How to Conduct Market Research?

Goal of the market research

The goal of market research is to reduce the risks associated with making business decisions.
For the entrepreneur, there is no bigger decision than the one to start or not start a new business.
Market research can replace misinformation and assumptions with facts. Opinion and hearsay
are not viable foundations on which to build a solid marketing strategy. Remember, this is a key
aspect of developing a sound business model (see Chapter 4). Successful market research consists
of four steps: define the problem, collect the data, analyze and interpret the data, and draw
conclusions, including how you may need to pivot your business model.

market analysis

Step 1. Define the objective.

 The first—and most crucial—step in market research is to
define the research objective clearly and concisely. For a new business, the objective
is to test the assumptions made while developing the business model. For
an existing business, the objective is to better understand changes occurring in
its business or in its market. A common error at this stage is to confuse a symptom
with the true problem. For example, dwindling sales is not a problem; it is a
symptom. To get to the heart of the matter, entrepreneurs must list all the possible
factors that could have caused it. Do we face new competition? Are our sales representatives
impolite or unknowledgable? Have customer tastes changed? Is our
product line too narrow? Do customers have trouble finding what they want? Is
our Web site giving customers what they want? Is it easy to navigate?

Step 2. Collect the data.

 The marketing approach that dominates today is individualized
(one-to-one) marketing, which involves gathering data on individual customers
and then developing a marketing program designed specifically to appeal to their
needs, tastes, and preferences. In a society in which people feel so isolated and interactions
are so impersonal, one-to-one marketing gives a business a competitive
edge. Companies following this approach know their customers, understand how
to give them the value they want, and, perhaps most important, know how to make
them feel special and valued. The idea is to treat each customer as an individual,
and the goal is to transform a company’s best and most profitable customers into
loyal, lifetime customers.

Individual marketing

Individualized marketing requires business owners to gather and assimilate detailed information
about their customers. Fortunately, owners of even the smallest companies now have access
to affordable technology that creates and manages computerized databases, allowing them
to develop close, one-to-one relationships with their customers. Much like gold nuggets waiting
to be discovered, significant amounts of valuable information about customers and their buying
habits are hidden inside many small businesses, tucked away in computerized databases. For
most business owners, collecting useful information about their customers and potential new
products and markets is simply a matter of sorting and organizing data that are already floating
around somewhere in their companies.
The key is to mine the data that most companies have at their disposal and turn them into
useful information that allows the company to “court” its customers with special products, services,
ads, and offers that appeal most to them. How can entrepreneurs gather valuable market and
individualized
(one-to-one)
marketing
a system based on gathering
data on individual
customers and developing
a marketing program designed
to appeal specifically
to their needs, tastes, and
preferences.

Research and market sectors

The primary online sale providers in B2C E-Commerce, worldwide, includes the USA based Amazon.com Inc. which remains the E-Commerce revenues, global leader. The growth leaders in the world top ten are two online companies from China, both of which conducted Initial Public Offering (IPO) this year; Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD Inc. Another company from the top ten is Cnova N.V., a recently formed E-Commerce subsidiary of the French Group Casino, with various store retailers developing and expanding their E-Commerce facilities worldwide. It is a further indication of how consumers are increasingly being attracted to the opportunities of online researching and expanding their awareness of what is available to them.

Service providers; for example those related to finance, foreign market trade and investment promote a variety of information and research opportunities to online users. In addition, they provide comprehensive and competitive strategies with market research tools, designed to promote worldwide business opportunities for entrepreneurs and established providers. General access, to accurate and supported market research facilities, is a critical aspect of business development and success today. The Marketing Research Association was founded in 1957 and is recognized as one of the leading and prominent associations in the opinion and marketing research profession. It serves the purpose of providing insights and intelligence that helps businesses make decisions regarding the provision of products and services to consumers and industries.

This organization knowledge of market conditions and competition is gained by researching relevant sectors, which provide advantages for entry into new and established industries. It enables effective strategies to be implemented; the assessment of global environments in the service sectors, as well as foreign market trade and investment barriers! Research, is utilized for promoting export opportunities and inward investment, helping determine how to execute competitive strategies, focus on objective policies and strengthen global opportunities. It is a medium that influences, administrates and enforces agreements, preferences, leveling trading environments and competitiveness in the international marketplace.

The retail industry aspect of online market research, is being transformed worldwide by M-Commerce with its mobile audience, rapidly increasing as the volume and varieties of products purchased on the mobile medium, increases. Researches conducted in the markets of North America and Europe, revealed that the M-Commerce penetration on the total online retail trade, had attained 10%, or more. It was also shown that in emerging markets, smart-phone and tablet penetration is fast increasing and contributing significantly to online shopping growth.Courtesy of wikipedia...