Customer Journey Research: Mapping Decisions, Moments & Opportunities

Why the customer journey matters

Customers don’t think in “channels” or “touchpoints”; they simply move through their lives, making decisions shaped by needs, emotions, and context. For food and drink brands, this journey is rarely linear. It may start with an advert on social media, continue in a supermarket aisle, and finish with a delivery order placed late at night.

Understanding the full customer journey means seeing not just where purchase happens, but also:

  • What sparks awareness and interest

  • How customers research, compare, and shortlist

  • Which touchpoints carry the most influence

  • Where barriers cause drop-offs or delays

  • How loyalty is built (or lost) after the purchase

At Good Sense Research (GSR), we help brands map journeys in all their messy, real-world complexity. We combine qualitative and quantitative research, observational methods, and advanced analytics to reveal:

  • The critical “moments of truth” where conversion happens

  • The pain points that frustrate and disengage customers

  • The emotional drivers that shape choice

  • The opportunities for brands to connect more effectively

What we deliver (and how)

1) Journey mapping & visualisation

Outcome: A clear, evidence-based map of how your customers move from first exposure to repeat purchase.

What we do:

  • Chart customer journeys across in-store, digital, and hybrid channels

  • Map journeys for different missions (main shop, food-to-go, treat, gifting, late-night delivery)

  • Visualise decision trees and customer flows for clarity

  • Segment journeys by demographic, occasion, or mindset

Why it matters: When teams share a single journey map, decisions about marketing, product, and service become aligned.

Case snapshot: A retailer discovered that 40% of its “treat” mission customers were abandoning baskets online due to unclear delivery windows. Adjusting communication increased completed orders.

Participant eating noodles while engaging in an online study, representing how Consumer Closeness Research UK captures authentic in-the-moment food behaviours and consumer experiences to help brands understand real-life eating occasions.

2) Identifying moments of truth

Outcome: Clarity on the points in the journey where decisions are truly made.

What we do:

  • Use ethnography, diaries, and digital tracking to capture in-the-moment behaviours

  • Analyse which touchpoints (ads, packaging, reviews, displays) trigger decisions

  • Quantify the impact of promotions vs. brand loyalty

  • Distinguish between “influencing” and “deciding” touchpoints

Why it matters: Not every touchpoint has equal weight. We help you invest where it matters most.

Man eating a meal while using his smartphone, representing Consumer Closeness Research UK capturing real consumer behaviour and in-the-moment dining experiences to help brands build authentic understanding of everyday eating habits.

3) Pain point & barrier analysis

Outcome: Evidence-led understanding of what gets in the way of purchase.

What we do:

  • Identify functional barriers (availability, pricing, delivery slots)

  • Capture emotional barriers (confusion, mistrust, perceived effort)

  • Map where and why customers abandon journeys

  • Recommend solutions to remove friction

Case snapshot: For a QSR chain, we identified that delivery app imagery was causing mistrust about portion size. Updating photography increased conversion rates significantly.

Person using a smartphone to give feedback with a satisfaction scale, illustrating how Consumer Closeness Research UK uses continuous feedback loops to track consumer sentiment and strengthen brand understanding in real time.

4) Channel & touchpoint integration

Outcome: Journeys that feel seamless to customers, even across multiple channels.

What we do:

  • Analyse journeys across physical stores, apps, websites, and delivery platforms

  • Evaluate consistency of messaging and experience

  • Recommend ways to synchronise promotions, packaging, and communications

  • Test how customers perceive and use each channel in combination

Why it matters: Customers don’t separate “online” and “offline”; they expect it all to work together.

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5) Post-purchase & loyalty loops

Outcome: Understanding what drives repeat behaviour, advocacy, and long-term brand connection.

What we do:

  • Track satisfaction, repeat purchase, and loyalty behaviours

  • Capture feedback on at-home usage, delivery experiences, and aftercare

  • Measure the impact of loyalty schemes, apps, and communications

  • Identify triggers for churn or switching to competitors

Case snapshot: A beverage manufacturer used loyalty loop analysis to discover that most repeat customers were being retained by recipe inspiration emails rather than discounts.

Hands preparing food during a collaborative cooking workshop, symbolising how Consumer Closeness Research UK embeds consumer closeness within organisations by engaging teams directly with real-life consumer experiences and behaviours.

Common challenges customer journey research solves

Marketing and operations teams working to different assumptions about customers

  • Investment spread too thinly across touchpoints instead of focused on the critical few

  • Poor integration of digital and physical experiences

  • Customers abandoning journeys before purchase due to avoidable friction

  • Loyalty programmes failing to drive true retention

Unimpressed woman looking at her meal, representing how Consumer Closeness Research UK helps brands understand genuine consumer reactions, uncover frustrations, and solve key challenges through real-world behavioural insight.

How we work: our process

  1. Discover – Define key customer groups, missions, and categories to explore.

  2. Map – Capture behaviours across all relevant touchpoints.

  3. Analyse – Identify moments of truth, barriers, and emotional drivers.

  4. Visualise – Create clear journey maps and dashboards for stakeholders.

  5. Activate – Build recommendations into marketing, NPD, and customer experience strategies.

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Typical customer journey projects

  • End-to-end journey mapping for a food-to-go retailer to improve conversion

  • Barrier analysis for a QSR delivery partner to reduce basket abandonment

  • Loyalty loop mapping for a hotel chain to optimise guest retention

  • Multi-channel journey mapping for a supermarket to align digital and in-store experiences

  • Journey segmentation by mission type for a beverage brand

Smiling woman enjoying a meal while engaging online, representing how Consumer Closeness Research UK connects brands with authentic, everyday consumer experiences to inspire empathy, innovation, and stronger brand relationships.

Deliverables

  • Customer journey maps and decision trees

  • Touchpoint influence analysis

  • Pain point dashboards

  • Recommendations playbooks

  • Loyalty and retention strategy guides

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Results we target

  • Higher conversion at key moments of truth

  • Reduced drop-offs across digital and physical journeys

  • Increased satisfaction through smoother journeys

  • More effective channel integration

  • Stronger loyalty and repeat purchase

Person enjoying a takeaway meal while working on a laptop, symbolising how Consumer Closeness Research UK captures authentic consumer behaviour and real-life dining moments to deliver deeper insight into food experiences and brand engagement.

FAQs

Do you focus only on food and drink?
Yes; our expertise is rooted in the food and drink ecosystem, from farm to fork.

Can you track both online and in-store journeys?
Absolutely; most journeys now involve both, and we design our methods accordingly.

Is this only for B2C brands?
No; we also work with suppliers, manufacturers, and operators where B2B journeys are critical.

Can you update journeys over time?
Yes; we often repeat mapping projects to track how journeys evolve with technology and culture.

Smiling woman taking part in an online session while eating crisps, representing how Consumer Closeness Research UK connects brands with real consumers in natural moments to generate authentic insights and deeper understanding.

Let’s map your customer journey together

When you see the customer journey clearly, you see opportunities you didn’t know existed.

Talk to us about your customer journey challenge

  • Book a discovery call

  • Request a case study

  • Arrange a journey mapping workshop

Let’s get started, shall we?

Talk to our team today about your research needs, we’d love to help.