6 Reasons Marketplace Intelligence Is Important for Your Business
August 2, 2024 - 11 minutes readSuccessful companies rely on marketplace data for critical decision-making.
Intelligence comes in many different forms, but marketplace intelligence is all about knowing your place in the competitive landscape so you can respond to opportunities when they arise and adapt to changes quickly. In this context, marketplace intelligence has been a differentiating factor for thousands of years—those who understand market conditions and position their goods and services intelligently have always stayed ahead of the pack. Modern marketplace intelligence tools utilize advanced data collection and analysis to take this age-old practice to new heights.
When combined with the latest inventory management software, mobile point of sale (POS) apps, and customer relationship management (CRM) tools, marketplace intelligence makes it possible for E-commerce retailers, manufacturers, and brick and mortar stores to put their best foot forward as they attract and retain loyal customers.
“If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.” – Jeff Bezos
Defining marketplace intelligence
Marketplace intelligence, also known as market intelligence, uses multiple sources of information to better understand the market a company is operating in and improve their competitive stance. Marketplace intelligence helps companies decide what new products they should develop, how much to charge, who their target audience should be, and how they can differentiate themselves from competitors. The four basic types of marketplace intelligence include:
- Product intelligence – Information on the product features, product depth, market reach, and price points of competitors.
- Competitor intelligence – Additional business information on competitors such as marketing strategies, strengths, weaknesses, and financial health.
- Market understanding – This includes data on the overall market size, growth factors, trends, segments, and your own current market share.
- Customer understanding – Knowing what motivates customers to buy and what factors contribute to satisfied, repeat customers and positive feedback.
By combining many data sources, marketplace intelligence provides a holistic, big picture view of the market conditions you are contending with. Marketplace intelligence software analyzes and collates this data to identify market opportunities that might otherwise be difficult to see.
Why is marketplace intelligence important?
Marketplace intelligence provides a long list of benefits that make it essential in today’s multi-channel commerce environment. Marketplace intelligence helps businesses make informed decisions that directly impact the bottom line. It can also protect companies from product development dead ends that drain valuable time and resources.
1. Competitor analysis
No matter how attractive your product portfolio, marketing strategy, and E-commerce platform might be, there could always be someone doing it better—right now. Most companies want to keep their plans, strategies, and new product ideas hidden from the competition, and rightfully so. Gathering information on competitors requires a combination of digital resources and old-fashioned legwork to make sure the information is accurate and relevant.
Once you have gathered enough information on the competitive landscape, marketplace intelligence software empowers you to benchmark your own business against competitors, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and develop strategies like dynamic pricing that allow you to earn higher profits while growing the business.
2. Trend spotting
Everyone is aware of trends once they reach the tipping point, but identifying market trends early creates better opportunities to capitalize and move in front of competitors. Identifying trends quickly requires businesses to keep their finger on the pulse of the industry by continually analyzing sales data, customer surveys, and other information sources that reveal emerging patterns.
Trend spotting through marketplace intelligence allows companies to align their goals and initiatives with market dynamics consistently. Marketing strategies that resonate with audiences and boost engagement are developed and launched at the right time to maximize conversion rates, and support more informed decisions on expansion, investment, and supply chain management.
3. Intelligent product development
A new product should never be developed and launched without knowing who the target audience is, or whether there will be any audience at all by the time the product is ready to go. Marketplace intelligence allows you to include the voice of the customer (VOC) in all your development projects to prevent costly dead ends or failed launches. Intelligent product development practices also consider:
- Competitor benchmarking to develop superior feature sets
- Customer surveys that identify market or technology gaps
- Feedback on current product portfolio weaknesses
- Lifecycle management for current and future offerings
- Customization options to cater to individual product preferences
Marketplace intelligence might also come from focus groups and limited product releases to test the waters and gather feedback before committing to a full product launch.
4. Customer satisfaction
With customer satisfaction as the ultimate goal, customer data is at the core of marketplace intelligence. 77% of customers would recommend a brand to a friend after having just one positive experience. Customer information gathered through web analytics, surveys, competitor data, and even complaints help you understand what your current customer base really wants, and who your new customers might be.
Marketplace intelligence software provides additional benefits and advantages when integrated with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. The interactions, purchase history, and demographics of your current customer base can be combined with overall marketplace data and trends to pinpoint changes and strategies that are likely to improve customer satisfaction levels.
“Your customers are the lifeblood of the business. Their needs and wants impact every aspect of your business, from product development to content marketing to sales to customer service.” – John Rampton
5. Minimized risks
Marketplace intelligence leads to an improved level of awareness that reduces both business and compliance risks. For example, early identification of trends helps companies avoid being caught by surprise when the market suddenly shifts, while remaining current on industry regulations helps companies avoid fines or reputation damage. Marketplace intelligence also mitigates risks by:
- Supporting more accurate forecasting
- Minimizing failed product launches
- Avoided misguided marketing campaigns
- Optimizing pricing to prevent overstock conditions
Along with proactive inventory management, warehouse management, and other practices founded on real-time data analysis, marketplace intelligence mitigates risks simply by ensuring business decisions are based on the most current information sources available.
6. Improved brand value
By providing better insight into market conditions and trends, streamlining product development, and improving customer satisfaction levels, marketplace intelligence produces the residual benefit of improved brand value. Customers react positively to brands associated with innovative offerings, quick reaction to customer needs, and value they cannot find elsewhere.
The related concept of brand intelligence is based on collecting and analyzing large sets of data related to the brand, including social media feedback, Amazon ratings, and direct customer surveys, to better understand how customers perceive the brand and what steps can be taken to improve brand value. Brand intelligence complements marketplace intelligence by establishing a baseline to compare your own brand recognition and perception to that of your competitors.
Marketplace intelligence vs. business intelligence
Marketplace intelligence is sometimes confused with business intelligence, but the two concepts are quite different. Both processes use data to facilitate better decision making, but marketplace intelligence focuses on the external environment and competitive landscape, while business intelligence is based on internal factors and data that includes:
- Budget and cash flow performance
- Inventory levels and turnover
- Supply chain performance
- Productivity data
- Human resources data
Despite the differences in approach, both marketplace intelligence and business intelligence help companies make informed decisions and develop competitive strategies. Many companies choose to leverage both types of intelligence to improve their awareness and long-term vision.
Marketplace intelligence: Final thoughts
Knowing where you stand in a highly competitive market has always been important, but the onslaught of customer options brought on by E-commerce and omni-channel commerce have made it more important than ever to collect, analyze, and act on marketplace intelligence consistently. Interactive software, real-time data sources, and effective market research help to convert marketplace intelligence into long-lasting competitive advantages.
The customizable Agiliron product suite complements marketplace intelligence with cloud-based CRM, inventory management, and warehouse management modules designed for seamless integration with all your favorite E-commerce applications. Mobile-friendly apps and mobile point of sale (POS) solutions allow you to manage all your data in one place while selling from anywhere. There’s a reason over 2,500 brands rely on Agiliron to power their business.
Intelligence may be an overused term, but there is no substitute for real-time insight in today’s business landscape. Marketplace intelligence software does the heavy lifting for you, providing valuable opportunities to improve your brand and stay one step ahead. Contact us today to find out how easy it is to harness the power of marketplace intelligence for your own unique needs.
