by Vims

Created on: May 20, 2008

Has market research effectively countered problems faced by the retail industry? If the answer had unanimously been yes then many businesses in difficulty would have turned to this solution, which even being expensive would have brought back their success. Marketing research cost around 2-3% of a company's sales revenue figures. This may appear low but is the retail industry that much profitable to afford such an expense?

In the first instance, marketing research has been developed by marketers in order to find out potential problems and opportunities facing the product. The marketing research is more based on consumer data, their likes and dislikes, their favorite product, the amount they spend, what they would want in a new product.

Also can the researcher in the retailing sector target all the diverse segments of the market? It is almost impossible to reach all the different categories of consumers, and is the data he collected reliable? It may be possible that people interviewed do not give the true reasons behind their choice. To reach the most desirable information, the researcher will have to go beyond a certain region, which will make the researching more expensive. Will the return on the research be high enough to cover the initial cost?

But however, it's not always as easy as such to find the likings of consumers. Some consumers may have tendency to purchase expensive products they qualify as luxury goods. This may be distorted when collating data for all consumers. At times, the research tend to indicate the real problems in retailing, how come the sales of fruit juice is decreasing while on average the consumer is spending more on retailing. The research might find some solutions which may be virtual, that is it cannot be adapted to reality.

The marketing research can be described as only theoretical approach to combat a specific problem. Does a recommendation of the research be valid and will it have the desired impact on the consumers? These are problems which will face retailers, who despite investing much in marketing research will find only mild improvements, not the desired result.

The retailing industry needs more lively boost-up for its sale, it is wiser to work out small problems as they arise and improvise in order to save from major problems arising in the future. At times, when no provision can be made for short term or the industry is consistently faced with the same problem then marketing research can become a valuable option.

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