Industrial market research refers to the systematic investigation and analysis of the demand, supply, competition and innovation of industrial products or services, so as to provide the basis and guidance for the strategic decision-making of enterprises. The importance of industrial market research is to help enterprises understand market changes, grasp customer needs, enhance competitive advantage, and promote innovation and development. Based on the definition, methods, types and characteristics of industrial market research, this paper analyzes the current situation and challenges of industrial market research, and discusses the future trend and prospect of industrial market research, with a view to providing reference for the practice and development of industrial market research.

Definition of 1. Industrial Market Research

Industrial market research refers to the systematic investigation and analysis of the demand, supply, competition and innovation of industrial products or services, so as to provide the basis and guidance for the strategic decision-making of enterprises. Industrial products or services refer to those products or services that are mainly used to produce other products or provide other services, such as raw materials, machinery and equipment, technical services, etc. Industrial market research differs from consumer market research in the following areas:

The scale of the industrial market is relatively small, but the transaction amount is large and the customer relationship is stable;

The demand of the industrial market is greatly influenced by the downstream market, which is derivative, unstable and elastic;

The buying process in the industrial market is complex, involving multiple decision makers and influencers, and requires long-term communication and negotiation;

The industrial market competition in a variety of ways, in addition to price competition, there are quality, technology, service, reputation and other aspects of competition;

Innovation in industrial markets is fast and requires constant tracking and adaptation to technological changes and changing customer needs.

2. methods of industrial market research

The methods of industrial market research mainly include the following:

Literature analysis: through the collection, collation and analysis of relevant literature, such as industry reports, policy documents, patent literature, academic papers, etc., to obtain industry background, development process, current situation analysis, policy environment and other information;

Statistical analysis: by collecting, sorting and analyzing relevant statistical data, such as industry scale, growth rate, production and sales volume, price index, import and export volume, etc., using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, regression analysis and other methods to reveal the law and trend of industry development;

Survey interview method: by designing questionnaires or interview outlines, sampling or comprehensive surveys or interviews of the target population, such as surveys or interviews of enterprises inside and outside the industry, experts and scholars, government departments, etc., to obtain first-hand information and understand the industry demand, supply, competition, innovation and so on;

Case analysis: by selecting representative or typical cases for in-depth analysis, such as a case study of a successful or failed enterprise or project, to summarize lessons learned and refine the success factors or reasons for failure;

Scenario analysis: by constructing different assumptions, analyze the possible future scenarios, such as the best, worst and most likely scenarios of industry development, assess the opportunities and risks under different scenarios, and formulate corresponding coping strategies.

Types of 3. Industrial Market Research

The types of industrial market research mainly include the following:

Market overview research: a comprehensive description and analysis of the entire industry or market, including market size, structure, growth, distribution, characteristics, etc., as well as various factors affecting market development, such as policy, technology, environment, etc;

Market segmentation research: detailed division and analysis of the entire industry or market, according to different dimensions, such as product type, customer type, geographical type, etc., the market is divided into a number of relatively balanced and relatively independent sub-markets, and analysis of the size of each sub-market, growth, demand, competition, etc;

Market demand research: investigation and analysis of potential or existing customer needs in the market, including the quantity, quality, characteristics, changes, etc. of demand, as well as various factors that affect changes in demand, such as price, income, preferences, etc;

Market supply research: investigation and analysis of existing or potential suppliers in the market, including the number, size, capacity, products, prices, services, etc. of suppliers, as well as various factors affecting supply capacity, such as costs, technology, policies, etc;

Market competition research: investigation and analysis of existing or potential competitors in the market, including the number, scale, strategy, advantages and disadvantages of competitors, as well as various factors affecting the competitive landscape, such as entry barriers, substitutes, buyer power, etc;

Market innovation research: Investigation and analysis of existing or potential innovation activities in the market, including the type, source, content, process, etc. of innovation, as well as various factors that affect the effectiveness of innovation, such as technology level, intellectual property rights, market feedback, etc.

Characteristics of 4. Industrial Market Research

Industrial market research has the following characteristics:

Highly specialized: Industrial market research involves a variety of professional fields, requires relevant industry knowledge and technical ability, and is able to understand and analyze complex data and information;

Highly customized: industrial market research needs to design appropriate research programs and methods according to the needs and goals of different customers, and provide targeted solutions and suggestions;

Highly practical: industrial market research needs to pay attention to practical problems and practical effects, can provide customers with highly operable guidance and support, and help customers achieve strategic goals and business value;

Highly innovative: Industrial market research needs to constantly track and adapt to market changes and technological advances, be able to identify and grasp new opportunities and trends, and provide forward-looking and leading insights and solutions.

The Status Quo of Industrial Market Research in 5.

The current status and challenges of industrial market research are as follows:

Increasing demand for industrial market research: With the development of industrialization and globalization, the complexity and competitiveness of industrial markets are increasing, and enterprises need more industrial market research to support their strategic decision-making and innovative development. According to statistics,2019The market size of the Global Industrial Market Research in300Billions of dollars, expected2023The year will reach about400billion, with an average annual growth rate of approximately7.5%。

Insufficient supply of industrial market research: Although the demand for industrial market research has increased, the supply of industrial market research has been relatively insufficient. The main reasons are as follows:

Lack of professional talents in industrial market research: due to the need for high professional knowledge and technical ability in industrial market research, and the current education and training system does not fully cultivate and cultivate talents in this field, the supply of professional talents in industrial market research is in short supply;

The data quality of industrial market research is low: because the industrial market involves many industries and fields, and the current data collection and collation methods do not form a unified and standardized system, resulting in insufficient, inaccurate, untimely and inconsistent data sources for industrial market research;

The method of industrial market research is backward: because the industrial market research needs to adapt to the changing market environment and technological progress, the current research methods mainly rely on the traditional literature analysis, statistical analysis, investigation and interview, and lack of application and innovation of emerging big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other technologies.

Opportunities and challenges coexist in industrial market research: In the current situation, industrial market research is facing both great opportunities and severe challenges. Opportunities mainly come from the following aspects:

Industrial market research can help enterprises seize new opportunities: in the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, industrial market research can help enterprises to discover and grasp new opportunities in new technologies, new products, new models, new demands and other aspects in a timely manner, and enhance their competitiveness and innovation;

Industrial market research can help enterprises reduce risks: in an increasingly complex and uncertain external environment, industrial market research can help enterprises effectively identify and assess various potential or real risks, such as policy risks, technology risks, competition risks, demand risks, etc., and formulate corresponding coping strategies;

Industrial market research can help companies improve efficiency: In the context of resource scarcity and rising costs, industrial market research can help companies optimize resource allocation and utilization, improve production efficiency and management efficiency, and reduce operating costs and waste. Challenges mainly come from the following aspects:

Industrial market research needs to adapt to market changes: as the demand, supply, competition, innovation and other aspects of the industrial market are constantly changing, industrial market research needs to track and reflect these changes in a timely manner, provide accurate and timely information and analysis, otherwise it may lose its value and significance;

Industrial market research needs to improve data quality: due to the diversity of data sources and huge amount of data in industrial market research, data quality directly affects the reliability and validity of research. Industrial market research needs to improve the level of data collection, collation, analysis and presentation to ensure the integrity, accuracy, consistency and comparability of data;

Industrial market research requires innovative methods and technologies: due to the complexity of industrial market research problems, single methods and backward technology, industrial market research requires innovative research ideas and frameworks, the introduction and application of emerging methods and technologies, such as big data analysis, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, etc., to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of research.

Future Trends and Prospects of 6. Industrial Market Research

According to the analysis of the definition, methods, types, characteristics, current situation and challenges of industrial market research, this paper holds that the future trend and prospect of industrial market research mainly include the following aspects:

Industrial market research will be more specialized: with the segmentation and differentiation of the industrial market, industrial market research will pay more attention to the in-depth understanding and professional services of different industries, different fields and different customers, and provide more accurate and personalized solutions and suggestions;

Industrial market research will be more quantitative: with the digitization and digitization of the industrial market, industrial market research will rely more on the collection, analysis, mining and utilization of data, using more scientific and rigorous quantitative methods to provide more objective and powerful evidence and support;

Industrial market research will be more intelligent: with the intelligence and automation of the industrial market, industrial market research will make more use of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other new technologies to achieve rapid data processing, intelligent extraction of information, intelligent identification of problems, intelligent generation of solutions and other functions, so as to improve the efficiency and effect of research;

Industrial market research will be more interactive: With the networking and socialization of the industrial market, industrial market research will pay more attention to communication and collaboration with customers, suppliers, competitors and other parties, and establish a more open and shared information platform. Realize the real-time acquisition and exchange of information such as demand, feedback, and evaluation, and improve the quality and value of research.

To sum up, industrial market research is an important and promising discipline, which can provide valuable information and guidance for enterprises and help enterprises to achieve sustainable development. However, industrial market research also faces many challenges and needs continuous innovation and progress. This paper hopes to provide some reference and enlightenment for the practice and development of industrial market research through the study of industrial market. At the same time, this paper also hopes to attract more attention and discussion, promote the exchange and cooperation of industrial market research, and promote the progress and development of industrial market research.

This article was prepared by Champ Consulting (Shangpu Consulting) To provide you with expert research articles, Shangpu Consulting is a consulting organization specializing in industrial market research. It has many years of industry experience and technical capabilities, and provides high-quality industrial market research services for many industrial companies. The following are examples of industrial market research provided by Champu Consulting for some clients:

For an international well-known car manufacturers to provide the Chinese car market segmentation research, analysis of the size of the Chinese car market, structure, growth, distribution, characteristics, as well as the impact of the development of the car market factors, such as policy, technology, environment, etc., to help customers develop product strategies and marketing strategies for different market segments;

For a leading domestic chemical enterprises to provide the global chemical market competition research, investigation and analysis of the global chemical market, the number of major competitors, scale, strategy, strengths, weaknesses, etc., as well as the impact of the competitive landscape of various factors, such as barriers to entry, substitutes, buyer power, etc., to help customers assess their own competitive strengths and weaknesses, to develop appropriate competitive strategies;

It provides innovation research on the European biotechnology market for an emerging biotechnology company, explores and analyzes the existing or potential innovation activities in the European biotechnology market, including the type, source, content, process, etc. of innovation, as well as various factors that affect the innovation effect, such as technology level, intellectual property rights, market feedback, etc., to help customers discover and grasp new opportunities and new trends, provide forward-looking and leading insights and programs.