hitting the required targets.
  • we would need to split fieldwork dates to allow interviews to begin quicker, allow breathing space for researchers to start analysis and enable a more streamlined recruitment process, as well as to avoid unnecessary confusion/changes in the middle of the fieldwork.
  • we would need to keep to strict internal milestones in terms of recruitment and fieldwork, and keep our client updated at every step of the process.
  • management of client expectations of drop outs was essential. As a result, we worked where possible to reschedule cancellations (in under 24 hours), and always kept focussed on ensuring we were on track to meet the minimum 200 interviews.
  • we would need to establish extensive communication with client over scheduling and ensuring that fieldwork ran smoothly so that nothing would be missed.

 

 

… and that was all before considering how we would maximise participant engagement! From this first wave, we knew that we would need a tight confirmation and reminder process to reduce drop outs, including:

  • confirmation calls or texts the day before the sessions including respondents booked time slot.
  • reminder texts on the day with an extra note to say the Zoom link was in their confirmation email.
  • concise and useful notes on our internal documentation so we could keep track of the status of interviews at all points of recruitment and fieldwork.

 

 

On top of that, we needed to take technology into account, building in screener questions to ensure that respondents could successfully complete a Zoom interview, including whether they had:

  • the correct device
  • video access and working microphone
  • high speed broadband
  • a quiet area to be seated in for the session
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The results

We were delighted with the outcome of this project!

Given the number of participants required, we ensured that, with the implementation of an overrecruit, the client had their full quota; while 18 participants dropped out, our overrecruit of 20 covered this – all of whom were recruited in under 24 hours following drop-outs.

This is concrete proof of why the overrecruit is such a useful tool with these types of large-scale projects!

What’s more, our communications with the client throughout recruitment and fieldwork were clear and collaborative. The client was delighted as a result, and has subsequently achieved some fantastic data and insights from the study!

Key takeaways 

  • Overrecruits are essential for any market research project, but large-scale ones particularly.
  • Including the right questions in your screener is also essential for a successful recruit.
  • A tight confirmation and reminder process for your participants, as well as setting clear expectations from the beginning, is needed to reduce drop outs.
  • An open, communicative relationship between you and your fieldwork/recruitment agency is a must for success and to avoid any misunderstandings.
  • If you’re conducting rolling recruitment and fieldwork, be sure to block out your schedule or screener breakdown so multiple people can work on recruitment at one time without crossing over, or leaving room for error.

“The person doing the questioning was thoughtful, attentive and interested in my views. A good first experience.”

 

“Very easy to meet via Zoom, a range of questions, friendly questioner, great experience overall.”

“Extremely professional, and a great experience.” 

“Extremely efficient, well organised, all went as planned. A pleasure to take part in the research on sofas.” 

What next?

If you, like the client in this case study, are planning on conducting market research remote interviews with a large quota of participants and would like to experience similar results for your business, get in touch with us today!

When you enlist our help with your qualitative market research recruitment, you’ll have your own dedicated and experienced project management team who will work with you from the start to help with your project.

Whatever your target audience, our team will make it happen. We’ll provide expert advice, regular updates and complete management of the process, and we’ll be on hand throughout the duration of your project to provide expert guidance every step of the way.