Firstly, let’s start with what competitor research and analysis is not: spying and stealing ideas.
Done correctly, competitor research and analysis can help you:
- see what is and isn’t working in your business
- evolve your strategy so your products and services are current and relevant to your audience and customers
- get inspired to try something new
- give you perspective, showing you in real time how customers are reacting to different strategies
- save time and money
So, what’s the aim of competitor research and analysis?
To understand the broader trends in your niche, see how your competitors implementing them, and how customers are reacting.
With this information, you can see what your competitors strengths and weaknesses are, compare them to yours, and identify any opportunities you can capitalise on.
In other words, how can you use this analysis to improve or enhance your products or services?
If you look carefully at competitor reviews and feedback, you can often find customer pain points you may not have considered, which opens up a gap that your business could fill.
How often should you do it?
I recommend setting aside time every quarter to my clients, because the retail landscape is ever changing, and your business needs to evolve with it.
How can competitor research and analysis give you an edge?
When you’re busy working in your business it’s easy to get tunnel vision, but here’s why taking a step back and looking at the wider market can help you focus your offering to your customer’s needs:
- You will uncover trends you weren’t aware of, potentially providing new business opportunities
- You can see customer pain points, giving you clear information on what will work before costly investment is made in new products
- Your business will not become stagnant if you’re aware of the current trends and the direction your industry is moving in
- You will know what else is out there, making it easier to define your USP and sell your offering to your target audience
Here are the 7 steps to creating a comprehensive and useful competitor analysis:
- Be clear on your core offering: what do you sell and why? Who are your customers? What is your USP?
- Next, find relevant competitors to research, for example, do they offer the same products as you to the same customer base? Then look at their products, pricing, shipping, returns – are there learnings you can take from the way they are running their business?
- Identify their strengths and weaknesses and compare them to your own. Reviews and social media comments are a great resource for this part!
- Carry out wider research on the market to identify gaps you could fill: can you pick out long and short term trends? Are your competitors capitalising on them, or is there an opportunity for you to lead the way? Again, customer feedback on your competitors can help you find ways to do things better in your business.
- Don’t rush in to making changes. Assess the trends and your competition in detail, then use your findings to critically analyse your own business. Is there anything you can change? Is there a new product you can launch that your research tells you there is a demand for? Think carefully about how you can differentiate yourself from the competition.
- Create an “ideas bank” for any inspiration you find so that you can document it and come back to it when you’re ready to move forward with change.
- Be flexible. Implementing change can be difficult and can come at a financial and emotional cost, so be willing to adapt to market fluctuations and accept that you may need to shake things up a little to move your business forward.
- Move forward with confidence. I know from experience that it is easy to feel overwhelmed or less than after completing a detailed competitor analysis. You can feel like everyone else is doing it better, but don’t let this put you off. Instead, complete the analysis and use the findings as a tool to help you evolve as you regain focus on your business and purpose.
Retail strategy is my speciality. I know what customers want, and the steps retailers can take to ensure their products and customer service stand out from the crowd, so if you want a fresh pair of eyes to take a look at your strategy, contact me for a call, or read more about my Strategy Intensive and Business Health Check packages here.
I can help with:
- retail strategy
- competitor analysis
- retail consultancy
Get in touch if you want to know more about how I can help your business thrive.