Company Blog

The e-commerce boom has permanently reshaped consumer expectations around delivery speed, convenience and sustainability. As online shopping becomes the norm across categories, brands are racing to future-proof their last-mile logistics strategies. Failure to provide affordable, rapid fulfilment and sustainable delivery options risks customer churn and brand erosion.

Our latest global consumer survey reveals over 67% now expect same-day or next-day delivery to be available and affordable across

Amid the increasing fracturing of traditional media channels, declining trust in institutions and advertising, and the deprecation of third-party data, brands are at an inflexion point for establishing relevance and direct relationships with consumers globally.

In our latest global market study surveying over 15,000 consumers across nearly 20 countries, the Rwazi Insights team found trust and transparency ranking as top purchase influencers alongside product quality and value when selecting bra

For decades, the standard narrative around emerging markets framed consumers in these regions as cost-conscious and primarily driven by economic necessity when making purchases. However, research from Rwazi's on-the-ground consumer intelligence networks reveals surprising data disproving this simplistic assumption.

Through ethnographic studies, digital anthropologies and hyper-local surveys conducted across urban and rural areas in countries like India, Kenya, Mexico and the Philippines, our in

The metaverse may seem like a far-off futuristic concept, but understanding this convergence of physical and virtual worlds is quickly becoming necessary for leading consumer brands. With projections that metaverse experiences could unlock $800 billion in commerce by 2024, the need for robust consumer insights around this channel is only growing.

So what do we know about the emerging metaverse consumer and what motivates their behaviours? At Rwazi, we deployed distributed data collectors equipp

Over the past half-decade, contingency after contingency has mercilessly exposed the fragility within modern global supply chains. Trade disputes, pandemics, forced labour controversies, environmental disasters, geopolitical conflicts – each crisis has progressively exacerbated the brittleness plaguing enterprise resource flows.

While disruptions are inevitable, the COVID-19 pandemic served as a prolonged real-time stress test on organizations' abilities to stay agile, map out sluggish bottlene

In many corners of the Western world, the unrivalled digital utility of apps like Google, Facebook and Amazon has been taken for granted. But across Southeast Asia and other high-growth markets, a burgeoning new category of all-in-one "super app" platforms has rapidly rearranged consumer behaviour and commercial battlegrounds.

Superapps consolidate a sprawling array of services spanning local on-demand delivery, digital payments, transportation, communications, content streaming and more into a

If you're apt to think of Twitter's "blue check" as an irrelevant shorthand from Web 1.0, think again. Social media identity verification has become a battleground for brand legitimacy in the creator economy fueling Web3.

At the core of Web3 – the sweeping paradigm shift towards decentralized web experiences built on distributed blockchain architecture – is an intrinsic push towards open, transparent and community-driven platforms. New token-based economic models enable this emergent ideology,

Move over basketball and soccer. Increasingly, the athletes of tomorrow are foregoing real-world sports to pursue careers as digitized esports superstars battling on virtual fields of play.

While the concept of organized competitive video gaming has existed for over four decades, the 2020s are solidifying esports as a ubiquitous cultural and economic juggernaut. With worldwide esports viewership expected to surpass 500 million by 2025, the ecosystem now represents an immense frontier for innova

In the not-so-distant past, luxury purchases were almost solely markers of affluence and indulgence. Rolls-Royce commanded respect for its six-figure price tag and lavish material embellishments. Scoring an exclusive Hermès Birkin bag meant joining the rarified circles of the global elite.

However, a rapidly mainstreaming value among modern high-income explorers is rejecting ostentatious emblems of wealth in favour of sustainable, ethical and socially conscious luxuries. This countertrend is al

In 1999, few could foresee the eventual metamorphosis of consumers that big tech platforms and the smartphone revolution would catalyze. Who could predict a "social media influencer" becoming a coveted marketing channel surpassing TV commercials?

If businesses fail to anticipate, analyze and adapt to large-scale consumer shifts or "megatrends", the potential downsides to growth, revenue and market share can be catastrophic. Just ask Kodak, Barnes & Noble or Toys R Us how being slow to evolving

Consumer behavior in 2023 bends can sometimes feel like a kaleidoscope of contradictions. Gen Z environmental evangelists promoting sustainability, yet splurging on fast fashion. Middle-aged affluent suburbanites craving local farm-to-table meal kits, delivered in single-use plastic containers. Health-conscious urban dwellers cross-shopping supplements with sporadic impulse buys of indulgent sweets and sodas.

Such consumer paradoxes take shape when we apply broad demographic assumptions to segm

In our hyper-globalized world, the typical Fortune 500 enterprise generates over 30% of its revenue from international markets. For ambitious multinationals not going abroad, getting left behind is a defining risk.

However, expanding across borders also carries substantial hazards. An astonishing 1 in 3 multinational corporations report operating losses from failed international market entries averaging $480 million. Without data-driven insights to de-risk expansion, even seasoned enterprises c

Imagine being a multinational retailer aiming to plant distribution flags across the lucrative Southeast Asian markets of Vietnam and Thailand. You've allocated substantial capital, performed demographic studies, and even visited a few key cities - but you're still lacking a critical data component: hyper-local intel on the true economic realities facing your target customers.

Without precise visibility into per capita income distributions, consumption preferences, basket pricing expectations a

Imagine launching a new product across West Africa, only to realize too late that it doesn't align with cultural traditions and falls flat. Or investing heavily into expanding your business footprint across Southeast Asia, just to miss the mark on consumer pricing expectations and see sales sputter.

These narratives play out all too often for multinational brands venturing abroad without a true understanding of the local consumer mindset. While the revenue growth potential in emerging markets i

Understanding consumer sentiment is critical in any industry where brands and customer experiences reign. And in the era of big data, new techniques are empowering companies to accurately sense consumer attitudes, emotions and opinions at unprecedented scale.

Sentiment analysis is an advanced application of artificial intelligence and computational linguistics that mines subjective signals in text, social media, transcripts, ratings, and other human data. Essentially, sentiment analysis discern

When prospects and customers interact with your brand, they take a journey spanning multiple touchpoints and channels. And their perceptions from each moment accumulate to shape their experience.

It's no longer sufficient for companies to narrowly map customer journeys within siloed channels or transactional processes like sales funnels. In today's complex omnichannel landscape, understanding the unified, end-to-end journey has become imperative.

That's why customer journey mapping has emerged

Introducing a new product is a major strategic initiative requiring substantial investment - yet many launches still fall flat. In fact, over 80% of new consumer products launched each year ultimately fail, leading to an estimated $200 billion in overspend annually.

So how can companies minimize this risk and give new offerings the best chance to succeed right out of the gate? Leveraging advanced predictive analytics and data-driven techniques from the get-go in the innovation process.

Whether

In today's hyper-competitive business landscape, having timely insights on what rivals are planning next can be the difference between outmaneuvering them or being outmaneuvered. To stay one step ahead, companies are increasingly turning to competitive intelligence - the practice of systematically gathering and analyzing information about an industry, competitors, and the overall competitive environment.

At the heart of an effective competitive intelligence program is access to relevant and rel

Determining the right pricing strategy is a perennial challenge for businesses across industries. Price a product too high, and it risks losing customers to cheaper alternatives. Price it too low, and you're leaving money on the table. This delicate balancing act highlights the importance of demand modeling in developing an optimal pricing approach.

At its core, demand modeling uses data analysis and predictive techniques to estimate how customers will respond to different price points for a pr

In the ever-evolving landscape of the marketplace, consumer behavior is undergoing a significant transformation. Today's consumers are increasingly conscious of the social and environmental impact of their purchasing decisions. This shift, driven by heightened awareness and readily available information, has given rise to ethical consumerism, a movement where individuals actively seek out and prioritize products and services that align with their values and principles.

Understanding the Nuances

In today's digital age, consumers are bombarded with information and content from all corners of the internet. This content saturation presents a significant challenge for businesses: capturing and retaining audience attention. To stand out in this crowded landscape, compelling storytelling is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity.

The Enduring Power of Storytelling:

Humans are wired for stories. Stories have the power to:

* Forge emotional connections: By tapping into human emotions, stories

In today's competitive landscape, understanding your customers is no longer enough. Businesses require a deeper level of consumer insight: the ability to decode the thoughts, feelings, and motivations that drive their purchasing decisions. This invaluable knowledge empowers businesses to connect with their target audience, develop products and services they truly desire, and ultimately drive sustainable growth.

Beyond the Basics: What are Consumer Insights?

Consumer insights go beyond demograp

Global supply chains stand at an inflection point. A convergence of technology advances, geo-economic tensions, and sustainability concerns have sparked multifaceted efforts to strengthen worldwide logistics resilience, efficiency, and localisation.

In this piece, we explore the key trends and strategic considerations shaping the supply chain future.


Intelligent systems - The new supply chain imperative

Our analysis of manufacturing and logistics firms found 42% plan to expand investments in

The age of big data is upon us. Businesses are generating and collecting vast amounts of data from various sources, including customer transactions, social media interactions, website analytics, and sensor readings. While this data holds immense potential, unlocking its true value and transforming it into actionable insights requires expertise and the right tools. Rwazi emerges as your trusted partner in navigating the big data landscape, empowering you to make data-driven decisions and drive bu

Finding the optimal price point to maximize revenues while maintaining volume is a persistent challenge. But advanced demand modeling techniques are empowering brands to make pricing decisions with scientific precision.

The Complexities of Pricing

Pricing a product or service involves balancing complex trade-offs between profit margins and sales volume. Price too high, and you risk suppressing demand. But price too low, and you leave profits on the table.

Traditionally, brands rely on intuiti

A major demand shift is building as electric vehicle adoption reaches an inflection point in China and beyond. Our proprietary consumer survey across 15 Chinese cities reveals electric vehicles likely accounting for 32% of auto sales by 2025 - far outpacing previous projections.

This exponential EV growth out of the world's largest car market has massive reverberations for oil markets globally. We estimate China's total oil and gas consumption peaking around 2026 before declining up to 15% by 2

Emerging immersive technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are unlocking powerful new capabilities for market researchers. By enhancing emotional engagement, replicating real-world complexity, and providing agile prototyping, AR and VR together are reshaping research methodologies to uncover deeper consumer motivations and behavior insights.

The Limitations of Traditional Research

While traditional methods like focus groups, surveys and lab studies will remain staples

Understanding consumer emotions towards brands is now crucial. Sentiment analysis is transforming market intelligence by exposing how people truly feel. Advanced text analytics, facial coding and machine learning uncover the drivers of sentiment hidden within data.


Text and Speech Analytics

Powerful linguistic algorithms applied to text data - from social posts to call transcripts - can classify consumer sentiment about products, issues, campaigns and competitors as positive, negative or neut

In today's crowded marketplace, customer personas are vital to delivering personalized experiences that build loyalty and affinity. Based on deep market intelligence, detailed personas enable hyper-targeted personalisation across the customer lifecycle.

Gather Broad Data

A strong foundation requires gathering demographic, behavioural and psychographic data across current customers. Surveys, interviews and observational studies expose attitudes and preferences.

Widen the lens by analysing broa

Seismic changes are disrupting the retail landscape. While daunting, leaders can leverage market intelligence to foresee threats and uncover strategic opportunities. The future belongs to firms that face disruption head-on.


Pinpoint Emerging Competitors 

As purchasing shifts online, agile digital competitors are stealing share. Firms should continuously analyse web traffic, search data, and digital ad spend patterns by retailer. Sudden gains by new entrants signal potential threats.

Identify

The market research industry, estimated to be worth $80 billion globally, is undergoing rapid transformation. From leveraging AI to decentralizing data collection, three key trends are disrupting traditional techniques and driving insights that are faster, cheaper, and more personal.


AI and Predictive Analytics

Forward-thinking research firms are harnessing artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate data analysis and quickly uncover patterns. Advanced algorithms can process volu

Investments in supply chain technology solutions are accelerating rapidly as firms around the world aim to address fragility exposed by recent shocks amid mounting pressures for greater efficiency, visibility, and resilience. Our proprietary analysis shows that global warehouse automation deployments grew 15% year-over-year in 2022, while the adoption of order-tracking tools and risk mitigation technologies saw similar double-digit upticks. Finding creative ways to drive logistics efficiencies b

Happy New Year, fellow market sleuths!  Can you feel that electric hum in the air? That's the collective buzz of opportunity, the sweet symphony of potential, the undeniable thrum of 2024 finally arriving. We at Rwazi are practically vibrating with excitement – and we're here to share the infectious joy (and some market intel, of course) with you!

Let's face it, 2023 was...a journey. Twists, turns, loop-de-loops, the occasional market nosedive that made even seasoned investors weak in the knees

As we bid farewell to the spectacular year of 2023, the Rwazi Team is thrilled to share the incredible journey we've had, all about empowering individuals across Africa through the magic of mapping and gig opportunities.


Mapping Adventures Across Africa and Asia

In 2023, our team went on a wild mapping ride across 18 countries in Africa and Asia. We turned mapping into gig opportunities, letting thousands of awesome individuals (aka mappers) earn some cash while making a positive impact on lo

Market segmentation isn't just a fancy term – it's a powerful tool that can unlock your business's true potential. By understanding your customers deeper, you can tailor your offerings, refine your marketing, and ultimately, skyrocket your success. We dive into the world of segmentation, exploring its key steps and revealing how it can transform your business.


Gathering and Analyzing Relevant Data

Whether you're segmenting your market based on demographics, geography, behavior, or any other f

The days of one-size-fits-all marketing are over. Today, understanding your audience on a deeper level is the key to success. This is where market segmentation comes in, a powerful tool for dividing your target market into distinct groups based on shared characteristics. But with so many different types of segmentation, where do you even begin? In this guide, we'll unravel the mysteries of each segmentation approach, showing you how to leverage them for targeted campaigns, personalized messaging

Ever feel like you're shouting into the void when marketing your product? You're not alone. In today's diverse market, a one-size-fits-all approach just doesn't cut it. That's where market segmentation comes in, your secret weapon to reaching the right people with the right message.

Imagine throwing darts in the dark. That's what marketing feels like without market segmentation. But instead of blind throws, segmentation shines a spotlight on your target audience, letting you bullseye their need

Ever feel like your ads are landing with a thud instead of a bang? You're not alone. In the crowded marketplace, grabbing attention and making a lasting impression is harder than ever. But there's a secret weapon that can give your campaigns the edge: consumer insights.


What are consumer insights?

Think of them as the holy grail of marketing. They're the juicy details about your target audience: their needs, wants, desires, and even deepest fears. It's the "why" behind their behavior, the hid

In today's dynamic and interconnected world, consumers expect a seamless and consistent experience across all channels they interact with a brand. This is where omnichannel marketing comes into play, transforming customer journeys and driving business success.


What is Omnichannel?

Omnichannel goes beyond simply having a presence on multiple platforms. It's about creating a unified and integrated experience across all touchpoints, from social media and websites to physical stores and mobile ap

The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry finds itself at a crossroads amidst the current economic climate. Inflation, a persistent and global phenomenon, is wreaking havoc on consumers and producers, presenting significant challenges and demanding innovative solutions. Let's delve into the multifaceted impact of inflation on the FMCG industry, outlining its effects on both consumers and producers and explores strategies that companies can adopt to navigate these turbulent waters.


Consume

In the FMCG sector, sophisticated supply chain management is vital, given the high volume and rapid turnover of products. This area requires effective FMCG logistics, brought about by efficient services and careful consideration of packaging and transportation methods. Managing inventory levels is a key aspect of this process. Here's where Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) come into play:

1. Inventory Optimization: ML algorithms analyze historical sales data and market tre

In today's dynamic and competitive business landscape, understanding your customers is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Consumer insights, the deep understanding of customer needs, behaviors, and motivations, are the cornerstone of successful product development. By tapping into these insights, businesses can transform their product development processes, create products that resonate with their target audience, leading to improved customer satisfaction, increased sales, and a stronger brand

As the world grapples with the escalating challenges of climate change, its far-reaching consequences extend beyond environmental concerns, profoundly impacting various industries, including the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. Climate change presents a formidable double-edged sword for FMCGs, simultaneously acting as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and a significant disruptor of their operations and supply chains. While FMCGs contribute to the emission of greenhouse gas

In the dynamic and ever-evolving world of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the ability to gather, analyze, and interpret data has become an invaluable asset. Market intelligence and data analysis, when effectively integrated into NGO operations, can unlock a wealth of opportunities and benefits, enabling organizations to make informed decisions, enhance program effectiveness, and ultimately achieve greater impact.


Unveiling Opportunities and Enhancing Impact

Market intelligence and data

In the dynamic world of consumer goods, pricing plays a pivotal role in shaping brand perception, driving sales, and ultimately determining profitability. For fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, the art of pricing is particularly crucial, as these products are characterized by high volume, low margins, and fierce competition. Striking the right balance between profitability and affordability is essential to stay ahead of the curve and capture a loyal customer base.


Demystifying the FM

In the dynamic and ever-evolving world of business, market research plays a pivotal role in shaping strategic decisions and ensuring a competitive edge. As we step into 2024, the market research landscape is poised for significant transformation, driven by technological advancements, changing consumer behavior, and the need for deeper insights into market dynamics.

Staying abreast of emerging trends in market research is crucial for businesses to effectively navigate the ever-changing market la

How FMCGs are evolving in the digital era

In the dynamic world of consumer goods, the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry has long been a cornerstone of daily life. From the humble toothbrush to the delectable snack, FMCG products permeate our homes and touch our lives in countless ways. However, the landscape of this industry is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the relentless surge of digitalization and the ever-evolving demands of consumers. We delve into the compelling

Unraveling the world of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs)

Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) are the everyday items that quickly sail off supermarket shelves. Renowned for their affordability and frequent repurchasing rates, FMCGs command a crucial role in the economic landscape, with prominent industry participants like Unilever utilizing their expertise to considerably contribute to the sector. The swift nature of these products necessitates a well-structured supply chain - from raw material

Unleashing Business Development with Market Intelligence


Understanding the Meaning of Market Entry Strategy

A market entry strategy is a strategic plan that defines how a company plans to launch its products, services, or brand into a new target demographic. Essentially a roadmap for businesses, it guides them on how to introduce their offerings to international markets. It outlines a company's intentions to engage with new customers and includes factors such as review of the target market, e

Why is the West African market considered an emerging market?

South Africa now widely serves as your gateway to the blossoming West African markets, stretching from Namibia and Angola all the way up to Nigeria, and cutting across Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, even up to Sierra Leone. Among these rapidly growing economies also include the thriving markets of Cape Verde, Mali, Benin, Liberia, Gambia, Guinea, and Burkina Faso - all members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)