Merchandising by Sherry Morris /

CONDUCT MEANINGFUL MARKETING RESEARCH SPECIFIC TO YOUR STORE.

A PRAXIS APPROACH
What does marketing research do for you? Marketing research, like all social sciences, seeks to test variables, extrapolate theories,
and interpret results. In formal research processes, inductive research begins with specific gathering of facts and observations then discovers if and how specific knowledge can be generalized across categories or classes. In deductive research, the opposite is true. Researchers begin with what is generally known and tests hypotheses to gain specific knowledge. Trade magazines frequently offer summaries or snippets of sales and marketing research findings to generate ideas for retailers to consider. Valuable as this information can be, the challenge for the retailer is that all research findings may not apply a particular setting. A tried and true retailing principle in one store may not be practical in another store. For the retailing practitioner, another form of research may hold a key to formulate successful practices. Action research (a term and process borrowed from educational research) is designed for practitioners who want to investigate a practice or a problem. A praxis approach to research systematically reflects, questions, plans, and seeks to find solutions to problems in a specific setting. Unlike more formal approaches which seek to generalize, action research is a thoughtful approach to solution-oriented discovery for the setting in which the research is done. As a retailing tool, the four action research steps can permeate a stores culture and make a difference in every stores bottom line. age 35 or older. As a result, store gift-buyer practices may be anchored in choosing items for this demographic. Yet, sales are down in the gift department. A possible action research question is, Why?

Sherry Morris serves as Carpentrees marketing manager. Shes written for CBAs magazines and for other trade and Christian education publications. Shes also penned four gift books. Morris and her husband, Steve, have three grown children.

what customers think theyre coming in to buy and lead to different retailing responses. Or, discreetly observe a few customers each day and over a period of time. Note general age ranges of those observed and which departments are shopped. This information could present a fresh way of thinking about who shops in the store and what they ultimately buy. (Managers in each department can be trained to routinely do this and share what they observe in team meetings.)

SEEK SOLUTIONS
Once the consideration, questioning, and research components are completed, reflect on a possible solution or solutions based on whats discovered. Determine what other questions need to be answered and where additional data can be found. For example, if its discovered that the majority of customers surveyed come into the store to purchase a gift, then a solution might be to consider devoting a greater percentage of floor space to gift merchandise or cross-merchandising gifts with books. Reviewing sales data might suggest the types of gifts or books that are bestsellers to cross-merchandise together or indicate categories of gifts that could be expanded into additional floor space.

QUESTION
During the questioning phase, a retailer might ask the five W questions: Who? What? When? Where? How? And, Why? If gift sales are up, whos buying? If sales are down, who comes into the store but doesnt buy? What are gift customers buying? Where do they spend time in the store? How often do they come into the store? And, why are they walking out again without spending money? Questions like these lead to ideas to investigate and suggest ways to collect store data. Formal questionnaires or interview rating scales arent always necessary to get a picture of what happens on a day-to-day basis. Planning a method to collect data can be much more simple and straightforward. The goal of collecting data is to find ways to record and analyze whats observed. Tip: YouTube offers short informational videos about action research, data collection, and other research topics. Some of these are posted short lectures for students, but others are oriented for business.

REPEAT THE CYCLE

Sometimes the information gathered just leads to another cycle of consideration, questioning, and planning. A praxis approach is ongoing, purposeful, and systematic. If retailing practitioners from owners to floor personnel regard themselves action researchers, store teams can work together on a specific project and/or report individual research actions. Solutions to problems are born from in-house observations and experience. As a retailing paradigm, action research answers questions, solve problems, and make changes to affect the stores bottom line. As an integral part of store culture, consideration, questioning, planning, and solution-oriented thinking can empower everyone involved to be active participants in robust and effective retailing practices. R+R

PLAN AND EXECUTE

An example of data collection is an informal survey of customers who come into the store. A specified number of customers can be asked each day for a week, What brought you in to visit us today? Create a spreadsheet with categories of expected answers so a simple tally can be made. But then add new category columns if unexpected answers emerge. Tracking these responses might reveal insights into

CONSIDERATION
Start with a specific problem or area of focus. Consider whats known, gather information, and think about whats learned. For example, a retailer might believe that their customer demographic, based on generalized Christian-retail research, is comprised of women

14 CBA Retailers+Resources | 01.12

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