Market research went unused among UK businesses due to the disruptions and delays caused by Covid-19, with one of the main factors being outdated data as a result of societal changes in the wake of the pandemic.
Another commonly cited reason for unused marked data was communication difficulties caused by remote working, with 64% blaming this for delays and disruptions to product and service launches, forcing some teams to sit on market data for an indetermined amount of time.
In addition, many UK decision-makers are unaware that certain research even exists, leading to the same research accidentally being commissioned more than once in the same organisation, or rendering it useless.
However, 68% of business decision-makers declared they will be more cautious going forward, and conduct much more research before launching new products and services this year, while 82% of respondents stated that data-driven insights are a priority in 2021.
To achieve this, three-quarters of decision makers said that they are increasing marketing and consumer research budgets this year, and 73% revealed that a knowledge management or market research platform would help resolve the team coordination issues caused by remote working.
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“Market research can be invaluable to a company’s success, as it reveals bespoke insight into consumer behaviour and trends which inform important decisions, saving substantial costs and time in the long run,” said Thor Olof Philogène, CEO of Stravito.
“Unfortunately, it can also be expensive, especially for smaller or mid-market enterprises which are already struggling with budget due to the pandemic. Thus, investing in a knowledge management platform that enables live access to market research from anywhere in an organisation is essential in preventing wasted research via miscommunication or a lack of coordination between teams or branches in the same company.
“The right platform will also allow market research to be utilised by all employees and teams, not just sales executives and marketers, allowing it to be stretched further and become more beneficial to company-wide decision making on both the micro and macro level.”
200 business decision makers in medium and large sized UK companies were surveyed by Stravito, alongside Censuswide, in the last week of December 2020.
