Testing demand for imported hand tools in African markets

What is shaping manufacturing

Manufacturers sell to distributors, OEMs and industrial buyers, and compete on quality, delivery and service as much as price. Many are also digitising plants, sales and finance processes.

• Distributor networks remain central to reach
• Buyers expect consistent quality and on-time delivery
• Digitisation of operations and reporting is accelerating

A hand-tools manufacturer, working in South Africa, Egypt & Morocco. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A hand-tools manufacturer

Sector

Manufacturing

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Research consultancy, Business panel, Qualitative research

The manufacturer was considering expansion into Southern and North Africa but had limited knowledge of distribution, pricing and competition.

• Deliver on the brief: testing demand for imported hand tools in African markets.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of retail checks.
• Uncover the motivations and barriers people do not state in a survey.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 8 weeks.

The work focused on 150 retail checks.

• retail checks150

Audiences we typically reach in manufacturing

Procurement and plant headsDistributors and dealersOEM buyersService engineersFinance and operations teams

Coverage: South Africa, Egypt & Morocco. Markets: South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.

• South Africa
• Egypt
• Morocco

A qualitative design, built to uncover motivations, decision processes and the language people actually use.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Distributor interviews
3. 3Retail price checks
4. 4Insight

We worked with local partners to interview importers and distributors and to record retail prices and competing brands in hardware markets. Findings were combined into a market-entry assessment.

Research consultancyBusiness panelQualitative research

retail checks

150

• Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
• Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

distributor interviews

45

• The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
• Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
• Review of open-ended answers
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Price and trade-off analysis
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Demand existed for mid-priced durable tools, but distributors expected credit terms and marketing support.

Local partners and in-market price checks grounded the decision in reality.

• Build on the core insight: local partners and in-market price checks grounded the decision in reality.
• Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: demand existed for mid-priced durable tools, but distributors expected credit terms and marketing support.
• Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.

• The client selected one country for a distributor-led pilot.

What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Interview summaries and key verbatims

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: why do industrial buyers switch suppliers?