Etos
Community research in retail drives Etos brand growth.
Case Information
This case demonstrates how interactive online communities uncover nuanced shopper drivers that traditional surveys miss. By combining structured stepboards with participant challenges, retail brands pinpoint distinct reasons for store visits and category growth.
The Question
How community research in retail drives Etos.
Drugstore chain Etos operates within a fiercely competitive Dutch retail landscape across physical high streets and digital storefronts. To expand market share among young families, understanding young mothers with infants and toddlers is vital. Millennial mothers continuously enter new life phases, bringing rapidly changing shopping habits and distinct product expectations. How do you uncover what truly motivates these shoppers when choosing between drugstores? With community research in retail, you discover exactly how young mothers navigate the category.
the challenge
Why millennial mothers switch quickly.
the approach
What we researched with the community.
<span data-metadata=""><span data-buffer="">The result
A distinct market edge among mothers.
Impact of the result
How insights have led to action.
Greater appeal through favourite brands.
Prioritise favourite baby brands on store shelves. You turn specific destination products into strong footfall drivers for your retail branches.
A more relevant in-store experience for young families.
Develop thematic retail concepts based on shopper ideas. You enrich store navigation with creative solutions straight from real family routines.
Greater convenience through a seamless online and in-store experience.
Fine-tune omnichannel journeys between online and physical stores. You match retail availability directly with the actual shopping schedules of busy mothers.
Related cases.
Miele
Lamb Weston
Why use an online community for target audience research?
Online community research connects qualitative depth with a broader participant group over multiple days. This setup allows you to test hypotheses progressively, explore underlying motives, and adapt questions based on emerging answers.
What is the advantage of a stepboard module in retail studies?
A stepboard module presents questions chronologically to guide the flow of discussion. It enables you to systematically map drivers and barriers for both your brand and key competitors without losing focus.
How do community challenges generate customer ideas?
Community challenges invite participants to submit multimedia solutions such as concepts, photos, and moodboards. For Etos, this yielded actionable store concepts, including ideas for dedicated thematic shopping zones.
WHAT’S BEHIND YOUR NUMBERS?
Add qualitative depth to your next study, or use BlauwTalk on its own to dig deeper into a specific question.
