20 Creative Ways to Drive Response via E-mail

the Web versus traditional focus groups. It made up 200 customer-ready samples of new items it was considering carrying as part of its regular line and posted those items for sale on its Web site. It got much better results than anticipated. Customers were told they were the first to try and buy.

There are several benefits to this plan. For example, market research, which used to be an expense, now becomes a profit center, because the less-popular items can be identified well before full manufacturing commitments have to be made. Since Web customers typically respond similarly to retail customers, this was an effective plan for Jockey.