Interview Insights — Inclusive Market Research Methods of the Private Sector
As discussed in Learning from Private Sector Approaches to Inclusive Market Research, inclusive market research produces valuable insight for both the private sector and development practitioners. By actively seeking out the perspectives and insights of women, youth and other groups that are traditionally ignored or excluded, companies can gain a deeper understanding of their market or customers and use this information to catalyze change that benefits both their business and these groups.
The Advancing Women’s Empowerment Program (AWE) recently conducted interviews with four private sector companies that offered insights into how they conduct inclusive market systems research. Highlights from these interviews have been compiled with additional research to provide examples of what steps the private sector takes and what processes they find most beneficial. The private sector companies profiled below, which are diverse in size, region and sector, shared their approaches to conducting inclusive market research as well as how this intelligence has catalyzed changes in their businesses. They also highlighted ways they have leveraged the experience of USAID missions or other development partners for technical expertise or access to networks.
Customized Market Scan and Stakeholder Analysis
Market scans and qualitative research such as focus groups and interviews were highlighted as key inclusive market research tools to better understand opportunities with traditionally ignored or excluded customer segments, such as women and youth. For the companies interviewed, this type of market research is typically done in the product development phase or to understand service gaps in their existing product offerings. For example, ReelFruit, a market leader in dried fruit processing in Nigeria which focuses on uplifting the fruit value chain through value added processing, marketing, and distribution, shared how market research and focus groups informed the development of a product that supports working moms from diverse social backgrounds and status:
We wanted to see how our product could support women from a design approach. Through market research and focus groups, we identified an opportunity with working moms from diverse social backgrounds/status and wanted to come up with an affordable nutritious product that targets and supports kids — particularly kids under the age of 8. We found that moms wanted a fruit product that is packaged, clean, healthy, safe and affordable that their kids can consume during a break at school. -Gloria Enwema, Sourcing and Value Chain Development Manager, ReelFruit
Banco LAFISE, founded in 1985 with the objective of promoting and facilitating the financial integration of Central American countries though systematic and innovative solutions, highlighted the importance of gender-specific questions in surveys and market scans to gain insight into the experiences of women entrepreneurs and the needs of women that were not being met by the banks.
Research for a study that we carried out was designed in a way that not only considers gender in the demographic portion of the survey, but also in the actual questions that are addressed in the questionnaire. We carried out a study with the purpose of learning the pains of women and the needs not attended to by the banks. Questions focused not on the size and profile of the segment but on the particularities of women entrepreneurs — the study considered the personal aspects and not only the characteristics of the business. -Ada Matamoros, Private Banking Manager and Lead of the SME Project with a Gender Approach, Banco LAFISE
Client Feedback and Customer Segmentation
Obtaining client feedback and refining product offerings for existing target customers allowed for companies to better tailor products to meet the needs of women, youth or other excluded groups. This type of market research is done continually to better evaluate products and services for improvement or needed innovation. For example, ReelFruit used inclusive market research to better understand the needs and constraints of their target customers and develop new product ranges for specific customer segments.
During ReelFruit’s market research, having understood that the target customers were women from diverse socio-economic status, we learned from the women focus groups that pricing was a key consideration as most of them had more than one kid, hence affordability of the product was a huge concern. ReelFruit used this perspective to create a series of the kids’ product ranges that met the women’s needs at different price points. -Gloria Enwema, Sourcing and Value Chain Development Manager, ReelFruit
Universal Credit Microcredit Company, which has been operating for more than 16 years in the Kyrgyzstan microfinance market, highlights personal interviews during meetings with clients as a way to better tailor products. From this, Universal Credit Microcredit Company has included consultations that are more thorough and clarifies all the details of the loan agreement and conditions for their product line that services women and youth-led startups, allowing them to further segment their markets.
External Partnerships
Many private sector partners shared examples of how working with external actors, such as implementing partners, government, and USAID, contributed to useful insights for inclusive market research and created a pipeline of new clients for their products. Universal Credit Microcredit Company highlighted the use of reports and assessments done by donors and development partners to gain insight into traditionally excluded groups in their market.
Banco LAFISE has used its connections with USAID Honduras to research and identify women entrepreneurs as a new client segment that had not previously been focused on, which resulted in the development of Banco LAFISE’s Corporate Sustainability area. This started in 2021 as a pilot in Honduras and is being replicated in four other countries.
USAID has played an important role in the development of our SME Program with a gender focus. Their field experience in the needs of entrepreneurs, women promoting their businesses and their alliances with chambers of commerce have been important contributions to LAFISE. -Ada Matamoros, Private Banking Manager and Lead of the SME Project with a Gender Approach, Banco LAFISE
In the next blog in our series, Interview Insights — The Business Value of Inclusive Market Research, read about outcomes of inclusive market research and how it has resulted in an expanded client base, reduced risks, and strengthened businesses.
Interested in joining the conversation? Join us from April 5-14, 2023, for a dynamic, open-ended discussion with leading private sector companies and inclusive market research experts who will respond to questions around the private sector’s rationale and innovative approaches to using inclusive market research and what areas of collaboration with development partners can be most catalytic in achieving business and development outcomes. Join the conversation by becoming a member of the AWE Virtual Learning Series Google Group.
