Competitor analysis refers to the systematic collection, collation, analysis and evaluation of existing or potential competitors in the market and industry in which an enterprise is located in order to understand the objectives, strategies, strengths, weaknesses, reaction patterns, etc. of competitors, so as to formulate corresponding competitive strategies and action plans. Competitor analysis is an important part of strategic management and marketing, which can help enterprises grasp market opportunities, avoid competitive risks, improve competitive advantage and achieve sustainable development.

However, many enterprises in the analysis of competitors, due to the lack of correct methods and ideas, or by some subjective and objective factors, easy to fall into some misunderstandings, resulting in the analysis results of distortion or invalid, and even bring negative impact to the enterprise. Based on our practical experience, we have summarized three common misconceptions in the analysis of corporate competitors, namely:

Excessive focus on direct competitors and neglect of potential competitors and substitutes. When analyzing competitors, many enterprises only focus on those competitors who are the same or similar to their own products or services, believing that they are the biggest threat, while ignoring those competitors who may enter from other markets or industries, or provide different types of products or services, but can meet the same customer needs. Although these competitors do not constitute direct competition at present, they may become strong competitors in the future and even subvert the pattern of the whole industry. For example, Apple's iPhone not only formed direct competition with other mobile phone manufacturers, but also caused a huge impact on industries such as digital cameras, MP3 players, and handheld game consoles, which may not have regarded Apple as a competitor.

Over-reliance on public information, ignoring the hidden capabilities and dynamics of competitors. Many companies rely heavily on publicly available information about their competitors, such as official websites, annual reports, news reports, advertising, etc., when conducting competitor analysis, and believe that this information reflects the true situation of their competitors. However, this information is often deliberately presented to the outside world by competitors, which may be exaggerated, concealed, inaccurate or outdated, and cannot fully and accurately reflect the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, nor can it capture the dynamic changes of competitors in a timely manner. Therefore, companies also need to collect and analyze hidden information about competitors through other channels, such as market research, customer feedback, industry associations, suppliers, distributors, employees, partners, etc., such as competitors' strategic intentions and innovation capabilities., Organizational culture, core talents, potential crises, etc., in order to gain a deeper understanding of competitors' internal capabilities and future development.

Excessive imitation of competitors, ignoring their own core competitiveness and differentiation advantages. Many companies conduct competitor analysis only to find and learn from the successful experience and good practices of competitors, trying to improve their market position and performance by imitating or surpassing competitors. However, this approach often ignores its own core competitiveness and differentiation advantages, causing enterprises to lose their own characteristics and positioning, fall into the quagmire of homogeneous competition, and fail to form a lasting competitive advantage. Therefore, when analyzing competitors, enterprises should not blindly imitate competitors, but should find out the differences and advantages between themselves and competitors according to their own resources, capabilities, goals and values, so as to create their own core competitiveness and brand image and create their own market space.

In response to these misconceptions, we propose six effective competitor analysis methods, namely:

Use Porter's five forces model to fully identify competitors and competitive environment. Porter's five forces model was proposed by Michael Porter, a famous American strategic management scholar, to analyze the structure and competitiveness of an industry, so as to determine the attractiveness and profitability of the industry. The Porter Five Forces model argues that an industry's competitiveness is influenced by five forces: competitors within the industry, potential entrants, substitutes, suppliers, and buyers. By analyzing the strength and interaction of these five forces, enterprises can comprehensively identify the number, type, scale, ability, strategy, behavior, etc. of competitors, as well as the threats and opportunities faced by competitors, so as to formulate appropriate competitive strategies. For example, when Shangpu Consulting Company conducted a competitor analysis for an automobile manufacturer, it used the Porter Five Forces Model and found that the competitors in the industry include not only other automobile manufacturers, but also new energy vehicles, bicycles, public transportation, etc. Alternatives, as well as stakeholders such as auto parts suppliers, auto dealers, and auto consumers, all of which have an impact on the competitiveness of the industry and need to be focused on and responded.

Use SWOT analysis to gain insight into competitors' strengths and weaknesses. SWOT analysis is a commonly used strategic analysis tool used to analyze the strengths (Strengths), weaknesses (Weaknesses), opportunities (Opportunities) and threats (Threats) of an organization or project to determine its strategic goals and action plans. SWOT analysis can also be used for competitor analysis, by collecting and collating the internal and external information of competitors, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, as well as the opportunities and threats faced by competitors, so as to reveal the core competitiveness and potential risks of competitors, as well as differences and similarities with themselves. For example, when Champ Consulting conducted a competitor analysis for an e-commerce platform, it used SWOT analysis and found that the platform's main competitors had the following strengths and weaknesses:

Advantages and Disadvantages

-Large user base and loyalty-Lack of innovative and differentiated products and services

-Strong logistics and distribution network-Legal and regulatory risks and challenges

-Rich variety of products and preferential activities-Complaints and lawsuits against network security and privacy protection

-Efficient technical and data analysis capabilities-subject to emerging competitors and alternatives

Use value chain analysis to reveal the value creation process and key links of competitors. Value chain analysis was proposed by Michael Porter to analyze the process and structure of how an organization creates value and realizes profit for customers through its internal activities and external relationships. Value chain analysis divides an organization's activities into two categories, one is the main activities, including logistics, operations, marketing, sales and services, and the other is the auxiliary activities, including procurement, technology, human resources, finance and infrastructure. By analyzing the cost, benefit, efficiency, quality and innovation of these activities, enterprises can find out their own source of value creation and competitive advantage. Value chain analysis can also be used for competitor analysis, by comparing the value chain of its own and competitors, enterprises can find the value creation process and key links of competitors, as well as the cost advantage and differentiation advantage of competitors, so as to formulate the corresponding competitive strategy. For example, in conducting a competitor analysis for a hotel chain group, Champ Consulting used value chain analysis and found that the group's main competitors had the following sources of value creation and competitive advantages:

source of value creation competitive advantage

-high quality and personalized rooms and services-High-end and loyal customer base

-Global and diversified hotel distribution and brands-Wide and stable market share and revenue

-Advanced and intelligent booking and management system-Low and efficient operating costs and management costs

-Strong and professional human resources and training system-Excellent and loyal workforce and leadership

Use strategic group analysis to determine the strategic positioning and action patterns of competitors. Strategic group analysis is a method used to analyze the strategic similarities and differences of different organizations in an industry. By grouping organizations with similar strategic characteristics into the same strategic group, the competitiveness and attractiveness of different strategic groups are compared. Strategic group analysis can be used for competitor analysis. By selecting some important strategic dimensions, such as product range, market coverage, cost structure, quality level, technical level, innovation ability, etc., competitors are divided into different strategic groups, so as to determine the strategic positioning and action mode of competitors, as well as the mutual influence and competitive relationship between competitors. For example, in conducting a competitor analysis for a software development company, Champu Consulting used strategic group analysis and found that competitors in the industry can be divided into the following four strategic groups based on the two dimensions of product range and technology level:

Product range Technical level Strategic group Representative enterprise

Narrow High Narrow High Group Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc

Narrow Low Narrow Low Group Some small software development companies.

IBM, Oracle, SAP, etc.

Use strategic group analysis to determine the strategic positioning and action patterns of competitors. Strategic group analysis is a method used to analyze the strategic similarities and differences of different organizations in an industry. By grouping organizations with similar strategic characteristics into the same strategic group, the competitiveness and attractiveness of different strategic groups are compared. Strategic group analysis can be used for competitor analysis. By selecting some important strategic dimensions, such as product range, market coverage, cost structure, quality level, technical level, innovation ability, etc., competitors are divided into different strategic groups, so as to determine the strategic positioning and action mode of competitors, as well as the mutual influence and competitive relationship between competitors. For example, in conducting a competitor analysis for a software development company, Champu Consulting used strategic group analysis and found that competitors in the industry can be divided into the following four strategic groups based on the two dimensions of product range and technology level:

Product range Technical level Strategic group Representative enterprise

Narrow High Narrow High Group Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc

Narrow Low Narrow Low Group Some small software development companies.

IBM, Oracle, SAP, etc.

Wide low wide low group some large software outsourcing companies.

Use intelligence analysis to collect and process effective information about competitors. Intelligence analysis is a method used to collect, process, analyze and transmit competitor information, aiming to provide valuable intelligence support for enterprise decision-making. Intelligence analysis includes four stages: intelligence demand, intelligence collection, intelligence analysis and intelligence transmission. Through the use of intelligence analysis, enterprises can systematically obtain and use the information of competitors, so as to find out the trends and changes of competitors in time, predict the behavior and reaction of competitors, and formulate effective competitive strategies and action plans. For example, in conducting a competitor analysis for a clothing brand, Champ Consulting used intelligence analysis to provide customers with valuable competitive intelligence through the following steps:

Intelligence needs: Identify the information that customers need to know about competitors, such as competitors' market share, sales, profit margins, product characteristics, pricing strategies, promotional activities, customer satisfaction, brand image, etc.

Intelligence collection: use various channels and methods, such as Internet search, market research, customer interviews, secret shopping, industry reports, expert consultation, etc., to collect relevant information about competitors, and pay attention to distinguish the source, reliability, timeliness and importance of information.

Intelligence analysis: the use of various analytical tools and techniques, such as data analysis, trend analysis, causal analysis, hypothesis testing, scenario analysis, etc., to process, integrate, summarize, reason and evaluate the collected information, so as to obtain meaningful.Conclusionand recommendations.

Information delivery: According to the customer's needs and preferences, choose the appropriate form and method, such as reports, presentations, charts, oral reports, etc., and deliver the analysis results and recommendations to the customer in a clear, concise and powerful manner so that the customer can make decisions and actions.

Use comparative analysis to identify gaps and opportunities for competitors. Comparative analysis is a method used to compare the performance and level of oneself and competitors, by determining the strengths and weaknesses of oneself and competitors, so as to find out the gaps and opportunities between oneself and competitors. Comparative analysis can be used for competitor analysis. By selecting some important indicators and standards, such as market share, sales, profit margin, customer satisfaction, brand awareness, product quality, service level, etc., we can compare ourselves and our competitors horizontally and vertically, so as to find out the advantages and disadvantages of ourselves and our competitors, as well as the existing gaps and opportunities. For example, in conducting a competitor analysis for a fast food chain, Champ Consulting used comparative analysis to show its customers how it compares itself to its competitors through the following table:

Indicator own competitor A competitor B competitor C.

Market share 15% 25% 20% 10%

Sales 10,001,500 million 12,000,800 million

Margin 10% 15% 12% 8%

Customer satisfaction 80% 85% 82% 75%

Brand awareness 70% 90% 80% 60%

Product quality excellent good

The service level is good and good.

Through comparative analysis, customers can find that they lag behind competitors A and B in terms of market share, sales, profit margin, customer satisfaction, brand awareness, etc. This is their own disadvantage and gap, which needs to be improved and improved. At the same time, customers can also find that they are superior to competitors B and C in terms of product quality. This is their own advantages and opportunities, which need to be fully utilized and highlighted.