+44 (0)203 693 3150

Swyft Retail Case Study Vision One

Swyft Innovation Research Study

The Challenge

Founded in 2019, Swyft is a London-based furniture manufacturer and e-retailer offering sofas and armchairs designed to be assembled in minutes. As the range expanded, Swyft needed to ensure its value proposition was being clearly and compellingly communicated.

Prior to launching new marketing and communications campaigns, the challenge was to move beyond internal assumptions and gain a deeper understanding of customer needs, category frustrations and how Swyft’s proposition was interpreted. The objective was to sharpen positioning and ensure future communications resonated with the right audience.

Inovation Development Research for Swyff - Case study by Vision One

Research Objectives

The innovation research was designed to refine Swyft’s value proposition and validate its understanding of the target customer. The key objectives were to:

  • Understand how Swyft is currently perceived and described by consumers
  • Explore unmet needs and pain points within the furniture and sofa category
  • Identify what differentiates Swyft from traditional furniture brands
  • Validate internal hypotheses around the target audience and purchase drivers
  • Inform the development of clearer, more compelling marketing and communications

Together, these objectives aimed to provide a strong foundation for future brand and growth strategy.

Research Approach

Vision One adopted a mixed-modal qualitative research design to capture depth and behavioural context. The approach included:

  • Online focus groups to explore shared attitudes and category perceptions
  • Individual depth interviews to uncover personal decision journeys
  • Use of screen-share to observe real-time reactions to brand assets and communications
  • Inclusion of both target-market respondents and existing Swyft customers
  • Exploration of expectations, frustrations and decision triggers within the category

This approach enabled rich, nuanced insight into both perception and experience.

Findings

The research produced a number of important insights around how Swyft is communicated and where it resonates most strongly. It highlighted key furniture pain points, including delivery complexity, assembly effort and lack of flexibility, reinforcing Swyft’s relevance within the category.

The findings also validated Swyft’s internal hypotheses about who their true target customer is and what they value most. These insights clarified how Swyft’s proposition could be expressed more clearly and confidently, providing direction for refining messaging and communications strategy.

Action & Recommendations

The insights enabled Swyft to refine its communications strategy and provided confidence in its core value proposition. Building on this foundation, Swyft commissioned additional research into new product development to help shape its future product offering, ensuring innovation remains closely aligned with genuine consumer needs and expectations.

Innovation Research Agency - VIsion One
Kendra Furey, Head of Brands (Vision One)

Related Research Services

Brainstorming Sessions
Consumer Research
Financial Services
Focus Groups
Innovation Research
Online Surveys
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Notcutts Case Study Vision One Research

The Challenge Founded in 1867, Notcutts is a long-established, family-owned garden centre business operating across England. As part of a planned refresh of its branding and marketing, Notcutts trialled a new in-store experience within one location. Before rolling this out more widely, the business needed to understand how the new branding, signage and point-of-sale communications were performing in a real shopping environment. The challenge was to evaluate whether these changes improved visibility, engagement and clarity throughout the customer journey, and to identify where refinements were needed to maximise impact. Research Objectives The retail and shopper research was designed to assess the effectiveness of Notcutts’ new in-store branding and communications before wider rollout. The key objectives were to: Together, these objectives aimed to ensure the refreshed in-store experience delivered clarity, impact and consistency across the customer journey. Research Approach Vision One implemented a mixed-method research programme combining behavioural and attitudinal techniques. The approach included: This approach allowed Vision One to observe real-world behaviour alongside reported attitudes. Findings The research revealed clear patterns in how customers visually engaged with the refreshed store environment. Key areas of fixation emerged along the customer journey, highlighting where branding and communications performed strongly and where they…

Notcutts Garden Centres Research Study

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

Aerial shot of a suburban neighbourhood showing rows of houses, green gardens, and tree-lined streets.

The Challenge Saxon Weald was developing a new 3-year corporate plan, Delivering Better Together, and needed to ensure it was genuinely shaped by customer and colleague insight. Following regulatory scrutiny and evolving expectations around Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs), the organisation required a deep understanding of resident needs, priorities and pain points. The challenge was to bring together multiple voices, including customers, colleagues and external stakeholders, into a clear, evidence-led strategy that would improve services, rebuild trust and drive measurable improvements in satisfaction, efficiency and customer experience. Research Objectives The research was designed to inform the development of Saxon Weald’s corporate strategy through robust, multi-source insight. The key objectives were to: Together, these objectives aimed to ensure the corporate plan was grounded in real experience and aligned with measurable outcomes. Research Approach Vision One delivered a comprehensive, multi-method research programme integrating customer, colleague and stakeholder insight. The approach included: This approach ensured a holistic, 360-degree understanding of experience across the organisation. Findings The research identified clear priorities for improvement, with repairs, communication and feeling listened to emerging as critical drivers of satisfaction. Residents highlighted the importance of reliability, transparency and ease of interaction across services. Safety and trust also emerged as…

Saxon Weald Housing Corporate Plan

Sophisticated Sofas Made Simple

Developing market altering designs and concepts in the world of luxury sofas.

The Challenge

Founded in 2019, Swyft is a London-based furniture manufacturer and e-retailer. With a growing range of sofas and armchairs, Swyft furniture has been designed to be easily assembled within minutes. Prior to the development of new marketing and communications campaigns, research was required to further define and hone the value proposition.

Research Approach

Vision One adopted a mixed-modal qualitative approach for this project, incorporating both online focus groups and individual depth interviews with screen share, amongst both target market respondents and current Swyft customers.

Research Findings

Our research produced a number of exciting findings, in particular around how the brand is communicated and consumer needs and furniture pain-points. These insights validated Swyft’s internal hypotheses around who their target customer really is, allowing future communications strategy to be refined going forward.

Action

Swyft have since commissioned additional NPD research to help to shape their future product offering.