focus groups | market research | retail research

FSP RETAIL BUSINESS CONSULTANTS

Focus Groups

Key Ingredients for Successful Groups

Focused recruitment Pre agreed topic guide with sufficient time to explore themes Good quality stimulus material Professional moderator Interactive groups – collage boards/working in groups Detailed analysis Output can be used to

Explore perceptions of the Kingston shopping experience Identify issues that affect the shopping experience Inform branding decisions Set marketing tone Inform tenant mix decisions

FSP RETAIL BUSINESS CONSULTANTS 2


Concrete city

Ring road

The band stand

Family stuff to do – swimming, the Look Out

Hardly alive (skeleton)

Peaceful place to live

Alive on outskirts (greenery) dead in middle

Collage Boards Reflect Current Situation

Collage Boards Represent Future Vision


Nice restaurants

Fashionable, trendy

Safe

Culture

Good shops

Happy

Our sort of people

Farmers’ market

A place to escape to

Business people

Greenery

Collage Boards Describe Competition


Variety

Fashion

Clean & bright, colourful

Food & flowers

Maps Drawn to Show Areas of Usage


The actual shopping centre with Bentalls in is very small

(Young-family AB)

Powerful Quotes Positives


Negatives

It just has the feeling of doom

about it

My only concern is that the cheaper, nastier shops tend to be near

Sainsbury’s and I wonder if it’s going to become fragmented

I like the way it’s arched – like you’re going on to

something new. The arch is symbolic (invitation).

It gives me the feeling of being welcome and is now a place you can spend the day,

have lunch

Aberdeen is a big city. It should be catering for bigger

things

I like to go to Dundee for the simple reason of crossing the road and the buses in Aberdeen

Powerful Quotes Perceptive


Suggestions

I’m hoping they keep it green and not just concrete everywhere . . .

More focus on restaurants and cafes . . . More shops and eating al-fresco type

areas

Another reason we go to Camberley is the Magic

Castle for soft play, then I get less resistance when I

go round the shops

What would make you feel safe? The lighting at night. My children are going to

want to go there and if you feel a presence of security and see CC TV

You need to change the name – give it a name . . . Yes, because it’s been a

dump. It can’t be Princess Square

It’s incubated which is part of the climate of Aberdeen. It’s cold so you have to spend a lot of

time indoors. Different social groups form. It’s not segregated and it’s friendly once you get in there but it’s finding where you want to get in -

that can be daunting

Tenant Types – Sorted by Respondents


High street brands (Y)

High end labels (Y)

Boutiques (Y)

Department stores (Y)

Boutique-y, different (P)

Younger family =

(Y) Post family2 = (P)

Tenant Type Examples


Bookshops (P)

Gifts (Y)

Home (Y)

Traditional jewellery

(Y)

Family (Y)

Essentials, everyday things you need (P)

Shoes (P)

Focus on Specifics – Department Store A great fondness for Bentalls, a special place in the hearts of Bracknell shoppers Bentalls rarity makes it especially valued


The presence of Bentalls is a key influence on choice of Bracknell as a shopping destination

Shoppers value the taste Bentalls provides of the range/choice (especially fashion) they head to other centres for

Appeals across the board Miss Selfridge, French Connection for, typically, younger on a more limited budget Karen Millen, Ted Baker, Reiss for, typically, more mature with a higher clothes budget

It’s quite an exclusive thing Bentalls, we feel quite privileged

(Young-family C1)

I would go straight to Bentalls for clothes, that’s

the place where you start to get the variety you would

have in Reading but not to the extreme of Reading (Pre-family C1 female)

Next one is over in Kingston, so you have to go a long way to find another Bentalls whereas you don’t have that far to go to

find another Marks or Debs (Young-family C1)

FSP RETAIL BUSINESS CONSULTANTS

Proposal

Previous Research Will Inform Group Composition


Lifestage Wealthy Achievers

Urban Prosperity Comfortably Off

Pre-Family Group 1 Male/Female Group 2 Female

Family – young children

Group 3 Female

Family – older children

Group 4 Female

Post-Family Group 5 Male/Female

Group 6 Female

Methodology Recruitment Screener

Ideally groups comprise a mix of frequent and infrequent users to maximise debate. Other screening aspects might be working/non-working and use of competing locations. A detailed screener will be agreed with the team

Discussion Guide

FSP will prepare (and agree with the Kingston team) a topic guide which will detail the key areas for discussion. Initial ideas for the headline topic guide include:

Usage of Kingston & its distinct shopping areas including Bentall Centre, Market Square, Eden Walk – Bentall Centre market positioning Usage of competing locations and Kingston’s position in the local retail hierarchy Strengths and Weaknesses of competing locations/shopping centres Reasons for using/not using Bentall Centre Suggestions on retail mix/occupier/leisure improvements Success or otherwise of Bentalls department store as an ‘anchor’


Output PowerPoint report and presentation to the team including:

Detailed analysis Quotes Collage boards and other group outputs Recommendations

Fees & Timing Proposal is to conduct 2 waves of research in September 2013 and September 2014 Fees include all respondent recruitment costs, respondent incentives, venue hire, a delivery presentation (in London) and expenses. Fees for 2013 £24,950+VAT Fees for 2014 £23,950 + VAT, reflecting saving in recruitment cost for reconvened groups If viewing facilities are required this will incur an additional cost typically £1,500 to £2,000 + VAT. This can be either billed directly from the studio to Aviva or FSP will charge on at cost.


FSP RETAIL BUSINESS CONSULTANTS 19 Manor Courtyard Hughenden Avenue High Wycombe UK, HP13 5RE

T +44(0)1494 474740 F +44(0)1494 474262 [email protected]

www.fspretail.com www.snap-shop.co.uk