Market Analysis: Real-Life Scenarios in Business Analysis

In the contemporary world of the fast flow of new ideas, we notice that great importance is given to the findings and the recommendations that are derived from analytical data. Market analysis is a systematic process of gathering information on potential markets and has become a crucial method that enables the business to define its prospects in the given market. Incubating companies through to blue chip companies, business analysts for market analysis for their strategic planning, enhancement organization goals and objectives to fit the need of its customers.
Market analysis is explored further in this article, with specific attention paid to real-life situations that entail the use of market analysis in business analysis.

What is Market Analysis?

Market analysis involves a process of evaluating the strengths and the weaknesses of a particular market segment as well as the consumer and competitor behavior as well as the trend in the market. It offers businesses important knowledge as to the level of demand for their goods and services or even market oversaturation as well as opportunities for market expansion. This way, companies can devise effective market strategies that would be informed by market conditions and customers’ needs.

The Role of Business Analysts in Market Analysis

Market analysts mainly help in data collection while business analysts play a crucial role in analyzing the collected data. Their main mission is to make sure that an organization’s decisions are informed by facts and that the facts are as current as possible. Here’s how they contribute:

⦁ Identifying Market Opportunities: Using market data business analysts can find new opportunities like the opportunity to penetrate virgin markets or introduce new products. Through studying competitors’ activity and potential customer needs, analysts make suggestions for further development.
⦁ Assessing Risks: Market analysis assists in discovering threats or risks within the market that is to be entered. A business analyst identifies risks which include new entrants, changes in laws or regulations, and changing customers’ preferences among others in a business.
⦁ Strategic Planning: Market analysis is one of the tools available to business analysts and helps in business development that is in harmony with near-term and long-term objectives. In any business, including market entry, modifications of price levels, or enhancing the efficiency of marketing activities, an analysis of information produces better outcomes.

Real-Life Scenarios Where Market Analysis Drives Business Success

1. Product launch decisions

A global electronic corporation had concluded that the time was right to launch a new product into the smart home market. To meet all the required criteria, the business analysts of the company conducted a market analysis about the demand for the product and identified similar products in the market along with the appropriate price that can be set for the product. The research also revealed that affordable smart home devices are in high and growing demand, and there are intensive market competition pressures from other well-known smart home device makers.
From this perspective, the company had to change the initial launch plan and target a specific segment, namely, the application of smart home systems for middle-income consumers. This frequently employed strategy ensured the penetration of the specific segment owing to which the company achieved its desired goals of successful product launch and strengthened its market position.

2. Entering new markets

An organization was a pharmaceutical company, which began to think about its further development and penetration into a new foreign market. First of all, during the decision-making process, the company’s business analysts determined the overall situation in the market with the help of analyzing the existing regulations, competitors, and the target customer base. The study also revealed the areas that the company should consider to expand its operations due to low competition and high demand for its products.
Additionally, using market analysis the company could avoid countries that have lots of regulatory measures to limit market entrance as well as focus on countries with vices growth statistics, thus making the market entrance to be less of a challenge.

3. Market adapting to shift changes

One day a retail company that particular brand witnessed fluctuations in the market and wanted to know why sales had decreased. Some researchers surveyed the market and found out that customers’ purchasing behavior trends toward online buying.
Due to this, the company started changing its strategies from fixed stores to online stores. The efforts in online marketing, updating the website, and providing special web-only offers helped them to gain a large share in the e-commerce market, stop the sales loss, and to achieve growth.
When it comes to market analysis, the following tools and techniques have been proven effective:
Market analysis is one of the most crucial aspects of business activities and business analysts employ the following techniques in the process. Some of these include:

• SWOT Analysis: Known as S.W.O.T Analysis: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
• PEST Analysis: Evaluates the impact or changes that the political, economic, social, and technological environment of the market has.
• Porter’s Five Forces: Assesses the intensity of rivalry among the organizations in the relevant sector.
• Surveys and Focus Groups: Collect qualitative information from the customers to know what will make them happy or uncomfortable.

These tools assist analysts in scrubbing and analyzing the data so that organizational decision-making can be made easy across different departments such as marketing and product development. The following are the advantages of doing a market analysis in business analysis.

• Better Decision-Making: Market analysis is an objective determination of trends that are of interest and relevance to a business; achieving this, it enables organizations to avoid valueless risks as well as make the most out of beneficial prospects.
•  Increased Competitiveness: Thus, the businesses will be able to position their products and services by identifying what may not already exist in the market and can thus be provided.
• Enhanced Customer Understanding: Understanding customer rationality helps a firm to develop unique marketing strategies, enhance customer relations, and develop products that suit customer characteristics.
• Risk Mitigation: Recognizing threats that may be present in a certain market means that a particular business can well be ready for the trouble in question and reduce its stakes to such influences.

Integrating market analysis into business analysis provides organizations with a future-centric posture, unlike future-centric market analysis, which makes organizations operate only in response to changes in the market. When using real information, business analysts are in a position to make worthwhile recommendations that are aimed at making businesses grow, enhance their decisions, and hence gain a competitive edge.
Market analysis is still relevant in today’s business environment regardless if you are launching a product, going into international markets, or changing consumer behavior. For enhanced knowledge and experience in business analysis, anyone concerned is advised to visit the training section available at Techcanvass.