Purpose of 1. Competitor Research

Competitor research refers to the collection, analysis and evaluation of relevant information of other enterprises that have direct or indirect competitive relationship with their own enterprises, so as to reveal the relative advantages and disadvantages of their own enterprises in the market, as well as the strategic intention, behavior pattern and development trend of competitors, so as to provide a basis and reference for their own enterprises to make reasonable strategic decisions.

The main objectives of competitor research are as follows:

Understand the competitive environment and competitive situation, assess the strength and threat of competitors, determine their competitive position and competitive strategy;

Identify the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, learn from the successful experiences and lessons of competitors, and enhance their core competitiveness;

Discover the gaps and weak areas of competitors, look for market opportunities and innovations, and form differentiated and specialized competitive advantages;

Predict the future trends and possible actions of competitors, formulate countermeasures and plans, and seize the opportunity and initiative.

Methods and procedures for 2. competitor research

There are several main methods of competitor research:

Documentary method: access to basic information, strategic direction, performance data, brand image, etc. of competitors by consulting their official websites, annual reports, announcements, news, social media, etc;

Observation method: by personally or entrusting a third party to the competitor's business premises, sales channels, service points, etc., to observe the competitor's product characteristics, price strategy, promotional activities, service quality, etc;

Interviews: through interviews or questionnaires with competitors' existing or potential customers, suppliers, partners, employees, former employees, etc., to understand competitors' customer satisfaction, supply capacity, partnership, staff quality, internal management, etc;

Experimental method: by simulating a competitor's product or service, a comparative test or test is conducted to evaluate the quality, performance, function, effect, etc. of a competitor's product or service.

The main steps of competitor research are as follows:

Determine the object and scope of research: according to the target market and target customers of their own enterprises, determine the main competitors that have direct or indirect competition with their own enterprises, as well as the number and type of competitors that need to be investigated;

Setting research contents and indicators: according to the research purpose and information demand of the enterprise, set the relevant contents and indicators of the competitors to be investigated, such as the basic situation of the competitors, strategic direction, market share, product characteristics, price strategy, promotion activities, service quality, customer satisfaction, supply capacity, cooperative relationship, staff quality, internal management, financial status, development trend, etc;

Select research methods and channels: according to the characteristics of the research content and indicators, select the appropriate research methods and channels, such as literature, observation, interview, experimental, etc., as well as the corresponding information sources and data acquisition methods;

Collect and organize research data: collect relevant data of competitors according to research methods and channels, organize and classify the data, and form structured and standardized data forms or databases;

Analysis and evaluation of research results: use statistical analysis, comparative analysis, causal analysis, trend analysis and other methods to analyze and evaluate the research data, revealing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, strategic intentions and behavior patterns, development trends and possible initiatives, as well as their impact and threats to their own enterprises;

Formation and Report ResearchConclusion: Based on the results of the analysis and evaluation, a survey is formed.Conclusionand recommendations, write a research report, which should include the purpose, method, content, results,Conclusion, recommendations, etc., as well as related data tables, charts, attachments, etc.

Case Study of 3. Competitor Research

In order to specify the process and effect of competitor research, this paper takes Shangpu Consulting Company as an example to conduct a case study of competitor research.

Shangpu Consulting Company is a well-known independent third-party research and investment and financing consulting agency in China, dedicated to providing professional solutions for corporate strategic decision-making. The main business of Shangpu Consulting Company includes market research, investment consulting, IPO listing consulting, etc. Its service customers cover many industry fields, such as semiconductor, artificial intelligence, automatic driving, new energy, financial technology, medical health, etc.

Champ Consulting's competitors are in the following categories:

Internationally renowned consulting companies, such as McKinsey, Boston, Bain, etc., these companies have a wide range of customer resources and brand influence in the world, provide a full range of strategic consulting, management consulting, technical consulting and other services, with strong professional ability and industry insight and industry experience;

Well-known domestic consulting companies, such as Washington, Huawei, CICC, etc., these companies have a high reputation and credibility in the domestic market, provide targeted investment consulting, IPO listing consulting, mergers and acquisitions consulting services, and have strong Policy familiarity and resource integration capabilities;

Domestic emerging consulting companies, such as Analysys, iResearch, Sadie, etc., these companies focus on market research and consulting services in emerging fields, such as the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence, etc., and have strong innovation capabilities and acumen.

According to its own business characteristics and market positioning, Shangpu Consulting has selected representative companies from the above three types of competitors as the research objects, namely McKinsey, Washington, and Analysys. Champ Consulting has set the following research content and indicators:

Basic information: including the name, establishment time, registration place, scale, organizational structure, business scope, service field, etc. of the competitor;

Market share: including competitors' share, ranking, growth rate, change trend, etc. in the target market and target customers;

Product features: including the type, quality, performance, function, effect and innovation of products or services provided by competitors;

Price strategy: including the pricing method, pricing level, pricing flexibility, discount policy, price competitiveness, etc. of competitors' products or services;

Promotional activities: including competitors' advertising, public relations activities, marketing channels, sales team, customer relations, etc;

Service quality: including competitors' service process, service standard, service attitude, service efficiency, service satisfaction, etc;

Customer satisfaction: including competitors' customer loyalty, customer reputation, customer complaints, customer churn rate, etc;

Supply capacity: including competitors' supply chain management, procurement costs, inventory levels, logistics efficiency, emergency response capacity, etc;

Partnership: including competitors' partners, cooperation methods, cooperation benefits, cooperation risks, etc;

Staff quality: including the number of competitors, staff structure, staff ability, staff motivation, staff turnover rate, etc;

Internal management: including competitor's strategic planning, organizational culture, decision-making mechanism, risk control, quality assurance, etc;

Financial position: including competitors' operating income, profit margin, asset-liability ratio, cash flow, return on investment, etc;

Development trend: including the competitor's future goals, development direction, development difficulties, development opportunities, etc.

According to the characteristics of the research content and indicators, Shangpu Consulting has selected the following research methods and channels:

Documentary method: access to the basic information, strategic direction, performance data, brand image, etc. of competitors by consulting their official websites, annual reports, announcements, news, social media, etc;

Observation method: by personally or entrusting a third party to the competitor's business premises, sales channels, service points, etc., to observe the competitor's product characteristics, price strategy, promotional activities, service quality, etc;

Interviews: through interviews or questionnaires with competitors' existing or potential customers, suppliers, partners, employees, former employees, etc., to understand competitors' customer satisfaction, supply capacity, partnership, staff quality, internal management, etc;

Experimental method: by simulating a competitor's product or service, a comparative test or test is conducted to evaluate the quality, performance, function, effect, etc. of a competitor's product or service.

According to the research methods and channels, Shangpu consulting company collected the relevant data of competitors, collated and classified the data, and formed a structured and standardized data form or database. The following is an example of some of the data:

Competitor Establishment Time Registration Place Scale Business Scope Service Field Market Share Product Characteristics Price Strategy Promotion Activities Service Quality Customer Satisfaction Supply Capacity Partnership Staff Quality Internal Management Financial Status Development Trend

In 1926, McKinsey ranked first in the world in more than 30000 American strategic consulting, management consulting, technical consulting and other industries, such as finance, energy, medical care, consumer goods, etc, china's second high quality, high performance, high new price, high flexibility, high discount advertising, public relations activities, marketing channels, sales team, customer relations and other high standards, high attitude, high efficiency, high satisfaction, high loyalty, high reputation, low complaints, low turnover rate, high supply chain management, low procurement cost, low inventory level, high logistics efficiency, high emergency response capacity, multiple partners, multiple cooperation methods, high cooperation income, low cooperation risk High quantity, high structure, high ability, high incentive, low liquidity and high strategic planning, high organizational culture, high decision-making mechanism, high risk control, high quality guarantee, high operating income, high profit margin, low asset-liability ratio, high cash flow and high return on investment The future goal is to maintain a leading position in the world, the development direction is to expand emerging fields and emerging markets, the development difficulty is to deal with the challenges of competitors and changes in customer needs, and the development opportunity is to use technological innovation and resource integration.

Washington 1992 China 10000 people investment consulting, IPO listing consulting, mergers and acquisitions consulting and other industries, such as manufacturing, real estate, education, tourism and other China's first, the world's fifth medium quality, medium performance, medium innovation, medium price, medium flexibility, medium discount

Advertising, public relations activities, marketing channels, sales team, customer relations, etc.

Medium Standard, Medium Attitude, Medium Efficiency, Medium Satisfaction

Medium loyalty, medium word of mouth, medium complaints, medium attrition

Medium supply chain management, medium procurement cost, medium inventory level, medium logistics efficiency, medium emergency response capacity

Multiple Partners, Multiple Ways of Cooperation, Medium Cooperation Benefits, Medium Cooperation Risks

Medium quantity, medium structure, medium capacity, medium incentive, medium flow rate

Medium strategic planning, medium organizational culture, medium decision-making mechanism, medium risk control, medium quality assurance

Medium operating income, medium profit margin, medium asset-liability ratio, medium cash flow, medium return on investment

The future goal is to maintain a leading position in China, the development direction is to improve service quality and efficiency, the development difficulty is to deal with market competition and regulatory changes, and the development opportunity is to use policy support and resource integration.

Analysys

2000

China

More than 500 people

Market research, data analysis, consulting services, etc.

Emerging fields, such as Internet, big data, artificial intelligence, etc

Third in China, 10th in the world

Low quality, low performance, high innovation

Low price, low elasticity, low discount

Advertising, public relations activities, marketing channels, sales team, customer relations, etc.

Low standards, low attitude, low efficiency, low satisfaction

Low loyalty, low word of mouth, high complaints, high attrition

Low supply chain management, high procurement costs, high inventory levels, low logistics efficiency, low emergency response capacity

Few partners, single cooperation mode, low cooperation income, high cooperation risk

Low quantity, low structure, low capacity, low excitation, high flow rate

Low strategic planning, low organizational culture, low decision-making mechanism, low risk control, low quality assurance

Low operating income, low profit margin, high gearing, low cash flow, low return on investment

The future goal is to increase market share and brand awareness, the development direction is to expand new products and services, the development difficulty is to improve the quality and performance of products and services, and the development opportunity is to use market demand and technological innovation.

Using statistical analysis, comparative analysis, causal analysis, trend analysis and other methods, Shangpu Consulting analyzed and evaluated the research data, revealing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, strategic intentions and behavior patterns, development trends and possible initiatives, as well as their impact and threats to their own enterprises. The following are some of the results of the analysis and evaluation:

McKinsey is the strongest competitor of Shangpu Consulting Company. It has a high market share and brand influence in the global and Chinese markets. The quality, performance and innovation of its products and services are all industry-leading. Its price strategy is also a high-end positioning. Its customer satisfaction and loyalty are high, and its supply capacity and cooperation relationship are also strong, its staff quality and internal management are also high, its financial situation is also good, and its development trend is relatively stable. McKinsey's threat to Shangpu Consulting mainly comes from its in-depth services and professional capabilities in multiple industry fields, as well as its expansion and innovation in emerging fields and emerging markets. Shangpu Consulting needs to improve its professional capabilities and innovation capabilities., And looking for its own differentiated and specialized competitive advantages to compete with McKinsey.

Washington is the main competitor of Shangpu Consulting Company. It has a high market share and brand reputation in the domestic market. The quality, performance and innovation of its products and services are all at a medium level. Its price strategy is also a medium positioning. Its customer satisfaction and loyalty are all at a medium level. Its supply capacity and cooperative relationship are also at a medium level. Its staff quality and internal management are also at a medium level, its financial situation is also medium level, and its development trend is relatively stable. Washington's threat to Shangpu Consulting Company mainly comes from its leading position and policy support in the domestic market, as well as its improvement in service quality and efficiency and resource integration. Shangpu Consulting Company needs to increase its market share and brand awareness, and Find its own innovation points and opportunities in order to compete with Washington.

Analysys is a potential competitor of Shangpu Consulting Company. It has a low market share and brand awareness in the domestic market. The quality, performance and innovation of its products and services are all at a low level. Its price strategy is also a low-end positioning. Its customer satisfaction and loyalty are all at a low level. Its supply capacity and cooperative relationship are also at a weak level. Its staff quality and internal management are also at a low level, its financial situation is also a poor level, and its development trend is also less stable. Analysys's threat to Shangpu Consulting mainly comes from its focus and innovation in emerging fields, as well as its grasp of market demand and technological innovation. Shangpu Consulting needs to improve the quality and performance of its products and services, and find its own stability and advantages in order to distinguish itself from Analysys.

Based on the results of the analysis and evaluation, Champu Consulting formed a survey.Conclusionand recommendations, wrote a research report, the report includes the purpose of the research, methods, content, results,Conclusion, recommendations, etc., as well as related data tables, charts, attachments, etc. The following is part of the researchConclusionand recommendations:

ResearchConclusion: Shangpu Consulting Company is facing fierce competition in both domestic and international markets. Its competitors have their own advantages and disadvantages. Its competitors' strategic intentions and behavior patterns have certain rules and characteristics. Its competitors' development trends and possible measures have certain influences and threats. Shangpu Consulting Company needs to formulate reasonable competition strategies and countermeasures according to the competitors' conditions, to enhance their competitive advantage and market share.

Research suggestion: Champ Consulting Company can formulate competitive strategies and countermeasures from the following aspects:

For a strong competitor like McKinsey, Champ Consulting can take the following strategies:

Specialization strategy: Shangpu consulting company can focus on its own areas of expertise, such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, automatic driving, etc., improve its professional level and service quality, form a professional competitive advantage, and avoid direct competition with McKinsey in many fields;

Differentiation strategy: Shangpu Consulting Company can provide differentiated products and services according to its own characteristics and customer needs, such as customized solutions, value-added services, innovative products, etc., to form a differentiated competitive advantage, Attract and retain customers;

Cooperative strategy: Shangpu Consulting can cooperate with McKinsey, such as jointly developing new products or services, sharing customer resources or information, sharing supply chains or channels, etc., to form a cooperative competitive advantage and achieve mutual benefit and win-win goals.

For a major competitor like Washington, Champ Consulting can take the following strategies:

Innovation strategy: Shangpu consulting company can use its own innovation ability and sensitivity to develop new products or services, or improve existing products or services, in order to meet the new needs and expectations of customers, the formation of innovative competitive advantage, seize market opportunities;

Branding strategy: Shangpu Consulting Company can use its own brand influence and credibility to strengthen brand publicity and promotion, improve brand awareness and reputation, form a brand competitive advantage, and enhance customer awareness and trust;

Opportunistic strategy: Shangpu Consulting can use its own market insight and analysis capabilities to discover market opportunities and innovations, such as new customer groups, new market demand, new market space, etc., to form an opportunistic competitive advantage and expand Market share.

For potential competitors like Analysys, Champ Consulting can take the following strategies:

Stabilization strategy: Shangpu Consulting Company can use its own stability and reliability to maintain the quality and performance of existing products and services, maintain existing customer relationships and cooperative relationships, form a stable competitive advantage, and prevent the loss of customers and the encroachment of competitors;

Optimization strategy: Shangpu Consulting can use its own optimization capabilities and efficiency to optimize the processes and standards of existing products and services, optimize the existing supply chain and channels, optimize existing employees and management, and form an optimized competitive advantage, reduce costs and improve efficiency;

Monitoring strategy: Shangpu Consulting can use its own monitoring capabilities and information to monitor the dynamics and initiatives of competitors, monitor market changes and trends, monitor customer feedback and evaluation, form a monitored competitive advantage, adjust and respond in a timely manner.