+44 (0)203 693 3150

NHS Guys and St Thomas Social Case Study Vision One

Guy’s And St Thomas Success B2B Research

The Challenge

Across Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital sites in Central London, a wide range of retail offers exist, including national brands, food and beverage outlets, services and in-house catering. However, performance and perception varied between locations.

The challenge was to understand how patients, visitors and staff experienced the retail environment, how footfall moved through each site, and whether the current retail offer met demand. The Trust needed clear, evidence-led insight to inform future retail planning and ensure commercial activity supported wellbeing, convenience and satisfaction across both hospital sites.

Guy's And St Thomas Retail and Social Research Story

Research Objectives

The research was designed to evaluate retail performance within complex hospital environments. The key objectives were to:

  • Understand customer demand for existing retail offers at each hospital site
  • Assess perceptions of range, accessibility and convenience
  • Identify differences in experience between Guy’s and St Thomas’ locations
  • Understand how traffic flow influences retail engagement
  • Capture staff perspectives on retail provision and unmet needs

Together, these objectives aimed to inform future retail strategy and site development decisions.

Research Approach

Vision One implemented a multi-method, behaviour-led research programme. The approach included:

  • Observational shifts across five on-site locations to map traffic flow
  • Exit interviews with patients and visitors
  • Retail boost interviews to capture in-the-moment perceptions
  • An online survey among hospital staff
  • Integration of behavioural, attitudinal and operational insight

This approach ensured a holistic understanding of retail experience across diverse user groups.

Findings

The research revealed clear differences in retail footprint, satisfaction and perception between the two hospital sites. Variations in layout, accessibility and retail mix directly influenced how users experienced each environment.

At Guy’s Hospital in particular, both staff and consumer feedback highlighted gaps in the retail offer. These findings demonstrated that retail success within hospital settings is highly location-specific, shaped by movement patterns, entrance usage and spatial constraints rather than brand presence alone.

Action & Recommendations

The insights identified a clear need to improve the retail offering at Guy’s Hospital. Specific priority areas were highlighted, including the main entrance, corridor areas and the additional entrance opposite London Bridge Station. This provided the Trust with clear, evidence-based guidance to support future retail redevelopment and investment decisions.

Social Market Research Agency
Kendra Furey, Head of Brands (Vision One)

Related Research Services

Brainstorming Sessions
Consumer Research
Innovation Research
Online Surveys
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Social Research
Skippy Peanut Butter Vision One

The Challenge Despite being a major global brand, Skippy had a relatively limited presence and low marketing support in the UK market. Internally, there was a strong belief that Skippy was superior to its key competitors, particularly in terms of taste and texture. However, this belief needed robust, independent validation. The challenge was to understand how Skippy performed when tasted directly against leading competitors, and to identify which sensory attributes truly drove consumer preference, providing evidence to support future business, brand and marketing decisions in the UK. Research Objectives The research was designed to validate Skippy’s perceived product superiority and uncover the drivers of preference within the peanut butter category. The key objectives were to: Together, these objectives aimed to separate assumption from reality and identify clear, defensible product strengths. Research Approach Vision One conducted a large-scale, quantitative product taste test across four UK locations. The approach included: This design ensured results reflected genuine sensory preference rather than brand familiarity or expectation. Findings The research clearly demonstrated that Skippy outperformed its primary competitors on both overall preference and individual product ratings. While Skippy showed demonstrable superiority on texture attributes, the analysis revealed that taste, rather than texture, was the principal…

Skippy Product Research

Coca Cola Research Case Study

The Challenge Coca-Cola wanted to understand how its products were presented and experienced on the Londis website, and how this digital environment influenced purchasing behaviour. With online grocery journeys becoming increasingly important, the challenge was to assess whether Coca-Cola’s presence supported easy discovery, confidence and conversion. The client needed a detailed, behaviour-led understanding of how shoppers navigated the site, searched for products and responded to imagery, pricing, promotions and descriptions, in order to identify improvements that would optimise the user journey and drive stronger purchase outcomes. Research Objectives The research aimed to build a clear understanding of how shoppers engaged with Coca-Cola products within an online retail environment. The key objectives were to: These objectives were designed to inform improvements to both brand presentation and user experience. Research Approach Vision One employed a mixed-method research approach, combining depth and behavioural observation. The approach included: This methodology provided rich insight into both conscious feedback and unconscious online behaviour. Findings The research revealed clear patterns in how customers searched for and evaluated Coca-Cola products online. Shoppers rarely used the product catalogue, instead favouring the search bar, particularly when supported by predictive text and images. High-quality, clear, three-dimensional imagery with visible pricing was…

Coca Cola B2B Retail Study

GE Capital International Case Study Vision One

The Challenge GE Capital, the financial services division of General Electric, supports customers closely aligned with GE’s industrial businesses. To maintain service excellence across diverse European markets, GE Capital needed a clearer understanding of customer satisfaction within its Commercial Distribution Finance (CDF) division. The challenge was to assess satisfaction across products and services while capturing nuanced, market-specific feedback. Importantly, GE Capital required insight that went beyond headline metrics, enabling it to understand customer sentiment, identify improvement opportunities and prioritise actions across a complex, multi-country B2B customer base. Research Objectives The research was designed to provide a detailed view of customer satisfaction across GE Capital’s European CDF customers. The key objectives were to: Together, these objectives aimed to deliver both diagnostic understanding and practical guidance for improvement. Research Approach Vision One implemented a qualitative-led, multi-market research programme across Europe. The approach included: This approach enabled GE Capital to gain rich, comparable insight while respecting linguistic and cultural differences. Findings The research delivered a clear view of customer satisfaction levels across GE Capital’s European CDF customer base. It highlighted how customers evaluated different aspects of GE Capital’s products and services, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement. The qualitative depth of the…

GE Capital Success Story

The Challenge

Research Approach

Research Findings

Action