Dealer and channel research
Distributors and retailers on margins, stock, credit and why they push one brand. Many sales are won at the counter.
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Strategy · Market research · Consumers, dealers, competitors
Marketresearch
Since 201565+ in-house team6 cities
Market research for companies planning a premium range, a new state or a launch. Find out what buyers and dealers think, before you spend on a hunch.
A strategist calls you in one working day.
/ 01 Market research
Ask the market before you bet on it.
Your sales head blames price, your dealers blame the scheme, and nobody has asked the buyer. PromotEdge runs consumer, competitor and dealer studies for Indian companies, so your marketing money goes where buyers will respond and brings you more enquiries and sales.
We work with groups, listed companies and startups that sell B2B (to businesses), B2C (to consumers) or D2C (direct online). Research pays most when a company that grew by selling hard wants to be wanted: a premium range, a new state, a name buyers ask for.
Launching from a plant, a real estate project or a new diagnostic centre branch? A study first usually costs less than a wrong launch. No big decision coming? Start with a marketing audit.
- 2015working with Indian brands since
- 65+in-house team: strategy, creative, media and tech
- 4pillars under one roof: strategy, advertising, digital, on-ground activation (BTL)
- 6cities: head office in Kolkata, teams in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar
/ 02 What we research
Buyers, dealers, rivalsand your own brand.
0103 04 05 06 07 08
Consumer research
Who buys, why they choose, what stops them, and the words they use for the need.
02Competitor research
Rivals' prices, schemes, claims, media and online presence, laid beside yours.
Brand health tracking
Awareness, consideration, preference and recommendation, tracked with the same questions each round.
Store audits and mystery shopping
Outlet visits for shelf share, display, price and stock, with dated photos. Mystery shopping shows how dealers really sell.
Digital listening
What people search, ask and complain about on Google, review sites, marketplaces, social media and forums.
Questionnaire and sample design
Neutral questions, the right respondents and a sample that suits both the decision and the budget.
Findings you can act on
A short report that opens with what to do, then the evidence. The cleaned data comes too.
/ 03 What usually gets in the way
Where decisions stall without evidence.
“Sales are flat and nobody agrees why.”
We test each explanation against what buyers and dealers say. One or two causes usually explain most of the drop, and they are not always the ones argued loudest in the boardroom.
“We are entering a new state and know little about buyers there.”
We find who buys, from which shops, at what price and in which language, before the launch budget is fixed. It feeds your go-to-market plan.
“Dealers say a rival gives better margins. Is it true?”
We talk to dealers and visit their counters. You get the real schemes, margins and credit terms, and what dealers say about you when you are not in the room.
“Our last survey only told us what we already believed.”
Leading questions and the wrong respondents do that. We write neutral questions, pick people who match your buyers, and show the raw answers beside the summary.
“We cannot tell whether our advertising changed minds.”
Brand health tracking asks the same questions before and after a campaign, so you see what moved and what did not.
“Big research firms quoted more than our marketing budget.”
Not every question needs a national sample. We size the study to the decision. Sometimes twenty dealer interviews beat two thousand online forms.
Not sure which decision to test first? Tell us what is stuck, and we will say plainly whether research is the right step. Get a free growth plan
/ 04 How we work
From questionto a decision.
Desk research and digital listening can answer in two to three weeks. Field studies across several towns take longer, because people have to be met. Our in-house team does the work, with industry consultants and partner agencies where a job needs them.
- 01
Start with the decision
Before any question, we agree what you will do for each answer: launch or wait, change the price or hold it. We can't do magic alone, so your sales and dealer teams help here.
- 02
Design the study
Method, sample, towns and questions are fixed and shared. You approve the questionnaire before anyone is interviewed.
- 03
Pilot
We try the questions on a small group. A confusing question caught here saves a wasted study.
- 04
Fieldwork and listening
Interviews, surveys, store visits and online listening run, and a share of each interviewer's work is checked again.
- 05
Analysis
Answers are cleaned and cut by buyer type, region and channel, then read against your sales data if you share it. We tell you how sure we are and what the study cannot say.
- 06
Findings workshop
We sit with your team: what we found, what we would do next. You keep the report and the data.
Tell us what’s not working. We’ll send you an honest one-page growth plan, free.
Go deeperMore on this
How we deliver it, and why
Which method answers which question
Surveys count how many people think or do something; about 384 responses give roughly 5% either way at 95% confidence. Depth interviews (12 to 30 per buyer type) and group discussions (6 to 8 people) explain why. Store audits and mystery shopping show the counter. Digital listening gives a quick read. Sample sizes are typical ranges, not rules.
How your business model changes the plan
A dealer-led B2B firm needs dealer and channel interviews first. A D2C brand starts with digital listening and marketplace reviews. A franchise tests outlet-level service. An exporter studies each market on its own. A services firm asks past clients why they chose it.
Who sets the standards in India
The Market Research Society of India (MRSI) runs the field's annual seminar. Its 33rd edition ran on 11 and 12 September 2025 in Gurugram. Ask any research firm you hire how it checks its fieldwork and treats respondents' details.
Source: Media Infoline, 4 September 2025
- Name the decision first. A study that cannot change a decision is money spent on comfort. One written line: what you will do for each answer.
- Ask people in their own setting. Dealers talk freely at their counter, and buyers answer better in their own language. A sample and town list you approve.
- Pilot before the field. A confusing question repeated two thousand times ruins a study. A short pilot note.
- Check the checkers. Fieldwork is only as honest as the people doing it. A share of every interviewer's work re-checked.
- Report the decision, then the evidence. Busy teams read the first page. A short report, the cleaned data and a workshop.
AI in market research: today and next
Today: Gemini Deep Research
Google says Deep Research in Gemini does in-depth research on a topic, starts from Google Search, lets you edit its plan first, and returns a report in several minutes. Our view: good for a first read of a market. It cannot sit across from a dealer.
Source: Google, Gemini Apps Help, read 10 October 2026
Next
Our view: desk work will get faster, so the money moves to the field, where you hear real buyers. Every AI claim still needs a source check. Want us to show where it could save you time? Ask us.
/ 05 Industries
Where this works best.
01
Construction equipment
Contractors trust the machine their peers run on site more than any brochure.
02Building materials
The person who pays for the cement is rarely the one who picks the brand.
03Industrial & manufacturing
Procurement checks you out long before your sales team is invited to talk.
04Automotive
A buyer's interest fades fast when the enquiry reaches the right showroom late.
05Real estate
Enquiries are easy to buy, but the sale is won or lost at the site visit.
06FMCG
Your ad works for a rival if your product is missing from the shelf.
What we believe
Our job is to impress your customers, not you.
/ 06 Cost
What affects the cost of market research.
We don't publish a price list. We quote once the design is agreed, so you know the method, sample and towns you pay for. Third-party costs such as venues and respondent gifts are charged at actuals.
What affects the cost
- Method: desk research and digital listening cost least, face-to-face fieldwork most
- Sample size, and how many groups you want to compare
- Number of towns and states, and travel between them
- Languages for questionnaires and interviews
- How hard respondents are to reach: contractors, doctors and plant heads take longer than shoppers
- Repeat rounds for brand health or dealer tracking, or research inside a strategy project
How we quote
- We talk about the decision and what you already know, and look at your sales records and past studies, so you don't pay twice.
- We write a research design: method, sample, towns, languages and timeline.
- You get a quote within 2 working days, with fieldwork, analysis and reporting on separate lines.
What you get in the quote
- The research design, with sample and towns
- Questionnaire or interview guide, piloted first
- Fieldwork, with checks on interviewers' work
- The report, the cleaned data and a findings workshop
Comparing quotes? Check that fieldwork, analysis and reporting are separate lines, and ask how each firm checks that interviews really happened.
Holding a research quote that feels too big? Send it over and we will show what could be trimmed. Talk to us
/ 07 What happens next
What happensafter you ask.
For projects we think we can help, this is how it goes.
- 01
A strategist calls you
In one working day: a 30-minute call with one of our strategists about your business and what is not working.
- 02
You get a 1-page plan
A short, honest plan: what to fix first and what we would do. It is free.
- 03
A quote, if you want one
If you want to go ahead, we send a quote within 2 working days.
We confirm the timeline in the quote. Contracts start at 3 months, with 30 days' notice to stop.
Keep exploring
Related pages.
The same work in your city and your industry, and the services that go with it.
Market research & insights: specialist services
More strategy services
Proof and reading
What people say
In their own words
“An aligned partner is always a welcoming step. Someone who can think deep through lines, understand the matrix of product management. Fortunate enough, PromotEdge has been a partner in progress for me. …”
Bobby SrinivasChief Manager Marketing & Brand Marketing at Utkarsh India“PromotEdge is one of the most hard working creative agency that LISTENS ! Do I need to say anything more ?!!!! …”
Harsh GuptaManaging Director at Rishta Foods“As a progressive and emerging digital marketing company, PromotEdge is doing something right to enhance the experience of companies associated with them. …”
Anish Basu MallikMarketing Executive at Unimark Group
No pressure. No sales pitch.
Tell us the decision you are stuck on.We'll show you the plan.
Straight answers.
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It depends on the method, the sample, the towns and how hard respondents are to reach. Desk and digital listening studies cost a fraction of face-to-face work and take two to three weeks, while many-town fieldwork takes longest. We quote after a first conversation.
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Enough to trust the answer for every group you compare. About 384 responses give roughly plus or minus 5% at 95% confidence, and each region needs its own sample. Online research suits urban buyers but misses many small-town buyers, dealers and contractors, who need fieldwork.
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Yes, and in many Indian categories it matters more, because dealers decide what to stock. We interview them (see our trade and channel marketing work), visit counters, and sometimes shop as a customer would. You learn their margins, credit terms and why they push a rival.
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It measures how many people know, consider, prefer and would recommend your brand, compared with competitors. The same questions are asked at set intervals, so you can see whether advertising is moving those numbers, and which region or buyer group is behind.
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Either. Many companies use the findings for brand strategy, a launch plan or a campaign we then run together. You may take the findings to any team. You get the report and cleaned data, and respondents' details stay private. Ask us for just the study if you prefer.
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It means asking the people who buy and sell your product, and reading what they search and say online, before you decide. It answers who will buy, at what price and why they pick a rival, so marketing brings more enquiries and sales.
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Yes. Our servicing team is based in cities across India and works hybrid and remotely, visiting you regularly. Face-to-face work in a town is done by our in-house team of 65+ people, with industry consultants and partner agencies named in the design before you approve.
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We write down the decision before any question is asked, so at the end you can see which decision changed. If we also run your marketing, the monthly report shows enquiries and cost per qualified lead. Tracking repeats the same questions, so movement is measured.