Understand what’s happening in wholesale with TWC Trends

The ‘what’ and the ‘why’

We can tell you ‘what’ is happening in wholesale, convenience and foodservice (through our data platforms, SmartView Convenience and Mealtrak) AND we can tell you ‘why’ it is happening.

TWC Trends

We can design and deliver bespoke research projects for you, to confirm your hypotheses about what is driving performance and to identify future trends and opportunities, to drive growth.  

Why choose TWC?

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We have extensive industry knowledge

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Tap into our vast network

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We provide impartial guidance

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We know what works and what doesn’t in the channel

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We have a detailed understanding of route to market to execute channel-specific analysis

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We can support short-term projects as well as provide ongoing consultancy

Our approach

At TWC, everything we do is underpinned by our values, so you can expect:

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Affordable and fair pricing

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Implications and recommendations based on TWC’s expert knowledge of the channel

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Transparency over fees with full breakdown of costs

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Research findings presented back to your audience, as well as full written report

How – The types of research we undertake

quantitive

Quantitative

qualitative

Qualitative

tracking

Tracking

desk research

Desk research

idea generation

Idea generation and strategy

f2f

Focus groups

retailers

Accompanied shops or exit interviews

online surveys

Online surveys

telephone interviews

Telephone interviews

vox pops

Vox pops

Who we can speak to

If you are a…

Wholesaler

consumers

Your customers or target customers

shoppers

Delivery drivers

retailers

Telesales staff

wholesalers

Depot staff

Supplier

wholesalers

Wholesalers - directors, owners, head office staff, depot managers

retailers

Retailers

foodservice

Foodservice Operators

shoppers

Shoppers

consumers

Consumers

Retail estate/symbol group

shoppers

Shoppers

wholesalers

Wholesalers

retailers

Local Suppliers

consumers

Consumers

Why conduct market research?

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Grow sales by pursuing the most promising opportunities – use market research to test your hypotheses and identify new trends

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Make decisions based on data and facts, reducing the risk of making bad decisions and to gain the support of key stakeholders

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Recognise your companies’ strengths and weaknesses vs. your competitors in order to improve your proposition and gain competitive advantage

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Adapt your offer in response to monitoring industry trends and taking inspiration from what others are doing in order to stay relevant to your existing customers

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Use market research to identify potential new customers to expand your reach  

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Avoid waste by sense-checking changes before you go live and identifying potential pitfalls 

Examples of recent projects (2023)

Biscuit manufacturer Pladis was looking to increase the price or reduce the pack size on two of its key lines sold through independent convenience. We conducted research to understand which was the preferred option for consumers and to determine the price elasticity of the products, to support this critical business decision.

Premier Foods’ Foodservice team wanted to understand what was keeping business leaders within hospitality and cost sector awake at night, as well as their views on the biggest upcoming trends that will impact the sector. We organised a series of depth interviews with senior leaders and created 10 themes for the future of foodservice to summarise the findings. 

TWC undertook a detailed study on behalf of industry trade body, the Federation of Wholesale Distributors, to create an evidence base on the impact of inflation on margins through the supply chain. This project involved pricing audits, interviews with wholesalers, phone interviews with 150 independent/symbol retailers, a consumer study on shrinkflation and desk research on Tesco Clubcard strategy. 

unitas

Through 2023, we have conducted several studies for Unitas to support their own label development strategy. This comprised retailer research with customers selling Lifestyle own label in their stores, as well as consumer focus groups to generate feedback on a proposed own label rebrand.