How to do Market Research for E-commerce

In E-commerce, the stakes for market research are amplified. Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, E-commerce operates in a digital space, with more competitors and a diverse customer base that transcends geographical boundaries.

Let’s take a glance at some key data:

• The E-commerce market in the Philippines experienced significant growth in 2022, expanding by an estimated 31.3% to reach a value of PHP 500.9 billion (USD 9.8 billion). This surge is attributed to a growing trend of consumers transitioning from offline to online purchases, as reported by GlobalData.
• Research from Shopify Plus (2023) shows that 84% of E-commerce businesses using comprehensive market research reported higher conversion rates.

So why is market research so crucial for E-commerce? Here are some reasons:

• Identifies Customer Needs: Through market research, you can discover what your customers really want, enabling you to tailor your products, services, and their overall customer experience.
• Guides Your Pricing Strategy: Knowing your market helps you price products competitively, maximizing your profitability without sacrificing customer appeal.
• Uncovers Market Trends: In E-commerce, trends can change at lightning speed. Regular market research keeps you in the loop, ready to adapt and innovate.
• Analyzes Your Competition: Understanding your competition equips you to differentiate your brand and get ahead of your competitors.

Check out: How to Start an E-commerce Business in the Philippines

What is Market Research?

Market research is a practice that, at its core, involves gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data about the market, customers, competitors, and potential areas of growth. As a compass for your business, market research provides valuable insights that can guide your decisions and strategies.

How does a Market Research Process work?

The process of market research, like any scientific endeavor, follows a clear, sequential approach:

Step 1: Define Your Research Objectives

What do you need to find out? Your objectives guide your research, keeping it focused and effective.

Step 2: Identify Your Target Market

Who are your current and potential customers? Knowledge of your audience ensures your findings are relevant.

Step 3: Collect and Analyze Data

Here’s where you dive deep, gathering data from a variety of sources and using analytical tools to interpret it.

Step 4: Implement Findings

Once you’ve gathered insights, it’s time to put them to work, shaping your business strategies based on what you’ve learned.

Understanding Market Research Basics

Understanding the basics of market research allows your journey through the E-commerce landscape to become strategic, effective, and ultimately, more profitable.

Primary vs Secondary Market Research

Think of market research as a treasure hunt. In this scenario, data is your treasure and comes in two types: primary and secondary.

Primary market research involves gathering new data directly from your target audience. Methods might include online surveys, interviews, or focus groups. For instance, a 2022 Shopify survey found that 75% of successful E-commerce stores conduct regular customer surveys to drive their business strategy.

In contrast, secondary market research relies on existing data collected by other entities, such as industry reports, studies, or online databases. For example, the 2021 eMarketer report on global E-commerce trends is a valuable secondary research resource.

Qualitative vs Quantitative Market Research

In market research, you’ll find different kinds of data: qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative market research is all about exploring. It seeks to understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind consumer behavior. This kind of data is typically collected through methods like interviews and focus groups. It’s like a conversation that provides rich insights into customer motivations, preferences, and feelings.

On the other hand, quantitative market research focuses on the ‘what’ and ‘how many’. It’s about measuring and quantifying aspects of your market through statistical and mathematical analysis. Methods can include online polls or surveys. A simple example would be a poll asking, “How many times a month do you shop online for clothes?”

Types of Market Research Data 

(Demographic, Psychographic, Behavioral, Geographical)

Lastly, when you collect data, it’s crucial to know what kind you’re after. In market research, there are four main types:

• Demographic Data: This is basic information about your customers, like age, gender, income, education, and occupation. For example, a 2023 Nielsen report stated that individuals aged 18-34 make up the largest demographic group of online shoppers.
• Psychographic Data: This data type uncovers the less tangible aspects of your audience, like attitudes, interests, values, and lifestyle. A company might use this data to create buyer personas for targeted marketing.
• Behavioral Data: Here, you’re studying consumer behaviors, like buying habits, brand loyalty, and user engagement. For instance, if your E-commerce store sells fitness products, you might want to know how frequently customers buy new workout gear.
• Geographical Data: This is about where your customers live, which can significantly impact their buying behavior. For instance, customers in colder climates might be more likely to buy winter clothing from your E-commerce store.

How to do Market Research

Step 1: Identifying the Objective of Your Market Research

Defining Your Research Questions

Setting out on your market research journey, it’s crucial to know where you’re heading. This is where defining your research questions comes in. These questions are your ‘destination,’ guiding what data you gather and how you interpret it.

Questions might be broad, like, “Who is my target audience?” Or specific, such as, “What price range are my customers comfortable with for product X?” Remember, your questions should directly tie back to your business needs and goals.

Determining the Kind of Information Needed

The type of data you’ll need depends on your research questions. For example, if your question is about identifying your target audience, you’ll want demographic and psychographic data. If it’s about pricing, you’ll need data on customer purchasing power and market pricing trends.

By knowing exactly what kind of information you need, you avoid collecting unnecessary data, saving time and resources. Moreover, focusing your data collection also improves the quality and relevance of your findings.

Setting Realistic Goals for Your Research

Setting clear and realistic goals for your market research is like marking checkpoints on your journey. These are the tangible outcomes you aim to achieve through your research.

For example, a realistic goal could be, “Identify the top three competitors in the market for product Y within two weeks.” By setting a specific aim and timeline, you ensure your research remains focused and productive.

However, be mindful of the limitations. As per a 2022 eMarketer study, beginners in market research often set overly ambitious goals, which can lead to frustration and incomplete research. It’s better to start small, learn, and then gradually take on larger research projects.

Step 2: Target Market Identification

Identifying Your Potential Customers

Your first step in market research is to identify your potential customers. They are the people who need your product, have the ability to purchase it, and have the authority to make the buying decision.

For example, if you’re selling eco-friendly baby products, your potential customers might be environmentally-conscious parents or expectant mothers. To identify these potential customers, you could analyze trends in eco-friendly purchases, consider age groups most likely to have young children, and look at forums or social media groups dedicated to eco-parenting.

Understanding Customer Behavior and Preferences

After identifying your potential customers, you must understand their behavior and preferences. This means delving into how they make their purchasing decisions, what they value in a product or service, and their shopping habits.

Data from a 2023 Nielsen report revealed that 53% of online consumers value convenience over price. If your target market shares this sentiment, it might be more beneficial for you to focus on making your purchasing process as simple and quick as possible, rather than competing on price.

Analyzing Customer Demographics and Psychographics

To understand your target market more comprehensively, you must analyze their demographics (age, gender, income, education) and psychographics (values, interests, lifestyle, personality traits).

Let’s continue with our eco-friendly baby products example. Demographically, your audience might be parents aged 20-40, with medium to high income levels, and a college education. Psychographics-wise, they might value sustainability, have an interest in organic lifestyle choices, and prefer brands that align with their values.

By understanding both demographic and psychographic data, you can effectively cater to your audience’s needs, wants, and values, and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.

Step 3: Competitor Analysis

Identifying Key Competitors

Identifying who these key competitors are is a crucial first step in competitor analysis. They could be businesses offering similar products, targeting the same audience, or even those operating within your niche.

A simple way to start is by doing a Google search for your product or service category. The businesses appearing at the top are likely to be your key competitors, given their visibility to customers.

Analyzing Competitors’ Strategies and Performance

Once you’ve identified your key competitors, the next step is to analyze their strategies and performance. What are they doing that’s working? What are they doing that’s not?

Look at their marketing campaigns, social media presence, customer engagement strategies, product offerings, and pricing. For example, if a competitor is having great success with influencer marketing, it might be a strategy worth considering for your business too.

However, it’s also important to monitor their performance over time. A 2022 study by SEMRush found that 67% of E-commerce businesses that regularly track their competitors’ performance have a higher growth rate compared to those that don’t.

SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

To get a well-rounded view of your competitors, conduct a SWOT analysis. This involves identifying their strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) and the opportunities and threats they present to your business (external factors).

• Strengths: What do they do well? This could be a well-designed website, a strong brand, or a diverse product range.
• Weaknesses: Where do they fall short? Perhaps their customer service is lacking, or their pricing is uncompetitive.
• Opportunities: How can you take advantage of their weaknesses? For example, if a competitor’s shipping times are long, offering faster delivery could give you an edge.
• Threats: How might their strengths affect your business? If a competitor has a strong reputation, this could make it harder for your business to gain market share.

Remember, a competitor analysis isn’t about copying what others are doing. It’s about understanding the market landscape to navigate your business successfully and uniquely.

Step 4: Market Analysis

Examining Industry Trends and Conditions

Keep an eye on new technologies, shifts in consumer behavior, regulatory changes, and emerging market opportunities. For example, a 2023 trend in E-commerce is the rising popularity of shopping via social media platforms, often referred to as “social commerce.”

Understanding these trends allows you to adapt your strategies and stay relevant in a dynamic marketplace.

Assessing Market Size and Growth Potential

It indicates the number of potential customers and the revenue you could generate.

To assess market size, look at the number of customers currently buying products similar to yours. If you’re selling organic skincare products, find data on how many people are buying organic skincare. A 2022 report from Grand View Research projected that the global organic skincare market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.1% from 2022 to 2028. This signals a potentially increasing market size.

Assessing growth potential helps you estimate how much your market could expand in the future. High growth potential indicates a promising market.

Understanding Market Segmentation

Market segmentation divides your larger market into smaller segments based on shared characteristics like demographics, psychographics, behavior, and geography.

For instance, in the organic skincare market, one segment might be women aged 30-45, living in urban areas, who value sustainable products and shop online. Another segment could be younger consumers, aged 18-25, who are interested in cruelty-free cosmetics.

Understanding your market segments allows you to tailor your marketing efforts, cater to specific needs, and ultimately, connect more effectively with your customers.

Step 6: Implementing Market Research Methods

Surveys and Questionnaires

Surveys and questionnaires are like your compass in market research, guiding you to valuable customer insights. They can provide a wealth of information about customer behaviors, preferences, and attitudes. 

Online survey platforms, such as SurveyMonkey or Google Forms, are easy to use and offer a wide reach. However, the key is to design clear, concise questions that directly relate to your research objectives.

Interviews

They allow for a deep dive into individual experiences and perceptions. You can conduct interviews in person, over the phone, or through video conferencing platforms. While they can be time-consuming, the qualitative insights obtained are often rich and detailed.

Focus Groups

They involve a small group of people discussing their perceptions, opinions, and attitudes towards a product or service. 

A 2021 report from MarketResearch.com highlighted the value of focus groups in eliciting diverse views and identifying common themes. Remember, effective focus groups require careful planning and skilled moderation.

Online Analytics Tools and Techniques

They track and analyze online behavior, offering invaluable insights. Tools like Google Analytics can show you where your website traffic is coming from, how long visitors stay, and what they click on. It’s a powerful way to understand your online performance and optimize your strategies.

Social Media Monitoring

It involves tracking conversations and mentions of your brand or products on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Tools like Brand24 or Mention can help with this. It’s a useful way to gauge sentiment around your brand and stay responsive to customer needs.

Step 7: Collecting and Analyzing Data

Data Collection Techniques

The collected data could be from the market research methods we’ve discussed earlier, like surveys and questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, analytics tools, and social media monitoring. Each method has its strengths and can be chosen based on what suits your research objectives best.

For example, if you want to understand your audience’s opinions about your new product design, you might use a combination of online surveys for quantitative data, and interviews for more in-depth qualitative insights.

Data Analysis Techniques

Once you’ve gathered your data, you need to decode it. That’s where data analysis comes in. Techniques can range from simple descriptive statistics (like averages and percentages) to more complex inferential statistics (like correlation and regression analysis).

In E-commerce, a popular data analysis technique is conversion rate optimization (CRO), which involves analyzing your online visitors’ behavior to increase the percentage that convert into customers.

Drawing Conclusions and Insights from the Data

Insights answer your research questions, inform your strategies, and guide your E-commerce decisions.

For instance, if your survey data shows that 80% of respondents prefer eco-friendly packaging, and your social media monitoring reveals positive sentiment around brands using sustainable materials, an insightful conclusion could be to transition to greener packaging for your products.

Remember, the value of data lies in the insights you can extract and the actions you take based on those insights.

Step 8: Applying Market Research to E-commerce Strategy

Using Insights to Develop Product Offering

Your research could reveal a gap in the market or a unique customer need, inspiring you to develop a product to meet it. For instance, if your research reveals a rising trend for vegan skincare in 2023, you might consider developing a line of vegan skincare products.

Implementing Data Insights into Pricing Strategy

Pricing is a tricky aspect of E-commerce strategy, but market research can simplify it. By understanding what customers are willing to pay and what competitors are charging, you can find the sweet spot for your pricing. 

For example, if your research shows customers value premium ingredients in skincare products and are willing to pay more for them, you might consider a higher price point for your organic skincare line.

Integrating Market Research into Marketing and Promotional Strategies

Insights on customer behavior, preferences, and market trends can inform your marketing messaging, choice of marketing channels, and promotional tactics. 

For instance, if your research shows that your target customers are active on Instagram, a strategic move would be to enhance your presence there with regular posts and paid ads.

Influencing Customer Service and User Experience Based on Research

Market research can reveal customer expectations, pain points, and preferences, helping you to fine-tune your customer service and UX. If data shows customers value quick responses to queries, investing in a live chat service on your website could significantly enhance their experience.

Conclusion

Let’s remember, E-commerce is not just about selling products online; it’s about understanding your customers and meeting their needs in ways that distinguish you from the competition. This understanding comes from data and insights – which can lead you on a path of discovery and growth.

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