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?
We have extensive industry knowledge
Tap into our vast network
We provide impartial guidance
We know what works and what doesn’t in the channel
We have a detailed understanding of route to market to execute channel-specific analysis
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:
Affordable and fair pricing
Implications and recommendations based on TWC’s expert knowledge of the channel
Transparency over fees with full breakdown of costs
Research findings presented back to your audience, as well as full written report
How – The types of research we undertake
Quantitative
Qualitative
Tracking
Desk research
Idea generation and strategy
Focus groups
Accompanied shops or exit interviews
Online surveys
Telephone interviews
Vox pops
Who we can speak to
If you are a…
Wholesaler
Your customers or target customers
Delivery drivers
Telesales staff
Depot staff
Supplier
Wholesalers - directors, owners, head office staff, depot managers
Retailers
Foodservice Operators
Shoppers
Consumers
Retail estate/symbol group
Shoppers
Wholesalers
Local Suppliers
Consumers
Why conduct market research?
Grow sales by pursuing the most promising opportunities – use market research to test your hypotheses and identify new trends
Make decisions based on data and facts, reducing the risk of making bad decisions and to gain the support of key stakeholders
Recognise your companies’ strengths and weaknesses vs. your competitors in order to improve your proposition and gain competitive advantage
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
Use market research to identify potential new customers to expand your reach
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.
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.