Market Characteristics, Needs, Gaps and Opportunities

EXTERNAL ANALYSIS

Market Characteristics, Needs, Gaps and Opportunities

A vital component of industry analysis is to get a good profile of the industry’s markets. These markets can be industrial users or product/service consumers. They can be reached directly or through distribution channels.

Industrial users are those who utilize raw or semi-processed materials for conversion into other industrial products or consumer goods. Their purchasing patterns are highly determined by the availability of sufficient volumes at specified quality levels within an acceptable price range and time frame. Investment levels, technology adopted, production processes applied, people productivity and delivery efficiency are therefore essential to the industry that caters to industrial users. If they were deficient in these attributes, their competitiveness would be impaired in what is essentially a mass production game.

Product or service consumers are office and home-use buyers. They purchase in smaller quantities. Their quality needs and price sensitivities are affected by their purchasing power and their tastes. Their values, customs, mores, attitudes, interests and buying behaviors are watched carefully by market analysts. These factors may differ from country to country and even village to village. They may differ according to sex, religion or race. They swing from fad to fad and fashion to fashion. They are influenced highly by seasons of the year and particular dates of the month. In order to monitor these myriad factors, many producers of consumer goods or services conduct meticulous market studies of consumer behavior. They have to ensure that their products or services meet the grade as to the functionality, aesthetics and price parameters of the customers.

Market needs on the other hand expand as consumers become more and more sophisticated in their tastes and wants. In many cases, the industries are unable to immediately respond to these new needs. Other industries however are more advanced and pro-active and are able to anticipate the needs of the market