Market Research for Retail & FMCG Brands

Why do some shoppers drop your product in the basket while others walk past? We answer with applied market research for retail and FMCG brands: brand tracking, concept testing, and shopper journey studies. Recent work includes IULIUS, Viorica Cosmetic, Perla Harghitei, and Darvari Garden.

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Industries we’ve worked in:

How we help retail and FMCG teams decide with confidence

You know your product sells. Do you know why? Most teams have an intuitive answer. They want it tested. Market research with MKOR tells you who is buying your product, why they choose it (or put it back on the shelf), and how your pricing holds up against the competition.

We work with retail and FMCG brands, turning what happens at the shelf and online into recommendations you can act on. Not long reports that hedge on every conclusion.

Successful launches

A failed launch is expensive. We test concept, packaging, and formula before production begins. That means brand concept testing for the idea and product testing for the formula in real use. Example: the qualitative research behind the Prodvinalco Cluj launch, where we validated positioning and messaging before the first bottle left the line.

Brand performance

How much market share do you hold today? What share of the category recognizes your brand? Which attributes do buyers associate with it? We answer these through continuous brand tracking, brand awareness research, and competitive analysis. Real work: the brand performance study for Viorica Cosmetic in cosmetics, and brand tracking for Perla Harghitei & Tușnad in mineral water.

Understanding the shopper

Ask someone directly „why did you buy that?” and you rarely get the honest answer. We combine usage & attitudes research with in-store observation, in-depth interviews, and shopper journey mapping to capture behavior as it happens, not as it gets rationalized the next morning. For segmentation we add consumer profiling. In the field: loyalty research at AFI Cotroceni, consumer behavior at IULIUS Shopping Mall, and the disinfectant category for Klintensiv.

Digital efficiency

The omnichannel shopper moves between store, app, and eCommerce without noticing the switch. You need to notice. We measure adoption rates for new products, eCommerce conversion, and return frequency through consumer experience research. When speed matters more than sample size, we run agile research with results in days, not months.

Future of the market

Younger generations don’t shop like their parents. They want transparency on ingredients, origin, and impact. We track this shift through consumer sentiment research and fold it into innovation & forecasting when you plan a new product, or market opportunity analysis when you evaluate a new category. One example: the premium FMCG opportunity research for Darvari Garden.

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Common questions about retail & FMCG research

How much does market research cost for an FMCG brand?

Budget depends on methodology, sample size, geographic coverage, and turnaround speed. As a rough guide, a national brand tracking wave starts from a few thousand euros. Concept testing on smaller samples costs proportionally less. For an accurate estimate, send us the project details and we’ll come back with numbers.

How long does a continuous brand tracking study take?

A standard wave takes 3-4 weeks from briefing to final report. For continuous tracking we recommend quarterly or semi-annual waves so the data stays comparable over time. More frequent waves make sense during active campaign or repositioning periods, when you need to see impact on brand awareness close to real time.

What’s the difference between concept testing and product testing?

Concept testing validates the idea: packaging, messaging, positioning, and perceived price. It runs before production so you can see whether the proposition attracts the right audience. Product testing validates the product itself, with consumers using it under normal conditions. A serious launch uses both, in that order.

What methods do you use for shopper journey mapping?

It depends on the research question. For shelf behavior: in-store observation and intercept interviews immediately after purchase. For the full journey: shop-along sessions, where we accompany the shopper through their most recent purchase, plus loyalty data analysis. On complex projects we layer in digital data from eCommerce and campaigns. See it in practice at IULIUS Shopping Mall.

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