How Weber captured in-the-moment shopper behavior

About Weber

Weber is a global leader in outdoor cooking, built on a history of solving real consumer pain points through product innovation. Now operating as a combined Weber-Blackstone organization, the company continues to expand across markets while staying focused on understanding how people actually shop, cook and use its products.

Challenge and objectives

As Weber-Blackstone grew and navigated internal change, the insights team was increasingly pulled into conversations shaped by internal opinions, sales feedback and distributor input.

A specific challenge emerged in Germany, where stakeholders believed a missing product feature was the reason for declining performance. The recommendation was to build a new product based on this assumption.

The insights team pushed to validate this with consumer evidence, focusing on what shoppers were actually doing and seeing across the journey rather than relying on internal perspectives.

At the same time, similar questions were coming up across the business around what is happening in-store and online and what is influencing decisions at the point of purchase.

The team needed a way to capture real behavior in context, rather than relying on recall-based surveys or internal anecdotes.

Notable Wins

Stronger evidence for decision-making

A multi-phase design combining quant and in-the-moment feedback created findings that held up under internal scrutiny.

Real-world context

Photo and video submissions captured what shoppers actually encountered at the point of decision, not just what they recalled later.

Clear view of drivers and barrier

Advanced analytics identified not just individual drivers, but the combinations that influence purchase decisions.

The solution

Reach3 Insights partnered with Weber to design a multi-phase shopper journey study using Rival Technologies’ mobile-first conversational platform. The study was unbranded to ensure feedback reflected the market, not the brand.

The goal was to move beyond recall and capture shopper behavior as it happens, combining structured measurement with real-world observation.

Reach3 also supported delivery, creating mobile, interactive outputs designed for quick stakeholder consumption.

Phase 1: Quantitative foundation
A large-scale survey established a structured baseline of shopper perceptions and behaviors, with results analyzed by brand, retailer and category. Regression and TUR identified key drivers, barriers and the combinations that influence purchase decisions.

Phase 2: In-the-moment shopping missions
Participants were recontacted via SMS and sent into physical stores and online environments to capture experiences at the moment of decision. They shared photos and videos in real time, showing what they saw, what stood out and what influenced their choices.

AI-powered probing evaluated responses in real time and prompted participants to go deeper, strengthening the quality of open-ended feedback.

Together, the approach connected what shoppers say with what they actually do at the moment decisions are made.

Outcomes

The study changed how Weber approached the German market. Findings challenged the initial assumption that a missing feature was the primary issue. Value emerged as the top driver of choice, while heat-related benefits remained critical.

The research also identified a store-brand competitor as a more direct threat, winning by emphasizing these benefits at the point of purchase. The team focused on messaging, merchandising and point-of-purchase changes that could be implemented in the next season.

The work also strengthened the insights team’s credibility during a period of organizational change, providing evidence that could stand up to internal debate.