It’s important when carrying out a market research & analysis exercise to look farther than the specific product and its competitors. It may be that there are other market characteristics, trends or issues in the wider market which could have an impact on the business – for example, technological, economic or socio-demographic trends. Issues like this can have an even bigger impact on the business than an important competitor, and must be identified in the research.
For example, an analysis of the food retailing market must identify trends in: demograhpics insight for portion sizes, frequency of purchasing, trends in snacking occasions, healthy eating trends, and a host of other factors which may have a deep impact on your market.
