Rent-A-Center Inc. decided it needed a way to quickly gather shopper feedback.

The rent-to-own furniture and electronics retailer typically hires a market research firm to survey shoppers about their feelings on the Rent-A-Center brand and promotions. But that process takes at least four to six weeks and involves extra fees for analysis and extra reporting, says Jennifer Moretti, senior manager, marketing research at Rent-A-Center.

“We were finding that by the time we got the information back, the decision had already been made,” Moretti says.

To fix the problem, the retailer turned to online community platform Fuel Cycle’s portal to gather shopper feedback. Rent-A-Center asks shoppers about its marketing materials, such as which creative content resonates with them, and about their shopping habits for more insights, says Meghan Rygg, senior director, brand marketing at Rent-A-Center.

The online portal allows the retailer to receive feedback in real time and see the full results of a campaign within two weeks, Moretti says. This is much faster than the month-plus it took to send a request for proposals to research vendors, decide on the research questions and receive the results, she says.

The retailer cannot attribute a lift in sales to the community, but says that the online feedback guides its marketing and keeps their shoppers top-of-mind, Moretti says.

“We measure the success in the ability to get our questions answered,” Moretti says. “It has been very helpful at placing the customer front and center in what we do.”

For example, the retailer recently updated its in-store price tags based on design feedback it received via the online community. Rent-A-Center developed three price tags and asked the community for feedback, such as overall likes and dislikes, if any tag was confusing, which tag was easiest to read, and which tag was easiest to understand. After analyzing the results, consumers had a clear favorite, Rygg says.

“Because we were operating at a fast pace, we had already started development on one of the price tag designs that didn’t win,” Rygg says. “After reviewing our customers’ feedback, we changed direction and moved forward with their chosen winner. The price tag now in our stores is the product of this customer research.”

The retailer poses questions to the group every week, Rygg says. For example, one week the retailer may show shoppers a video and ask for feedback, another week the retailer may have a two-question discussion led by a moderator and another week could feature a five-question survey, Rygg says.

Rent-A-Center is developing a loyalty program and using the online portal to help develop the structure for the program, such as what types of benefits are attractive to shoppers and how they want to earn points.

The retailer has 400 active members in the online community, which it defines as having participated in the community at least once in the past 45 days. The retailer hopes to grow this number to get a broader view of its shoppers. The retailer is also considering offering incentives to current users if they refer a friend to join the community.

Rent-A-Center lets shoppers know about the feedback portal via its email list, display ads in its monthly newsletter, direct mail and handouts in its 4,200 stores. The retailer also creates incentives for shoppers to participate by giving the 50 most-active community members a coupon each month.

Rent-A-Center pays an annual licensing fee to Fuel Center for the online community. Moretti would not reveal the cost, only that it is a major portion of its marketing research budget but a cost savings compared with hiring formal research companies.

Rent-A-Center launched its e-commerce site in June 2016 and plans to have its entire product assortment available to lease online by fall 2017. Plus, 45% of sales are triggered by its website, either via a customer shopping online or completing a web application, Rygg says.