Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Case Studies » Featured Case Studies » Case Studies » 7-Eleven: Revitalising the Slurpee brand - Researching the Slurpee brand

7-Eleven: Revitalising the Slurpee brand - Researching the Slurpee brand

Researching the Slurpee brand

Businesses must undertake ongoing market research to keep pace with market trends. The constantly evolving retail convenience sector, as well as the entry of Woolworths and Coles-branded fuel and convenience outlets, meant that 7-Eleven Australia needed to research ways to retain existing customers as well as grow their customer base.

7-Eleven already knew that Slurpee was a destination driver attracting customers into the store. Given the product’s iconic status, they embarked upon a quantitative and qualitative market research campaign to discover customer perceptions related to the Slurpee brand.

One of the strengths of 7-Eleven’s retail operations system is its in-built capability to monitor sales in real time. This quantitative research tool allows sales levels for particular products to be tracked on a daily and even hourly basis. Using this information 7-Eleven Australia built a clear picture of current sales patterns and consumer behaviour.

  • Overall Slurpee sales were steady, they were not increasing
  • Each store sold an average of 60 units a day but with little annual growth
  • Sales of Slurpee grew from Wednesday, peaked on Friday and remained high into the weekend
  • The majority of Slurpee customers tended to arrive after school hours, with most sales occurring between 3 and 6pm
  • Consumers preferred to buy larger serves and these were more likely to be bought during the peak time of 4 and 6pm

Other quantitative research reinforced that Slurpee acted as a destination driver. Fifty percent of all 7-Eleven customers reported Slurpee as, “one of the main reasons why they visited 7-Eleven.” In particular 72 percent of those aged 15 to 24 years old reported that the Slurpee was the reason that they visited a 7-Eleven!

Focus groups are an extremely important part of qualitative market research. 7-Eleven used extensive focus group sessions involving those key consumers who were in target segments that purchased the Slurpee. 7-Eleven classifies these segments as the ‘Junior Junk Junkies’, males and females aged between 16 - 21, and the ‘Fast Fixers’, males and females aged between 18 to 35.

The participants were asked a series of questions about 7-Eleven’s Slurpee and other product ranges as well as more general lifestyle information, e.g. what they did in their spare time, their employment, the sorts of food they ate, the music they liked as well as other brands they would use. Focus group interviews help retailers construct a profile of their target demographic and also to gain direct feedback about their customers’ product and purchase experiences 7-Eleven Australia’s market research identified that the target segments identified consisted of customers who were local to the area and that these customers valued freedom, fun, independence and a quick, convenient fast food fix. Consumers of the Slurpee saw it as a treat or a pick-me-up, which was also reflected in the quantitative research that showed that sales peaked after school hours and on Fridays and into the weekend.

One of the main points to emerge from the market research was that customers felt ownership and control of the brand. This ownership was reinforced by the selfservice experience associated with the Slurpee.

7-Eleven has identified four major target segments in its customer profile.

  • Fast Fixers: Younger, 18 to 34, more likely to be males in blue-collar employment, SINKs (single income, no kids)
  • Junior Junk Junkies (Subset of Fast Fixers): Younger, 16 to 21, SINKs
  • Go-Getters: Younger, 18 to 34, more likely to be males in white-collar employment, both SINKs and DINKs (double income, no kids)
  • Relaxed Run-Abouters: 18 to 44, more likely to be males in white-collar employment, middle-income families
  • In transit top-ups: 18 to 34, more likely to be females, DINKs and younger families.

 

(Page 3 of 8)
Associated with:
Learning Area(s):
  • Business Environment | Measuring business performance
  • Business Environment | Types of large organisations
  • Business Structure and Organisation | Organisational structures:overview
  • Change Management | Change issues for business
  • Entrepreneurship/Innovation | Product/service innovation
  • Marketing | Market research methods/analysis
  • Marketing | Marketing analysis and segmentation
  • Marketing | Product development
  • Marketing | Promotion strategies and their application
From: Edition 6

Leave a comment

Make sure you enter the (*) required information where indicated.
Basic HTML code is allowed.

Subscribe today!

Purchase a subscription today!

We are delighted to offer you a subscription to access over 80 additional case studies, learning activities, teacher notes and downloadable content!
 
Click here to log-in if you already have an account.

Order the print version!

Order a hard copy!

SPECIAL OFFER - LAST STOCK CLEARANCE
Purchase a print version of Edition 7 for yourself or additional copies for your school! 
 

Commission a case study for your business

If your company or organisation would like to be part of Australia & New Zealand's best case study resource, apply for a case study online or phone us on 
02 4991 2874 in Australia and 0800 990 999 in New Zealand.

What's New?

 

New Edition 7 case studies available now!

Buy a printed copy of Edition 7Buy a printed copy of Edition 7 case studies.

Subscribe nowSubscribe now to get access to over 80 additional case studies and support material.

Teaching Resources

Learning Resources

Useful Resources
Need to contact a teaching association?
Or get ideas for class?
Check out our useful links.

Teaching Hints & Strategies
Share your lesson plans with other
professionals or search for ideas here.
 

Tell us your favourite case study?

What Is your Favourite Edition 7 Case Study?

Log in / log out