Today’s market is very dynamic. And in this market, the wants and needs of consumers don’t stay the same for long periods of time. The free flow of information and advertising campaigns are making it difficult to paint a precise picture of the market.
Per capita incomes are increasing in the majority of the developed nations. And that change is making consumers more willing to become picky in regards to their shopping habits. Also, that change is an important factor that companies should monitor. Having the right information is the only way to make the right calls. And to do so, companies have to develop their own information gathering systems.
How to Measure Market Demand
Information Systems
To put it simply, information systems are there to gather and analyse data in order to help the decision makers. They consist of stakeholders, equipment, and operations the company can use to accomplish informational tasks. Namely, the company has to collect, analyse, and convey data to decision makers.
The system works by using the internal records the company holds, researching the market, and leveraging any other sources of information the company can get their hands on.
Internally, companies have the ability to analyse the way their products are performing. They can analyse the delivery cycle, the sales, and the potential issues of production.
Furthermore, companies can also analyse the consumption figures of other brands before launching similar products. With that data, they can optimise the inner workings of the production process. They can make sure that the order-to-delivery system works as quickly as possible thanks to proper preparation.
Most companies also want to understand consumer behaviour and demand for certain products. For that reason, they collect and analyse sales figures across various communities.
The Importance of Sales People
Salespeople are the faces of the company. They are the employees that are in direct contact with the consumers. And that makes them capable of spotting potential trends before anyone else does. Naturally, it is not an easy task. So companies should do well to train salespeople to spot trends and report on them.
Another way of using people to gather data is to send decoys into their retail stores to evaluate customer service. Also, this method can be put to use to analyse the way the competition operates in order to “one-up” it.
The Market Research
The main task of the information systems is to report potential issues and trends to the company. From there, the data goes directly to the market research teams that work to analyse it. The most common way their procedures work is by defining the issue, developing a research plan, collecting new data, analysing it, and presenting the solution. In order for market research to be successful, the information teams have to execute every step carefully.
Research plan development usually includes the creation of a blueprint for data collection. However, companies should be very careful with the costs of research, as it can be very expensive.
The data collection is usually done by reaching out to the consumers and collecting information from them. Once they have the data, researchers will use some of their various techniques to analyse the data and present their findings to the relevant members of the company.
Marketing managers will then use the findings to find newer ways to promote their products. However, they are also a part of the market research team in most companies. They can leverage technological advances to make the most out of the resources they have.
It is quite common for marketing managers to use various statistical tools or models. In fact, the advances in technology and software are making it a lot easier for marketing managers to decide which pricing and budgeting methods are the most likely to be successful.
If marketing managers are happy with the results of their research, they can take the next step. And that step is calculating the market size, growth potential, and other relevant factors. With those numbers, they can start estimating the market demand for certain products.
The managers can create those estimates by taking into consideration the total sales of certain products according to various factors. It is important to consider the market segments, customer sets, and time limitations.
After all, the market of today belongs to the consumers. So with that in mind, it is of utmost importance to understand how the consumers think. And companies have to employ every tool at their disposal to get a deep understanding of their customers.
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