Case Study: Fellowes

Fellowes provides workplace solutions which range from shredders, binders, laminators and staplers through to workspace health solutions, storage solutions and air-cleaning/purification solutions. The focus for this research was on the shredder market.

While this is a mature market, there are a number of competitive threats and so Fellowes recognized that to keep a competitive edge and to continue to provide consumer valued solutions it needed to keep a close eye on
market needs, changes, trends, and challenges.

The overall aim of the research was to better understand the needs and challenges of paper shredder users in a post-pandemic landscape and observe the impact of a changing work dynamic on shredder usage.

The key objectives of the research were as follows:

• To evaluate the most pressing challenges and trends in the shredder market and how these challenges impact business buying decisions and behaviours.
• To understand the decision-making process, who is involved, what are the important factors taken into consideration, what are the specific triggers for purchasing products, where do purchasers seek information on
  products.
• To assess product usage and requirements. Which specific products are purchased/used now, who makes use of these products, what works well, what are the pain points, challenges or frustrations with existing products.
• Finally, utilizing all market insights to identify different buyer personas.

We designed a quantitative research study, comprising an online survey with 605 paper shredder users across France, Germany & UK.

Our target audience was individuals who are using paper shredders as part of their day-to-day work.

The survey included companies across Finance, Healthcare & Public Sectors, of all sizes and of varying levels of business maturity, enabling us to report on a representative view of the market.

The survey showed many opportunities for Fellowes and revealed some of the key challenges that paper shredder users face when thinking about purchasing a shredder and when using a shredder in their day-to-day role.

Perhaps one of the most compelling insights of the study was finding that 70% of shredder users have either taken printed work documents home, printed work documents at home, or both. This therefore presents security
risks during transit. 47% of these users do not shred work documents when they have finished with them, instead tearing or throwing them directly in the bin.

To present our findings to Fellowes, we created a visually engaging research report. This summarized all findings, personas and our consultative recommendations for their organization. Fellowes were well equipped to compose marketing and product development strategies based on the evidence gathered during the research study.