Feedback Factory - Test Department Store

Feedback Factory - Test Department Store
02.02.2021


Starting Point:

If a start-up wants to place its product in Germany - let's say a new lemonade, sauce or ice cream - in a traditional supermarket, it is asked to pay quite a bit. Up to €50,000 has to be paid for a listing. The justification for this investment is that the supermarket takes a high risk because sales are completely unknown.   

In 2018, we have changed that!

The start-up has to bear the marketing measures, such as costs for display stands and promo. Many start-up teams cannot handle that. Therefore, they do not even get into the big stores and consumers are denied the chance to "vote" on what belongs on today's shelves through their consumer behavior.

The Feedback Factory was born out of a vision to help young companies enter the retail market more quickly and easily.




Our Robin Hood project completely reversed market power for once: In our start-up department store, data was collected continuously over six months: How the product performs, what consumers like about it, how expensive they would estimate the product to be, and what information really interests them (and, if applicable, persuades them to buy). This reversal of decision variables and decision power was the claim of the test department store.

For a new product to successfully make the leap into retail, it needs proven acceptance in the market and brand-appropriate, target group-relevant and competition-differentiating communication. In addition, factors such as design, pricing, etc. play a major role. For every company, market research is therefore the linchpin of every product: before the product launch, during it and constantly accompanying it for review and, if necessary, readjustment. Market research is the only way to find out whether you are on the right track with what you have developed for your product. However, very few start-ups could afford this.

This discrepancy was changed with the Feedback Factory.



These customers were in the pilot phase:

Amorelie, 3Bears, Lycka, Wicked Cricket, sleep.ink, INJU, BRITA, IceCap and many more. 

Start-ups were able to go into supermarkets with BIFI's detailed results reports and, with scientific evidence in hand, choose which of the brands would be allowed to carry their product.

Six hours before the opening, we were sued for injunctive relief by a Berlin retail giant from Charlottenburg. That was the proof: we Robin Hoods were a threat to the established and entrenched capitalist retail system. According to court documents, we had caused €300,000 of damage to the prestigious department store (as if you all would have rather spent your money there instead of giving it to small start-ups... they really misunderstood the issue of market power). You supported us and chose a new name for us via Instagram:


Feedback Factory - Test Department Store

 


In the Feedback Factory, every consumer was able to test every product free of charge. This was a crowd puller, with customers traveling from all over Germany. The media impact of over €2.5 million helped us to draw interested parties' attention to the concept.



At the beginning of the visit, demographic data was given as a basis. Products were tasted and evaluated at the test bar. While browsing the shelves, customers were able to evaluate and assess the products using additional manual and digital tools. Besides, personal contact was not neglected either, as feedback from discussions with customers was also included in the evaluations of product potential.



The resulting score reports provided answers to the most pressing questions of start-ups looking to make the leap into retail:

  • How, where, with whom does the product attract attention and why?
  • Who might be the target group most likely to buy?
  • How would the marketing budget be best spent?
  • Where is the perfect price for customer or sales optimization?
  • What do the customers say? What does their honest, unvarnished feedback look like?
  • Which features and sales arguments interest, confuse, excite the customers?



A "test box" gave the opportunity to predict prices for products. The Feedback Factory concept also provided space for memorable experiences, such as focus groups, mobile roadshows, and promotional events, so that celebrities, industry representatives, and external interested parties could also get to know and love the concept. 

We would like to thank them, as well as the countless customers and visitors for the multi-million dollar media value of the project.