Strategy Development Research
Objective
A research firm on behalf of a leading plywood manufacturing company wanting to launch a new wooden flooring and waterproof plywood with superior water and fire resistance and easy to install process wanted to provide quality and service excellence besides aligning its distribution and wholesale strategy to emerge as a leader in the space.
Challenge
The client wanted to find potential growth opportunities by understanding the market barriers and margin issues their distributors or wholesalers face due to a highly commoditized, competitive, and price-sensitive segment.
The client also wanted to understand their new product’s competitive landscape and pricing dynamics.
Approach
- Liquid Sample implemented a comprehensive research plan consisting of qualitative and quantitative methods. The first phase involved 500 in-depth interviews and 1,000 phone interviews with retailers, distributors, and wholesalers of wooden flooring and plywood products.
- The second phase consisted of 5,000 online surveys targeting the client's existing customers and consumers who have used similar products in the last two years. This phase evaluated the consumer experience and gathered pricing, brand recall, and perception data.
- The quantitative online portion now serves as a tracking study, providing the client with prompt feedback.
Results
- The qualitative and quantitative in-depth interviews amongst the retailers, wholesalers, and distributors gave critical business insights and feedback to the client on what’s working and not working with the supply chain partners. The insights generated from in-depth interviews helped the client alleviate the profit and margin concerns of the channel partners, and, with their confidence, the client developed and launched the product across 16 states.
- Acting on consumer usage feedback and brand recall, innovative and creative strategies were implemented for new product launches, pricing, and improving the quality of services. The instant feedback from consumers has helped the client to make necessary changes required to the service offering from time to time.
