Case Study
Using Concept Testing to Identify Optimal SKU Assortment of Children’s Training Pants
overview
A personal care manufacturer had to cut its current assortment of child training pants in half to meet a retail partner’s demands. To do this, they needed to understand which of several proposed scenarios would most appeal to shoppers.
C+R developed an online survey with a discrete choice exercise to help the brand determine the best mix of products to offer in-store, as well as what prices to charge to mitigate the risk of shoppers going elsewhere to buy the products.
THE PROBLEM
Retailer Requests Cutting Assortment by Half
A multinational personal care manufacturer had been asked by a major retail partner to help simplify shoppers’ in-store buying experience by halving its assortment of kids’ training pants. As the client had a large yet focused assortment of products in the category, they approached C+R for help in determining the optimal assortment across two sub-categories: training pants (for potty training and daytime use) and youth pants (for bedwetting and nighttime use).
The client was looking to understand which of several tradeoff scenarios shoppers would prefer, as well as the price thresholds that would keep shoppers buying the products at their retail partner.
OUR APPROACH
Concept Test, Discrete Choice and Price Laddering
Over 400 shoppers completed an online survey. Participants were divided into one of two categories (training pants or youth pants) and asked to evaluate one of five concepts.
After evaluating the concept, respondents went through a discrete choice analysis exercise. A price laddering exercise was also included to determine price thresholds/”cliffs”.
Additional questions related to sizing, gender-neutral product understanding, interest, and color preference were also included.
The result
Ability to reduce SKUs without losing customers
The research identified the top two ideas with the best chances of appealing to shoppers and motivating purchases of the client’s products. The research revealed the most attractive features of these concepts and presented the client with actionable next steps to meet its retail partner’s demands.
As a result of the research, our client had a number of potential SKU optimization and pricing strategies to present to its retail partner, all of which were projected to create only minor risk of shoppers opting to purchase another brand, or from another retailer.
proven experience
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