How to Conduct Primary Market Research
Contents
Want to hear a scary, scary story that terrifies everyone in the startup world? Once upon a time one entrepreneur had a Great Product Idea. He got funding from investors, but long story short – in the end he failed. The team spent a lot of time trying to figure out what went wrong: changing the user flow, the UX, the features. The problem was that they hadn't talked to users at the beginning and asked them if they needed the product or if they liked it.
That’s why you can't create an MVP (minimum viable product) without doing primary market research. You need to go to the people who will be using your product and find out what they want. Otherwise, you risk creating something that nobody wants.
What is Primary Market Research?
We have previously described how different types of market research can help to predict potential failures in product development. If you missed it, you can read it here. Now, let's take a closer look at what primary market research is.
Here we understand the process of gathering first-hand information from target customers with their impressions about using your products or services. This involves startup owners directly contacting people in order to gain insights that are specific to their business needs.
In other words, primary market research is a study that you conduct yourself to discover the wants and needs of potential customers who fit the profile of your target market. This involves approaching your target audience and asking them about your product or service.
According to the Baymard Institute research, only a user-friendly checkout process can reduce cart abandonment rates by up to 35%. That's why it's important to treat your customers as if they were your source of new ideas, rather than someone who's going to judge you.
The main advantage of primary market research is that you can conduct it on each development stage:
- Have some trouble with finding competitive ideas? Ask people what they like and dislike about competing products to find free spots in the market;
- What to increase the product value? Look for gaps in people's daily routines that you can fill with your app or service, and consider what they miss in their daily lives and could use your product for;
- Have doubts about MVP features and design? Allow users to try it out and give you feedback.
For more information, please read another article.
Generally, primary market research is all about going out into the real world (or using Zoom for distant meetings) and asking people for the information you need to make smarter business decisions.
Book a consultation to take the first steps in understanding your customer's needs.
George Adam
Business Development Manager
Primary Market Research Methods
Let’s take a look at some of the most common methods used in primary market research. And have a look at how they work in real-world projects.
Surveys
Collecting quantitative data such as numbers, percentages, and trends to help you make data-driven decisions. If you are launching a new software as a service (SaaS) product, a survey can help you understand how many people are interested in paying for it and what price policy you should provide.
Once we sent out a short survey to test our new delivery app, we asked just one question: "Would you recommend our service to a friend?". The results gave us a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 6 out of 10. While people seemed to like the service overall, they were not very enthusiastic about it. We realised that our customer support after the purchase was not up to par. This prompted us to take action and improve our support efforts.
Interviews
Suitable for gaining deeper insights and allowing you to understand the 'why' behind customer behaviour. It's good to conduct interviews one-on-one, either in person or online, to get into the mindset of the participant. For e-commerce platforms, interviews with early users can reveal whether customers prefer delivery options, specific dietary adjustments, or a subscription model.
We interviewed a group of customers who had previously unsubscribed to a monthly box service of everyday products. One customer said, "I ended up with six eco-friendly toothbrushes by the third month! I didn't need an army of toothbrushes". This conversation made us realise that we should give our customers more options to customise their subscriptions. We added a 'skip a month' option and a product swap feature, which helped bring many users back and reduce churn.
Focus Groups
Provide valuable qualitative insights into customer preferences and emotional responses by gathering a small group of people and discussing your product or idea with them. This is like a brainstorming session, where you can gather direct feedback on exactly what people think.
For one project, we brought together a group of millennials to discuss our new fashion technology app. After 10 minutes of discussing which filters make them look more "authentic", we realised we were focusing too much on image editing and not enough on user experience. And that’s how "cool features" can distract you from addressing the real issues users face. We went back and simplified the app's navigation.
Observations
This method involves watching how people interact with your product or service in real life and provides you with raw and unfiltered data. For example, while developing a foodtech app, you can watch how users navigate your website, where they become stuck, and which pages they tend to leave quickly.
We were developing a delivery app and spent a day observing customers using it in real life. One guy spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to apply a promo code. He looked so frustrated that he just gave up and ordered a pizza from a competitor. We learned that day that if users struggle with even a small feature like a discount code, you risk losing them altogether. We simplified the process and saw an immediate increase in completed orders.
Examples of Primary Market Research in Business
Want to know if people like your new app design? Run a survey! Want to know why people abandon their shopping carts? Set up some interviews. We've worked with startups in a variety of industries, using a variety of primary market research methods to help them make smarter decisions.
Improving Product Features
A pre-seed fintech startup in London wanted to refine the user interface of its mobile app. Instead of guessing, they conducted a series of user interviews and gathered feedback on initial layouts. The findings revealed that users were dissatisfied with the navigation options and desired more customizability. Following the implementation of these changes, the company saw an increase in user retention by 15%.
Identifying Market Opportunities
A health tech startup wanted to determine if there was a market for their new wearable device. They conducted an online survey among health-conscious individuals and found that the majority preferred a subscription-based model. This information helped shape their pricing strategy and allowed them to grow more quickly.
Increasing Efficiency
A food technology startup that develops a delivery app for local restaurants noticed that users were abandoning their orders halfway through the process. In order to understand the problem, the team conducted user surveys and tracked in-app behavior. They discovered that customers found the menu navigation confusing and were frustrated by the lack of clear delivery time estimates. By redesigning the menu layout and adding real-time delivery tracking, the startup improved the user experience. This led to a 25% increase in completed orders and higher customer retention.
Optimizing Website UX
An e-commerce company selling eco-friendly home products was experiencing high cart abandonment rates. The majority of early users were leaving the app after a short period of use. After conducting usability tests and interviews with customers, the owner realised that the checkout process was overly complicated and users felt uncertain about the return policy. By simplifying the checkout process and clarifying the return policy, the company reduced cart abandonment by 30% and saw a significant increase in overall revenue.
Understanding Customer Preferences (Retail)
A new clothing brand in the UK wanted to tailor its collection to better meet customer preferences. Rather than relying on intuition, they conducted surveys in-store and gathered feedback about which fabrics, styles, and colours were most popular among their customers. The results showed that the target audience preferred sustainable fabrics and gender-neutral designs. Based on this insight, the brand redesigned its next collection, resulting in a 40% increase in repeat customers and media attention as an eco-friendly fashion innovator.
Your startup can also improve its performance by identifying areas for growth and weaknesses. Book a consultation now.
How to Conduct Primary Market Research
Whether you're introducing a new product or simply seeking to gain a deeper understanding of your customers, this is a straightforward guide to conducting successful primary research.
Step 1: Define the Problem or Objective
Before diving into research, it's important to clearly define what you're trying to achieve or learn. For example, are you aiming to understand why users abandon their shopping carts? Or, are you exploring the pain points of your app's customers?
✍ Example. Let's say you run a restaurant delivery service and customers are abandoning their orders before they're completed. Your goal would be to understand the reasons for these drop-offs.
To gather information, you could use tools like
- Google Forms or Typeform to create surveys and collect feedback from your customers;
- Trello or Asana to organise your research tasks and keep track of your progress.
Step 2: Choose Your Primary Research Method
Next, decide on the research methods that will provide you with the insights you need:
- Surveys to gather quantitative data (numbers, percentages);
- Interviews to collect qualitative data (feelings, opinions);
- Focus groups to gather people together for group discussions;
- Observations to understand how users interact with your product.
✍ Example. If you want to understand why users abandon their shopping carts, you could conduct surveys within your app or send them via email.
Tools to use:
- SurveyMonkey for designing and distributing surveys;
- Hotjar to observe user behavior on your website or app;
- Zoom for conducting remote interviews or focus groups.
Step 3: Design Your Research Instruments
Next you need to design the questions or tools you'll use to collect data. If you are conducting a survey, try to keep the questions short and focused on your objectives. Avoid using leading questions that could bias the results.
Example. In a survey about your restaurant app, you could ask questions like:
- "How easy was it to navigate the menu?"
- "What prevented you from completing your order?"
- "Which additional features would make your experience better?"
Tools to use:
- Google Docs or Notion for drafting interview scripts or survey questions;
For more questions, please check our Questionnaire template. You can find it here.
Step 4: Recruit Participants
To make research more effective, create an image of your target audience. Whether you are researching current users, potential customers, or specific demographics, choose participants who represent your audience.
✍ Example. If you want to understand why users abandon their shopping carts, you could conduct surveys within your app or send them via email.
Tools to consider:
- Social Media for promoting surveys and finding participants;
- UserTesting to find groups of people who are specifically interested in your product.
Step 5: Collect Data
Find a storage solution where you can track all the responses and manage them easily. Group similar answers together and identify patterns and insights.
✍ Example: For restaurant delivery apps, count the number of people who said that navigation issues prevented them from completing their order.
Tools to use:
- Excel or Google Sheets to organise survey results and responses;
- Otter.ai for transcribing interviews or focus group discussions.
Step 6: Analyze the Data
For surveys, you'll look at statistics and trends, such as the number of people who abandoned their shopping carts due to confusing navigation. For interviews and focus groups, you'll analyse recurring themes and insights.
✍ Example: After collecting feedback, we found that 40% of our users said they dropped off because of unclear delivery times and 30% mentioned that the menu layout was overwhelming.
Tools to use:
- SPSS or Excel for conducting quantitative analysis;
- NVivo or Notion for qualitative data categorisation and analysis.
Step 7: Interpret and Present the Findings
Identify the key insights from your research and prioritise them based on the impact they have on your business. Present your findings clearly and concisely to your team or investors, highlighting the most significant insights and their implications.
✍ Example: If you find that the main cause of cart abandonment is a confusing menu interface, you could suggest redesigning the interface and adding estimated delivery times to enhance the user experience. This could lead to increased conversions and customer satisfaction, ultimately benefiting your business.
Tools to use:
- Canva for creating presentations;
- Google Slides or PowerPoint for presenting your findings.
Step 8: Implement the Insights
Make informed changes to your product or business strategy, and monitor their impact over time to ensure that the research has produced the desired results.
✍ Example: After redesigning the menu and implementing real-time delivery tracking, we noticed a 25% increase in completed orders and a reduction in cart abandonment.
Tools to use:
- Google Analytics to track changes in user behaviour after improvements are implemented;
- Mixpanel for monitoring specific user interactions.
Primary market research provides you with more than just feedback and growth opportunities. It also gives you the chance to build relationships with the first users who can become loyal customers. Don't overlook survey respondents and focus group participants. Once you've completed your minimum viable product (MVP), be sure to share the results with them and thank them for participating. Ask to spread the word about your product and encourage them to share their experience with others.
Want more tips on how to improve your service? Remember to ask for a free consultation.
George Adam
Business Development Manager
FAQ
What is a primary market research?
Primary market research is a study that you conduct yourself to discover the wants and needs of potential customers who fit the profile of your target market. This involves approaching your target audience and asking them about your product or service.
What methods can I use for primary research?
You can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observations.
How is primary research different from secondary research?
Primary research involves collecting new data first-hand, while secondary research involves analysing data that has already been collected and published.
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