With the new year just around the corner, we’ve been thinking a lot about how our clients can take advantage of this fresh start. For both brands and retailers, the beginning of the year not only signifies an end to the crazy holiday shopping season, but also a chance to step back and evaluate the current state of affairs. Don’t know where your brand stands with consumers after the holidays? This is the perfect time to activate a research program to get the information you need to make adjustments in 2018.

Our SVP of Strategic Services, Randy Schrock, shares his insights on how important it is to start the year off right with a plan:

“We all know the importance of planning, but if you need more motivation – just take a look at the cost of not planning. Channel merchandising, inventory opportunities, evolving consumer purchase paths, and competitive activity are just a few of the items that can be easily tracked, understood, and planned for. With a clear understanding of business objectives, combined with a road map of activity and key performance indicators (KPIs), both opportunities and challenges can be quickly identified and resolved, thus ensuring that your brand ends up on the right side of the list come Father’s Day.”

With that, here are three simple steps you can take utilizing research that will put you ahead in the game:

Step 1: Get the Lay of the Land

Whether you want to better understand the consumer path to purchase, assess the consumer’s experience with your brand, or evaluate your retail readiness, we recommend starting with mystery shops, audits, shopper intercepts, and consumer surveys to get basic insights into how your brand is performing at retail and online. Once you have an up-to-date view of your brand performance, you can then work on improving aspects of your products and services to increase brand loyalty and optimize sales.

Step 2: Evaluate Best Practices

Think back to the past year – were there things you wish you had done differently for your brand? What do you know now that you didn’t know then, and what else do you need to know? Are there best practices that aren’t really “best” anymore? Where does the competition stand? The new year is an ideal time to reflect on what worked and what didn’t, and make adjustments using the insights you gain through research. Our Research team offers strategic planning services to help you sift through what to keep or toss going forward, and figure out which research products might be most useful to you this year.

Step 3: Try Something New

At BDSmktg, we believe it’s important to constantly test new ideas and learn from them. We’re not alone in this thought: a recent study found that the implementation of new technologies could immensely help improve interactions between sales associates and shoppers. In fact, 94% of sales associates who were surveyed stated that they could better serve shoppers and increase conversions if they had access to more technologically advanced tools. Don’t know where to start? Our Research team not only can guide you through which innovative technologies and services you should test to bolster your sales, but implement Test & Control programs to make sure you’re achieving the ROI you desire.

Ready to get started? Contact us today to develop a custom research activation plan for your brand for 2018.