2.2 Market Research Practice Questions

Text 2 — Nibblecroft Ltd

Nibblecroft Ltd makes plant-based snack bars. The bars are sold through 40 independent health food shops in the north of England. The owner, Yusuf Rahman, wants to launch a new high-protein bar but is not sure whether there is enough demand for it.

Before making a decision, Nibblecroft Ltd carried out some market research. An online questionnaire was completed by 400 regular customers, who were asked the highest price they would pay for a high-protein bar (see Table 1). Yusuf also held two focus groups, where eight customers at a time tasted samples of the new bar and discussed what they thought of its taste and packaging.

Nibblecroft Ltd also read a free government report on the UK snack food market. The report showed that sales of plant-based snacks in the UK rose from £310 million to £390 million over the last four years, and that most buyers were aged 18–34.

Table 1: Results of Nibblecroft Ltd's online questionnaire (400 customers)

Highest price the customer would pay for the new bar	Number of customers
Under £2.00	92
£2.00 to £2.49	126
£2.50 to £2.99	118
£3.00 or more	64

Text 1 — Brambleway Juices Ltd

Brambleway Juices Ltd makes cold-pressed fruit juices, which it supplies to 48 independent cafés across northern England. The business is owned by Ruairi Dunne, who started it six years ago. Sales of its standard juice range have been flat for the last two years.

Ruairi wants to launch a new low-sugar sparkling juice. Before making a final decision, Brambleway Juices Ltd:

• gave a questionnaire to 400 café customers;
• held a focus group with eight regular customers to discuss flavours and packaging;
• trialled the sparkling juice in six of its 48 cafés for four weeks;
• read a trade magazine report stating that UK sales of low-sugar soft drinks rose by 11% last year.

All six cafés chosen for the trial are in city centres.

Table 1: Sales of the new sparkling juice in the six trial cafés

Week	Bottles sold
1	480
2	540
3	570
4	570

Text 1 — Bristlecombe Hounds Ltd

Bristlecombe Hounds Ltd is a small business that makes natural dog treats. It was set up four years ago by Mia Okonjo and now employs six people. The treats are sold through the company's own website and at weekend farmers' markets in three towns.

Before launching a new grain-free range, Mia carried out some market research. She read articles in pet trade magazines, looked at the websites of two national pet food brands and studied census information on the number of households living near her farmers' markets. She also looked at Bristlecombe Hounds Ltd's own records of online sales over the last four years.

Mia is now considering spending £4 000 on a market research agency to run focus groups with dog owners.

Year	Bristlecombe Hounds Ltd online sales revenue	UK households owning a dog (millions)
2021	£150 000	12.0
2022	£180 000	12.5
2023	£216 000	12.8
2024	£243 000	13.1

Text 1 — Shingleby Creamery Ltd

Shingleby Creamery Ltd makes ice cream and sells it through 40 of its own shops along the south coast of England. The owner, Priya Mannan, wants to add a new dairy-free range to the menu.

Before deciding on a full launch in all 40 shops, Priya trialled the dairy-free range in 6 shops for four weeks and recorded weekly sales. She also held a focus group with 8 regular customers, and paid a market research agency £400 for its report on the UK dairy-free dessert market.

Priya must decide whether the dairy-free range should be sold in every Shingleby Creamery Ltd shop from next summer.

Table 1: Units of the dairy-free range sold in the six trial shops

Week of trial	Units sold
Week 1	800
Week 2	950
Week 3	1 120
Week 4	1 400

Text 2 — Cloudberry Kitchens Ltd

Cloudberry Kitchens Ltd makes frozen ready meals which it supplies to 140 independent food shops in the north of England. The business was started six years ago by Dev Ahluwalia and now employs 34 people. It competes with large national brands that spend heavily on advertising.

Dev is considering launching a new vegetarian range. Before deciding, he emailed an online questionnaire to every customer who had bought a Cloudberry meal in the last year. 850 customers completed it. Dev also ran two focus groups of eight customers each in the company test kitchen, where people tasted sample meals and then discussed what they liked and disliked about them.

Table 1 shows one set of results from the questionnaire.

Table 1: Responses to the question 'Which one of the following would most increase how often you buy Cloudberry meals?'

Response	Number of customers
A lower price	312
Smaller portion sizes	96
More vegetarian options	258
Recyclable packaging	184
Total	850

Dev will use both sets of research findings before deciding whether to launch the new range.

Selkirth Soaps Ltd

Selkirth Soaps Ltd makes handmade soaps. The business is owned by Callum Fraser and employs 12 people at a workshop in Carlisle. Selkirth sells through its own website and to 40 independent gift shops.

Callum wants to launch a solid shampoo bar. Before he decides, he has collected the following market research:

• an online questionnaire emailed to Selkirth's 600 existing customers. Only 180 customers replied, and 70% of those said they would buy a shampoo bar priced at £7
• written comments from the same questionnaire. Many customers said that Selkirth's packaging "looks old-fashioned" next to rival brands
• a market report bought from a research agency, which shows that the UK handmade soap market grew by 12% last year.

Table 1: Sales revenue in the UK handmade soap market, 2024

Business	Sales revenue (£000)
Selkirth Soaps Ltd	540
Lathermoss Bath Co	1 260
Sudsy Lane Ltd	900
All other businesses	2 700

Hale's Hot Sauce

Hale's Hot Sauce is a sole trader business in Leicester owned by Marcus Hale. Marcus makes chilli sauces in a rented kitchen and sells them in 250 ml bottles for £5.50 at two farmers' markets every weekend and through his own website. He employs two part-time workers.

Marcus has developed a new smoked garlic flavour. Before he spends £3 000 on bottles, labels and ingredients for a full launch, he wants to find out whether customers will buy it. His social media page is followed by 3 000 people, many of whom post photographs of meals they have cooked using his sauces.

Marcus is choosing between two methods of market research:

• trialling: making 200 bottles of the new flavour, costing £400, and selling them at his two market stalls for four weekends to see how many sell
• focus groups: paying a market research agency £2 000 to run focus groups with shoppers in Leicester.

Morwen Sea Tours

Morwen Sea Tours is a small business on Anglesey in North Wales, owned by Aled Morgan, a sole trader. Aled runs guided sea-kayaking tours for beginners, charging £40 per person for a half-day tour. He owns 12 kayaks and employs two qualified guides during the summer. Most of his customers are tourists who book through his website after finding it on a search engine.

Morwen Sea Tours is fully booked in July and August but takes very little money between October and March, when the guides are laid off and the kayaks are stored in a rented unit costing £180 a month.

Aled wants to earn money in the quieter months. He is thinking about buying six paddleboards, costing £3 600 in total, and offering a new sunrise paddleboard tour priced at £30 per person. Before spending this money he wants to find out whether enough people would book it. He is choosing between:

• carrying out his own survey of 300 visitors at the harbour and nearby campsites
• buying a published market report on UK outdoor activity tourism, costing £450.

Verde Boxes Ltd

Verde Boxes Ltd is a private limited company in Bristol that delivers vegetarian recipe boxes to homes across the South West. Each box contains pre-measured ingredients and recipe cards for three meals and costs £24. Customers choose from 12 recipes each week and select the evening on which their box is delivered. The company was started in 2020 by Anya Shah and Tom Berry and now employs six people.

Before they started, Anya and Tom read market reports on the UK food delivery market and held a focus group with 10 local families. Every year they now send an online questionnaire to all of their customers. Table 1 shows the main reason customers gave for choosing Verde Boxes in the most recent questionnaire, which 400 customers completed.

Two national recipe box companies have recently started delivering in the South West. Both are offering a lower introductory price.

Table 1: Main reason given for choosing Verde Boxes (400 customers)

Main reason given	Number of customers
Price	48
Quality of ingredients	132
Choice of recipes	160
Convenience of delivery	60

Cogwright Cycles

Cogwright Cycles is a mobile bicycle repair business in Norwich. It was set up in 2021 by Rina Patel, who works as a sole trader. Rina travels to customers in a van that carries her tools and the most common spare parts. A standard service costs £25 and an e-bike service costs £60. Customers book online.

Cogwright Cycles has a social media page followed by 1 400 people in the Norwich area. Rina posts photographs of completed repairs and asks her followers short questions, such as which types of repair they would like her to offer. Followers also leave reviews of the service they have received.

Two other mobile bicycle repair businesses have started in Norwich in the last year. Rina is thinking about opening a drop-in workshop on Saturdays and wants to find out whether customers would use it. She is choosing between two methods of research:

• sending an online questionnaire to her 1 400 followers
• interviewing each customer face to face when she finishes their repair.