Every study comes to the same conclusion: You have to become more customer centric.

1. THE FUTURE OF
CONSUMER RESEARCH

2. Retail Apocalypse is
only the milestone of a
great industry shift

3. Every study comes to the same conclusion:
You have to become more customer centric.
Consumers are the best to explain what they prefer
and why.
Customer Centricity Consumer Research.

4. BUT WHAT IS
CONSUMER RESEARCH?

5. Secondary Research: Gathers lots of existing
sources of data and correlate them.
Tells you WHAT consumers buy.
Market research observes
Primary Research: Survey consumers using
different methodologies.
Tells you WHY consumers buy.
Consumer research asks
CONSUMER RESEARCH ≠ MARKET RESEARCH

6. WHAT
MARKET
RESEARCH
GETS YOU
Sociodemographics
Estimated revenues
Competition
Foot & car traffic
Lots of good vendors in the market

7. WHAT
CONSUMER
RESEARCH
GETS YOU
Reasons for (non) visiting
Needs & intents
What they like
& why
What they dislike
& why
Real Insights from Real Consumers

8. BUT HOW TO CONDUCT
CONSUMER RESEARCH?

9. POTLOC
PHONE SURVEYS
● 27,5% Canadian and 50,8% US households don’t have
landlines anymore.
● Gender bias: Over-represent females
● Age bias: Over-represent 55+ years old and under-
represent 35- years old
● Social bias: Over-represent retired/unemployed people
● $15 - $30 per respondent (leads to small sample size)
And it is terribly annoying

10. POTLOC
STREET/MALL INTERCEPTS
● Gender bias: Over-represent females
● Timing bias: Consumers in a rush provide distorted
results
● Selection bias of the interviewer
● Social bias: Over-represent people who “have time”
● Target shoppers only (you cannot survey non-shoppers)
● $10 - $15 per respondent
And it is terribly annoying
(especially in Toronto)

11. POTLOC
OTHER METHODOLOGIES
● Mystery Shoppers: Good in-depth analysis but not a real
“consumer” research methodology.
● Web panels: Not representative of the population
● Focus Groups: Super efficient for brand immersions
● In-house program: Good because it’s cheap but only
targets the super users

12. POTLOC
EVERYBODY HATES SURVEYS BECAUSE
● They have no time for them
● They have no interest for the topic
To compensate, consumer research companies add things
to win: $0.50, 20 Air Miles or a chance to win a prize.
As a result, it creates an even bigger bias.

13. Disrupting Consumer Research

14. GEOFENCED CONSUMER
RESEARCH
Our unique technology surveys a
representative sample of
consumers within a specific trade
area for a very low price.

15. People answer to POTLOC surveys because:
● They have time (41 min/day on news feed)
● The topic interests them (local retail & RE only)
➔ No need to put any incentive.
WE USE SOCIAL MEDIA

16. ● Under-representation of unemployed
people: 77% are registered.
● Under-representation of older people:
75% of Canadian aged 55+
● Over-representation of females
94% of the adult population in Canada
registered to at least one social media
network and 85% are active users.
Social medias’ penetration Social medias’ bias
SOCIAL MEDIA ≠ MILLENNIALS ONLY

17. POTLOC’S KEY BENEFITS
● Geofenced sample: as small as a 1km circle (or a few postal
codes) and as large as Ontario.
● Quality of answers: consumers volunteer 5min of their
time, they do not answer by courtesy or to win a prize.
● Survey non-shoppers: very relevant to ask non-shoppers
the reasons why they are not coming.
● $3/respondent: leads to larger samples and lower margin
of error
We are not a consulting firm, we are a data provider.

18. THE ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION:
“TALK TO CONSUMERS”

19. TALK TO CONSUMERS
Retailers
● Site confirmation
● Optimize underperforming stores
Real Estate Managers & Developers
● Help leasing to secure tenants
● Optimize underperforming malls
● Help developers understand the needs

20. TALK TO CONSUMERS

21. Groupe Mach in Quebec
● Main challenge: gather relevant data to attract
and secure retailers in a new development.
● 3,213 respondents in a 5km radius.
● Two new tenants secured.

22. Carrefour in France
● Main challenge: identify how to capture the
local competition’s clientele.
● 6,456 respondents.
● Had insights on the reasons why consumers
are choosing competitors over them.

23. THEY TRUST US

24. FUNDRAISING & OFFICES
We have raised over $6M from Canadian & International VCs, and have multiple offices
across the world.

25. We are hiring in Toronto.
POTLOC
POTLOC TORONTO
180 JOHN ST, TORONTO, ON, M5T 1X5
MORE INFO?
rodolphe@potloc.com
Retail Insider - June 20, 2018
“POTLOC Opens Toronto Office As it
Secures Major Investment”