Market research. Research of commodity markets

To start work, release new products, maintain stable demand, increase sales, the company needs information about the business environment, competitors and consumers. The purpose of the market research is obtaining as much information as possible about the subjects and objects of the market, external factors and trends for making decisions in the production and sale of goods and services.

Which areas include market analysis

To make a decision about the possibility of entering the market of goods or services, a detailed market research is necessary:

1. Definition of its type.
2. Studying the market structure.
3. The analysis of a conjuncture.
4. Selection of target segments.
5. Positioning.
6. Forecast of sales volumes.

If entry to the market has already taken place, the enterprise successfully operates and brings profit, regular market research is still necessary. It may be incomplete, and include only the information that is of interest at the moment, which will preserve and strengthen positions, provide for possible changes in demand.

Determining the type of market and its structure

At the very beginning of the market research of services or goods, you need to determine the type of market:

• Local, national or world;
• Monopolistic, oligopolistic, with free competition;
• Market of goods, services, raw materials, labor, capital, innovation, securities;
• Wholesale or retail.
• Consumer or producer market; In the first case, the positions of buyers are stronger than those of sellers, in the second case, on the contrary;
• Market of consumers or enterprises (buyers are firms);
• Closed or open.

In addition to determining the type of market, it is also necessary to characterize it. The market can be developing or dying, limited to legal norms or economic conditions.

The next stage is to identify the structure of the market, the division of consumers into segments, study the needs of individual groups. Market research at this stage aims to prepare information to identify the most attractive segments for a particular product or service.

Market analysis

The market research of goods (services) necessarily includes the study of the conjuncture. This work consists in the definition and analysis:

• Market indicators;
• Market shares held by different enterprises;
• Demand indicators for a product or service;
• Indicators of supply, production;
• Pricing.

The assessment of the conjuncture is not limited to studying the internal features of the market. For marketing it is important to determine how the conditions will change. Therefore, market research includes the analysis of external factors: political, economic, cultural, social situation in the country, world trends in similar markets, new technologies, the state of the labor market, the legislative framework.

It is extremely difficult to assess the influence of external factors and their intensity. For this, it is necessary to determine the set of the most important indicators and to consider their influence on the market under study.

Identification of target segments

After the segmentation of the market and the study of its conjuncture, it is time to select the target groups of consumers. To determine the attractiveness of a particular segment, there are such criteria:

• Intensity of competition;
• Ease, accessibility of attracting customers;
• Possibility of impact;
• Segment size;
• Similarity of consumers from this group;
• The growth rate of the number of representatives of the segment.

Target segments can be several. Each firm seeks to increase sales, but there is a limit to opportunities. To determine the optimal number of segments that an enterprise can serve, two methods of mastering the market are used:

1. Concentrated method involves the phased development of segments.
2. Dispersive method consists in trying to master the entire market of goods or services and further abandon unpromising segments.

The market research assumes the regular analysis of the mastered segments, potential clients already interested in the goods and undeveloped "territories".

Positioning

Market research allows you to determine what competitive advantages there are or can be for a given product or service. Positioning means having to find your place in a market where similar or similar products are already sold.

Research, analysis and the most professional marketing will not help make the product more attractive in the eyes of the consumer, if it does not meet their needs. And they grow and change, therefore, it is necessary to respond to these changes in time, to ensure that the competitiveness of the product in the market does not decrease.

Positioning can take place in one of two directions:

• Filling a market niche, the needs of which are not satisfied by competitors;
• Entering the market with the same or very close to one of the competitors advantages.

Forecast of sales volume

The study of commodity markets will be incomplete without determining the forecast indicators of market development and sales volumes of a particular enterprise. It is the forecast that is the guide for decision-making. The needs and desires of consumers, the emergence of new products on the market, the actions of competitors, external factors - all this is in constant flux and changes the conditions in the market.

If the forecast is not made in time and the corresponding decisions are not taken, market research will become useless. In the long term and in business planning, three forecasts are made at once: optimistic, most likely and pessimistic. For a complete picture, it is possible to study the influence of certain factors on the forecast indicators. For example, if you strengthen the sales system, how much money and time it will take and how this will help increase sales and profits.

The forecast of sales volumes is the final stage of market research and helps to properly organize financial flows, production process, marketing activities.