Statistics is problem solving.
There are many different business problems all requiring specific statistical analyses. Our industry expertise and statistical know-how enable us to translate a variety of business problems into analytical problems, leading to actionable business insights.
Explore solutions-2's great solutions using the navigation bar on the right.
A mine of industry expertise
Solutions-2 has expertise in both B2C as B2B settings. In the last 10 years, we provided solutions to business problems in industries as diverse as the fast-moving consumer goods (e.g. coffee, yoghurt), technology (e.g. telecoms, pc's, home automation), industrial & manufacturing (e.g. resins, packaging, paint), pharmaceutical (e.g. drug prescription) and services (e.g. financial, entertainment). See our list of clients.
A toolbox of statistical techniques
Solutions-2 has a complete toolbox of statistical techniques that can transform data from both surveys and data warehouses into practical information. We are experienced in a range of statistical analysis tools such as conjoint analysis, missing value imputation, multivariate analysis, segmentation, machine learning, and data mining. For more information on these techniques, take a look at our Solutions or ask us to explain how these techniques can enrich your data.
Statistics is problem solving.
There are many different business problems all requiring specific statistical analyses. Our industry expertise and statistical know-how enable us to translate a variety of business problems into analytical problems, leading to actionable business insights.
Explore solutions-2's great solutions using the navigation bar on the right.
A mine of industry expertise
Solutions-2 has expertise in both B2C as B2B settings. In the last 10 years, we provided solutions to business problems in industries as diverse as the fast-moving consumer goods (e.g. coffee, yoghurt), technology (e.g. telecoms, pc's, home automation), industrial & manufacturing (e.g. resins, packaging, paint), pharmaceutical (e.g. drug prescription) and services (e.g. financial, entertainment). See our list of clients.
A toolbox of statistical techniques
Solutions-2 has a complete toolbox of statistical techniques that can transform data from both surveys and data warehouses into practical information. We are experienced in a range of statistical analysis tools such as conjoint analysis, missing value imputation, multivariate analysis, segmentation, machine learning, and data mining. For more information on these techniques, take a look at our Solutions or ask us to explain how these techniques can enrich your data.
What are customers looking for when they buy a product or service? And what will they pay for it?
Solutions-2 guides you through the process of designing a product or service that has market appeal and for which consumers are willing to pay.
At solutions-2, we are seen as the European conjoint experts. We run about 40 conjoint projects every year, all resulting in clear directions of what the product should offer and at which price it should be sold.
Our tailor-made simulator tool allows the client to look at any what-if scenario to understand the impact of a certain change in product offering or price on sales, revenue and margin. It also indicates which product portfolio will generate most sales as well as which customers to target when launching a new product.
Product development is often combined with market segmentation analysis to identify what groups of customers there are and what they really need. A segment of the market may be looking for a basic product at a reasonable price, while another segment demands high-quality but is willing to pay a premium.
Ensuring a well-developed product … read more about this case study.
A market segmentation analysis is one of the fundamental tools every
sales and marketing professional needs. It divides any heterogeneous consumer market into segments
that share the same characteristics.
Those characteristics can be demographics, needs,
attitudes, motivations or behaviour.
Understanding them enables you to tailor your communications
and products to a segment of the available market.
Market segmentation increases your
marketing effectiveness by enabling you to develop campaigns that directly appeal to consumers who
share similar characteristics. This type of campaign often leads to higher response rates than more
general promotions.
Unmet needs may also be identified through market segmentation
analysis. This provides new product development opportunities and an advantage over your
competitors.
As a next step, we can investigate the price sensitivity of these segments, such that the new products are offered at the right price.
Besides the traditional latent class segmentation technique, we recently introduced cluster ensembles, a new segmentation method. Cluster ensembles make it possible to create more targetable and balanced segments.
Which SMEs ask for help? … read more about this case study.
One of the most important elements to get right in business is pricing. So it is no surprise that many of the business questions we hear at solutions-2 relate to this topic.
Questions like:
- Will an increase in the price of our product affect our volume and margin? By how much?
- Our client is launching a new product on the market. What price should they set or even prices if the market allows for price differentiation?
- How does price compare to the other purchase drivers in terms of importance?
- Is brand name or product quality more important than price?
- Should we bundle our products into one package?
Finding the right answer usually requires a combination of solutions-2’s analytical techniques such as brand positioning, market segmentation, drivers analysis or bundle optimisation.
Price bundles
Using conjoint analysis, solutions-2 can provide advice on whether you should combine separate products, offering them as a bundle at a lower price. An example of this is a holiday package where the flight, hotel and car-rental are packaged together.
Price bundling is a profitable technique, especially in heterogeneous consumer markets. It is most successful when the economies of scale and scope are strong.
Solutions-2 provides insight into the price sensitivity of different bundles; the optimum price to maximise margin, revenue or market penetration; and which price bundles are appropriate for which consumer segments.
How solutions-2 puts the cream on top … read more about this case study.
Do you understand how your brand is perceived by customers or prospects? Do they associate you with the best, or the worst, in your industry? And is this image in line with how you would like to be perceived?
Solutions-2 regularly undertakes brand positioning analysis for our clients to answer exactly this question.
The analysis shows which characteristics (positive and negative) your brand is known for, and how that compares to your competitors. The information is typically shown on a brand map, which graphically illustrates the current position of your brand and your competitors’.
Complementing brand position with a drivers analysis will pinpoint those characteristics which are important for your customers and which are either a strength or weakness.
Our clients use the brand map to support brand differentation strategies and to create tailored communications that reposition the brand. The brand communication can move the brand away from competitors, or closer to a value that is perceived as positive.
How solutions-2 helped a global laptop-maker reposition their brand … read more about this case study.
The core objective for most companies is to grow their business. This can be achieved directly by increasing your revenue, margins, or a combination of both.
An indirect strategy is to increase the satisfaction level of your existing customers. They use your products or services more and become valuable brand advocates.
A solutions-2 drivers analysis will identify and quantify the factors that have a significant impact on your business. While it is often used to measure product or service satisfaction, drivers analysis can also pinpoint problems with loyalty, engagement, customer advocacy, current brand image, and purchase likelihood.
A drivers analysis will clearly show which aspects are important to the customer. Assessing the performance on these key drivers, potentially via a brand positioning analysis, allows to identify exactly where money and effort needs to be deployed.
Companies which invest in the key drivers will see a significant return on investment (ROI). Especially when compared to companies with little understanding of what their customers need.
The results of the drivers analysis are typically presented in a SWOT diagram. SWOT diagrams graphically illustrate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your business. Our Online Reporting Tool, solutions-2-web, includes SWOT diagrams which can be easily exported to a PowerPoint presentation.
Why one European airline asked solutions-2 for a drivers analysis ... read more about this case study.
Product bundling combines products in a package that has added value for the consumer. For example, a combined television, telephone and broadband Internet service can add value though increased convenience and interconnectivity.
Using conjoint analysis, solutions-2 provides advice on which combinations of products are most interesting for the consumer.
Price bundling combines separate products in a package offered at a discount, as the product combination does not add value like product bundles do. It is most successful when the relative contribution margin is high and the economies of scale and scope are strong.
Solutions-2 provides insight into the price sensitivity of different product/price bundles; the optimum price to maximise margin, revenue or market penetration; and which bundles are appropriate for which consumer segments.
You can also decide on your optimal bundle by trying our user-friendly Excel simulator. The software graphically illustrates how market share, revenue and margin will vary across different bundles.
Customer intelligence for improved customer relationship management
The very existence of your company depends on your customers. Therefore managing the interaction between your company and the customer is key to success. Customer relationship management will enhance the customers’ value to your company. Moreover, excelling on customer relationship management is likely to constitute a competitive advantage.
Solutions-2 helps your company to build more effective customer relationships through intelligent analysis of the information stored in your data warehouse, such as transactional data, service usage, contact centre interaction, (direct) marketing communications, clickstream data etc.
Powerful insight can be achieved through integrating this information with externally collected data such as satisfaction, attitudes, motivations and needs.
As one of our analysts holds a PhD in customer intelligence and data mining solutions-2 has the know-how and experience to help you actively manage your customer interactions along the entire customer lifecycle.
Can we predict how well a new product will make its entrance in the market space? How will it contribute to our sales and how will it affect our market shares?
Trial and repeat volume forecasting predicts the volume a new product would sell in the first year. Considering the trial and repeated purchases, you shed a light on how a new product will perform in the market. A thorough prediction of the volume and sales of a new product should be every company’s and brand’s best friend, as an accurate new-product forecasting is essential in order to a keep an eye on growth and profitability.
In a real market situation, not everyone knows or has access to your products. So, when forecasting volume, we take into account the awareness and availability of your product to define the right penetration. Furthermore, since you would not want your new product taking away volume or sales from your existing portfolio, we also estimate the cannibalization impact of this new offer.Cluster ensembles are a relatively recent segmentation technique making it possible to create more targetable and more balanced segments.
Traditionally, questionnaires contain different themes. In a traditional segmentation, a group of questions is used together to distillate different groups of people in the total population. As a result of this, some themes are dominant (e.g. attitudes) while others (e.g. behaviour or demographics) do not have sufficient power to make a difference.
Cluster Ensembles run separate segmentations on each theme and combine them afterwards in a final clustering. The ensemble has the advantage that all themes are well-balanced, without some dominating others. The result is a more accurate, broader and more useable segmentation. After all, we want to end up with segments that are both interesting as well as targetable.