Industry overview
What is shaping wood & timber
Wood, plywood, laminates and furniture are sold through a chain of influencers: carpenters, contractors, architects and dealers often decide the brand before the homeowner does.
- Carpenters and contractors heavily influence brand choice
- Dealers balance margins, credit and brand pull
- Sustainability and certified timber matter more to buyers
Client background
A wood panel manufacturer, working in 18 tier-2 cities. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A wood panel manufacturer
- Sector
- Wood & timber
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Business panel, Offline data collection, Data analytics & dashboards
Client challenge
The manufacturer planned to expand beyond metros but had no reliable list of dealers, their size or the brands they carried in smaller cities.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: mapping the timber and plywood dealer network in tier-2 cities.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of dealers.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 8 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 1,100 dealers.
- dealers1,100
Audiences we typically reach in wood & timber
Carpenters and contractorsArchitects and interior designersDealers and distributorsHomeownersFurniture buyers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: 18 tier-2 cities. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Dealer census
- 3Dealer interviews
- 4Insight
Field teams walked timber markets to list every dealer, recording location, size, brands stocked and customer types, then interviewed a sample about margins and supplier relationships. Data was mapped for the sales team.
Business panelOffline data collectionData analytics & dashboards
Sampling strategy
- dealers
- 1,100
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Respondents were selected across 18 tier-2 cities using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person, supervised in the field.
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
- Time and location checks on field interviews
- Supervisor accompaniment in the field
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
- Interactive dashboard for ongoing tracking
Key findings
- A ground-level census is often the only way to see informal trade markets clearly.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: a ground-level census is often the only way to see informal trade markets clearly.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The manufacturer identified priority dealers in each city and set expansion targets based on real market structure rather than guesswork.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interactive dashboard
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how do homeowners judge quality?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.