As we glimpsed in the earlier pages, it is safe to say that Market Research is an investment and companies expect a high rate of return.

Though it is argued that there is no parameter to measure the effect of market research in retail, it can be counter argued that if some of the measures suggested by market research are adopted and there is seen a considerable increase in footfall, then these are measurable parameters and hence should be used as a Rate of Return.

While academics argue, retailers still believe in Market Research and here are a few examples that explain how market research increases customer satisfaction as well as the bottom line.

These examples are prominently based of technology. (I will discuss examples based on human experience in further reads).

Let us start by considering the simplest of these, used by each one of us in almost all of our shopping experiences- Loyalty cards.

The major attraction of these cards to shoppers is discounts, but to retailers, they are a wealth of data. They help in the simplest of processes to increase the bill size by upselling and cross-selling.

They further help in placement of products around the store. They help in judgement of buying patterns and also change in movement of merchandize according to seasonal variations.

Peoplemeters  –  these are devices used to track viewership. An advancement on loyalty programs; even though they are complicated in circuitry, they perform the same function as a loyalty card. Users get an incentive for subscribing to the device; the company knows what content people are watching, there by leading advertisers to advertise right. A similar process results when companies track readership of newspapers and listenership of your favourite radio show.

Another quintessential technological development was Groupon - The mobile coupon. They were a tracking device and also helped to group customers that shopped in a similar manner. This led to customer segmentation, which further prompted the decrease in advertising expenditure which was spread across various media. A point of observation here is that companies tend to spend across media to attract different consumer category. Each of these categories has a specific media that they consume.

The future of market research is seen as Neurosciences. With the development of these, the researchers would be able to measure the emotional response of the target group to the product and this could lead to a fresh outlook towards product placement and design.

This brings us to the end of the technology series. As you would have witnessed, technology has not only changed how we sell but has also influenced how and what we buy. .

As the world moves forward, so do retailers. And they have embraced technology as a part and parcel of their lives for the better.

I will keep you posted on the latest inventions and innovations in the same. Please come back for more in retail and technology in other areas of marketing. Till then have a great day!!