This article aims to shed light on five lesser-known—but highly effective—market research tools that can powerfully complement or even outperform mainstream solutions depending on your research needs. Whether you’re part of a startup, an SME, or a multinational seeking to expand your footprint in KSA, these tools are worthy additions to your research arsenal. Moreover, as the demand for market research services continues to surge, especially in the Middle East, leveraging the right tools can help businesses maintain a competitive edge in this rapidly transforming marketplace.
1. Remesh: Real-Time AI-Powered Conversations
Overview:
Remesh is a unique platform that facilitates real-time, large-scale conversation with your audience. Unlike traditional survey platforms, Remesh uses artificial intelligence to interpret open-ended responses at scale, giving businesses a nuanced understanding of customer sentiment.
Why It’s Underrated:
While AI is often touted in market research, few tools apply it as seamlessly as Remesh. For businesses in KSA aiming to understand a culturally diverse audience, especially in sectors like retail, healthcare, and banking, Remesh offers the ability to engage hundreds of participants at once and derive insights in Arabic and English alike.
Use Case in KSA:
A retail brand launching a new fashion line in Riyadh can use Remesh to gather instant feedback from consumers, adjusting marketing strategies based on live input. This agility is crucial in dynamic urban markets.
Integration with Market Research Services:
Many market research companies in Saudi Arabia are now incorporating AI-driven tools like Remesh to enhance qualitative research. Its compatibility with local languages and cultural contexts makes it an ideal partner tool for top market research firms KSA businesses work with.
2. Zappi: Automated Consumer Testing
Overview:
Zappi is designed to streamline concept testing, ad testing, and product development through automation and predictive analytics. What sets Zappi apart is its deep integration with behavioral data and its learning models that evolve with every test.
Why It’s Underrated:
Despite its powerful capabilities, Zappi often flies under the radar due to the dominance of legacy platforms. However, its predictive performance analytics and low time-to-insight make it a hidden gem for rapid product iteration.
Use Case in KSA:
For a local FMCG company in Jeddah launching a new snack product, Zappi allows for testing multiple packaging options or ad creatives simultaneously, enabling quick pivots based on consumer preferences.
Value for Market Research Companies in Saudi Arabia:
Zappi’s plug-and-play approach aligns well with the increasing demand for agile market research services. When used by top market research firms KSA businesses trust, it accelerates the research process without compromising quality.
3. Attest: Broad Audience Research Simplified
Overview:
Attest focuses on democratizing access to high-quality data from broad demographic segments. With a user-friendly interface and a wide panel network, Attest empowers businesses to gather insights from consumers across various regions and verticals.
Why It’s Underrated:
Unlike traditional panels that are often region-locked or slow to respond, Attest offers real-time reach to more than 125 million people globally. In the context of KSA, where audience segmentation is key due to socio-economic diversity, Attest can provide scalable solutions.
Use Case in KSA:
An emerging digital banking platform in Dammam could use Attest to understand consumer hesitations about online financial services and tailor its outreach accordingly.
Partnership Potential:
Attest works well in tandem with market research companies in Saudi Arabia that are looking to offer clients broader geographic insights. As one of the more flexible platforms, it's becoming a favorite among firms offering advanced market research services.
4. Dovetail: Qualitative Research Repository
Overview:
Dovetail is a platform built for storing, organizing, and analyzing qualitative data. From interview transcripts to customer feedback, Dovetail centralizes all qualitative input and provides tools for tagging, theming, and visualization.
Why It’s Underrated:
In the digital rush, qualitative insights often get overshadowed by numbers. Dovetail brings back the human element, allowing businesses to deeply understand the "why" behind behaviors. Its intuitive design also makes it easier for cross-functional teams to collaborate.
Use Case in KSA:
A healthcare startup in Al Khobar conducting patient experience interviews can use Dovetail to synthesize themes from the data and inform service enhancements.
Strategic Use by Top Market Research Firms KSA:
As local businesses become more customer-centric, qualitative research is regaining importance. Top market research firms KSA companies engage with are using Dovetail to bring clarity to user journeys, voice-of-customer studies, and ethnographic research.
5. Pollfish: Mobile-First Consumer Surveys
Overview:
Pollfish offers access to a vast mobile user base through organic survey delivery across mobile apps. It’s quick, cost-effective, and best suited for capturing the opinions of digitally native demographics.
Why It’s Underrated:
While most businesses still rely on email surveys or traditional panel recruitment, Pollfish meets consumers where they spend most of their time—on mobile apps. This mobile-first approach ensures higher engagement and more accurate, timely responses.
Use Case in KSA:
A tech company launching a new app can use Pollfish to conduct A/B testing of its user interface with real users in Saudi Arabia before rollout, enabling highly localized improvements.
Advantage for Market Research Companies in Saudi Arabia:
With the mobile penetration rate in KSA being among the highest in the region, Pollfish is a strategic tool for companies providing market research services. It’s an especially good fit for capturing the opinions of younger, tech-savvy Saudi consumers.
Why These Tools Matter in 2025 and Beyond
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has placed digital transformation, consumer engagement, and innovation at the forefront of economic progress. With initiatives like NEOM and the rapid expansion of e-commerce, local businesses can no longer afford to rely solely on outdated or monolithic research tools.
The five underrated tools outlined above offer highly specialized functionalities that cater to niche but critical aspects of market research—be it real-time feedback, mobile user engagement, or qualitative insight management. Each of them supports the broader goal of enabling smarter, faster, and more localized decision-making.
As more organizations invest in market research services, the ability to choose the right tools will be just as important as interpreting the data itself. Forward-looking companies in the Kingdom are already collaborating with market research companies in Saudi Arabia that incorporate such tools into their offerings, ensuring deeper insights and more agile execution.
Conclusion
In 2025, staying ahead in the Saudi market requires more than surface-level analytics. It demands an in-depth understanding of consumer motivations, cultural nuances, and emerging trends. These five underrated tools—Remesh, Zappi, Attest, Dovetail, and Pollfish—bring fresh perspectives and modern capabilities to an industry ripe for innovation.
Whether you are a growing startup in Riyadh, an established conglomerate in Jeddah, or a public sector initiative in NEOM, leveraging these tools alongside experienced market research companies in Saudi Arabia will enhance the precision, relevance, and impact of your strategies.
For organizations seeking to navigate this fast-moving landscape, the smartest move in 2025 isn’t just to invest in market research services—but to ensure you’re using the most forward-thinking tools available. And these five are a great place to start.