Customer Survey - Get the Facts
It's all to easy to speculate and get it wrong. So, even though we're a small family business, we're big believers in making any decisions based on facts, research and testing. We try not leaving too much to chance.
We had a few questions, which only our customers could answer, so in the summer of 2019 we decided to reach out and get to the core of what our customers think and want.
Here we share some of the main findings.
Key Findings
When asked "overall how do you rate Play It Again Kids?" we gained an average of 4.8 out of 5 rating from customers. This result matches with the Google reviews we've had, helping to validate our survey sample.
Condition and quality of items were the two most important considerations of customers when looking to buy childrens' items.
When we asked people how they felt about their last consignment experience with us,
92% had a positive experience.
Over 30% of all respondents reported their last consignment visit as being very positive.
Of the 23 people (8%) who felt it was a negative experience, almost all had fewer than 50% of their items accepted in. They considered the main reasons why items were rejected to be...
We were amused that not one person admitted to not having checked their items through before they consigned!
Most consignors feel what they get back makes it worthwhile to them....
The majority of consignors have confidence their items will sell.
Most consignors get why we have appointments and limits on our intake.
The statement most universally agreed on by consignors was...
The statements which caused most division were with regard to
“Consignment is only for the things I can’t sell directly myself.”
And “It’s important for me to get as much back as I can for my children’s items."
This suggests that people have very different views on this, which may be related to people’s different budgets and outlooks.
But regardless of budget, most people were agreed that consigning through us helps make shopping more affordable.
While a few consider our pricing to be either too high or too low, the majority of customers (and consignors) feel our pricing is about right veering slightly on the low side. Pricing is something of a balancing act for us, so it's reassuring to know we're on track.
Method
Our customer survey ran from June to September 2019. The design was a fully web based self-completion questionnaire using the Typeform platform, which allowed for easy completion on mobile devices as well as desktop computers. The responsive and interactive design of the questionnaire helped ensure questions remained relevant, irrespective of each persons' answers.
We sought to get feedback from existing customers or consignors, so the survey was designed to screen out anyone who did not fit one of those categories. Survey design was administered in-house, with the goal of seeking to determine any product or service gaps and opportunities, and gain a better understanding of our customers’ opinions and their shopping habits when it comes to new and used children’s items. An incentive was given for a chance to win a $150 local shopping spree, but more importantly this was a chance for every customer/consignor views to be heard.
Recruitment was via our customer and consignor email list and newsletter, and also via postcards handed out to customers and consignors in our store. The survey screened out participants who were not active customers (had not purchased from us within the last 3 years) or had never consigned with us. The main survey was anonymous with no personal details collected that could identify participants. To protect anonymity, a link was provided to a secondary form where personal contact information was requested, for anyone wishing to enter the prize draw. The draw was randomly selected, and won by A. Levesque of Nelson, who chose to spend her $150 prize at Stitch Lab.
Overall there were 261 responses. From this total, 225 participants agreed to the draw terms and condition and entered the draw.
Demographics
While we did not ask the gender question, it was largely evident from the names of those who entered the draw that approximately 97% were female, and only 3% male.
The average (median) age of survey respondents is between 35 and 39 years.
This makes sense since the average birthing age of moms in BC is 30.2 years, and most will be shopping for children aged 15 or less.