Focus groups are one of the most popular methodologies in the market researcher’s toolkit. There are tons of benefits to using focus groups: they can deliver in-depth insights, they allow you to observe people face-to-face and they also encourage group discussion and interaction. In order for your focus group to be a success, there’s a lot you need to think about, from the type of respondents you target to when the group will take place - and of course, where.

When you are carrying out retail market research for your store, one of the first things you will need to do is recruit respondents. This isn’t always as easy as you hoped and it can cause challenges because you might end up with too few people or the wrong type of people to get the insights you need. Here are seven ways to recruit respondents for your retail research:

When you carry out market research for your business, getting everything in place takes time, effort and expense. So when the day arrives, nothing is worse than respondents failing to show up.

Focus groups are essential for discovering key insights to help you market your business more effectively. When you’re organising a focus group, one of the main things to consider will be the location. 

The Millennials’ time in the spotlight is starting to wane. Generation Z - also known as Millennials on steroids - are coming of age, and it’s officially their time to shine.

Market research online communities are continuing to grow in popularity, with 82% of market researchers either currently using them or thinking about doing so in the near future. It’s pretty easy to see why they are so popular: they’re cost effective, efficient and deliver in-depth insights in a safe and secure online setting. However, the secret to a truly successful online community lies in the tasks. Your chosen tasks will set the tone of your community in terms of participant engagement and creativity - so you need to make sure you offer up a good range of activities to keep your respondents engaged and encourage them to open up. Stuck for ideas? Read on for our top five task tips…

User experience testing (also known as UX testing or usability testing) is when a product or service is evaluated by testing it with representative users in order to improve its usability. It’s become increasingly important in recent years as more and more brands understand the importance of improving their digital user experience - especially as most people’s everyday lives now depend on technology. Today’s customers know exactly what they want - and that’s exactly why UX testing is so valuable: it allows you to understand your customer's’ journey and access deep shopper insights so you can be completely confident you are nailing your offering and not losing out to competitors.

In-home interviews are a qualitative market research methodology whereby one-to-one interviews are carried out with participants in the comfort of their own home. They’re a really great way of gathering high quality data: you can ask specific questions, build a rapport and all the while keep an eye out for actions and nonverbal clues too, making it a fully-rounded research method that can offer great insights. However, there is quite a bit to organise to make sure they are a success, and as a result scheduling can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare. Don’t worry though - the secret to success is all in the preparation, which is why we’ve put together our top tips to ensure your in-home interviews aren’t a logistical nightmare. Read on to find out more…

Qualitative market research with children and young people is an area that is growing in popularity across the market research world.There are a number of reasons for this: firstly, children tend to be more open and honest than adults which means more insightful results, and they also have their own unique and important perspectives on products and services as well. Not only that, but children’s power to influence their parents’ purchases has increased over time too, making them an important target audience for brands - and as technology continues to take over the world, their opinion is set to become even more important. With 85% of mums admitting to using technology to keep the kids occupied¹ whilst they get on with other activities and a recent study finding that 38% of two to five years olds own a tablet², children are a key audience for brands because they are both heavy media users and early adopters of new technologies.

The GRIT (Greenbook Research Industry Trends) report is undoubtedly one of the leading and most comprehensive surveys of the market research industry, showing where the industry is now, where it’s going in the future and how you can adapt to these changes. Published annually since 2011, this latest version looks at Q3-4 of 2017 and gives a meaningful and reliable snapshot of the global market research industry that you can use as a strategic planning tool for the year ahead. Here we look at some of this year’s biggest industry trends for qualitative market research according to the latest report.