If you enjoy shopping, then chances are you’ll love taking part in retail market research, too!
Market research covers a vast array of different fields; from sports to travel, media to finance and many more. Here at Angelfish Opinions, we’re lucky to have covered a great number of them in our paid market research projects!
One of the most popular sectors we recruit market research respondents for is retail – and it’s a huge favourite among the shopaholics on our participant panel.
First off – what exactly is retail market research?
Retail market research is the process of retailers gathering shopper insights and opinions from their target market on various products and services in order to improve them.
For example, a popular clothing chain might want to understand how they can alter the layout of their shops to make it easier and more enjoyable for shoppers to browse, or a tech company may want to understand how they can improve their latest gadgets.
And here are just 4 reasons shopaholics should get involved:
1. You’ll get to have your say on the products you love most
Love new technology? Have a passion for fashion? Or have a favourite toy brand that you frequently buy from for your children?
Taking part in retail market research means you’ll have the chance to get truly hands-on with the products you care about most and share your thoughts and ideas about them to make them even more outstanding!
For example, if you have a love of a particular skincare brand but are worried about the negative impact their packaging has on the environment, retail market research is the perfect opportunity to express this view and even change the way the brand designs and makes their products!
2. You’ll get paid for your time and contributions
A lot of people worry that, if they take part in retail market research, they’ll be required to buy something. Quite the opposite, in fact – in exchange for sharing your shopper insights and helping brands to drive their product innovation forward, you’ll receive some great monetary rewards.
Just some examples include bank transfers or gift vouchers – which means you’ll have more money to spend on your next shopping trip!
3. You get to meet likeminded shoppers
Chances are, there’ll be other people out there who have the same thoughts, ideas and opinions on your favourite retail brands as you do.
While you take part in retail market research, you’ll have the opportunity to interact with these individuals, whether face to face or online, and enjoy discussing the brands and products you love together.
4. It’s great fun to do!
The term “retail market research” can understandably sound quite serious to a newcomer, but in reality, taking part can be loads of fun!
There are a lot of different types of retail market research you can get involved in (more on that below), all of which include a variety of different tasks for you to complete.
For example, you might have the opportunity to co-create a mood board with other participants to display your favourite fashion trends, keep a video diary of your experience with a new make-up brand, or play around with the newest smart home speaker – and chances are, you’ll have a great time doing it!
So now you know why you should take part in retail market research… what types can you get involved in?
1. Face to face or remote shop-alongs
Shop-alongs, otherwise known as accompanied shopping, will involve you going on a shopping trip with a researcher, who’ll observe the way you shop (without getting involved) to gather real-time shopper insights.
For example, a health and beauty brand might ask you to go walk around one of their stores, and an observer will look to see which stands you spend the most time browsing at, which items you like the look of, and so on.
Or, in the case of a remote shop-along, a sports company might ask you to visit their store and look at and try on their latest selection of trainers to see which you like the look and feel of most, and why.
In this scenario, you’ll likely be tasked with filming some videos of the trainers you’re trying on or taking pictures and reporting back on your opinions and experiences of the products.
As mentioned above, you won’t have to buy anything while you shop (or will be reimbursed if you do), but it’s a great chance to have a browse around your favourite stores and potentially make a positive difference at the same time!
2. Mobile ethnographies
Mobile ethnographies are less “invasive” than an accompanied shop, as everything is done through your phone! During the ethnography, you’ll complete tasks such as filming video diaries and sharing in-the-moment photos while you’re out shopping and share these on a specially designed platform.
For example, the researcher might ask you to go into one of their stores, snap some pictures of your favourite items or displays and upload them with captions for the researchers to feed back on.
3. Market Research Online Communities (MROCs)
Online communities involve you and other likeminded participants completing a series of tasks on a private, secure platform through a tablet, app or your desktop.
These tasks often involve getting super-creative – for example, a researcher may ask you to sum up what their clothing brand means to you in a poster design or write a blog about a time you went to one of their stores.
Because it’s all accessed online, you can complete an online community whenever and wherever suits you best – and there’re often extra prizes (such as vouchers) for the most creative submissions, too!
4. Product and user testing
This is pretty much what it says on the tin! In product and user testing projects, you’ll have the chance to use and play around with products that are currently in development or that already exist but require improvement, and give your feedback on how easy, enjoyable and helpful they are to use.
For example, an electronics retailer might be looking to test a new set of headphones for sound quality and comfort. In this case, you might be asked to use the headphones regularly with different kinds of music and other audio entertainment and give your feedback daily, or after a week or so.
Or, a food manufacturer or supermarket chain may be testing a variety of new pasta sauces, and want your opinion on their taste, texture, or what you think they could do to make them more tasty and enjoyable (fun fact: this was one of the projects we recently recruited participants for here at Angelfish)!
Fancy taking part in retail market research?
Our current respondents at Angelfish Opinions have shared their thoughts on a variety of popular retail brands over the years by taking part in our market research projects. Just some of these include the likes of Farrow & Ball, Matalan, Hobbycraft and IKEA – and the opportunities simply keep coming in!
As such, we’re always on the lookout for passionate and enthusiastic respondents to take part in new retail market research projects with us. If you want to get paid to share your opinions on retail brands and think you might fit the bill, sign up to our panel today, or browse through our current projects here.
