Market research and application in e-commerce business

27Aug2024

B&Company

The concept of market research

Market research (or “marketing research”) is not a new concept but is still not really understood and popular in Vietnam. In theory, market research is a process of collecting, processing, and analyzing information systematically to provide perspectives for managers and business owners, serving planning and decision making. Market research has been around for a long time and has been applied worldwide for many years at global companies and corporations such as Abbott, Unilever, P&G… In Vietnam, market key players in areas such as consumer goods (Masan), food and dairy products (Vinamilk), banking and finance (Techcombank) are also known for regularly implementing internal market research projects.

However, it must be admitted that in reality, conducting market research is a task that requires human resources, time and costs. A standard market research project can last from 1 to 3 months with a budget ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of VND. Obviously, this is a significant barrier for businesses, especially start-ups in the early stage or small and medium-sized enterprises. The above obstacles have resulted in a large proportion of businesses in Vietnam not being interested in or having a need for market research. Especially in e-commerce, where sales turnover is dizzyingly fast, many businesses prioritize sales and operations over research. But is that a long-term and sustainable direction? The answer is no. If a business only relies on sales without understanding core values (including understanding customers and its own brand value), when the market or sales reach saturation, or a change occurs (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), any companies that does not grasp the above factors will find it difficult to take advantage of them to develop timely strategies.

So how has market research been and is being applied in e-commerce? Let’s explore the 2 case studies below to see the values of this work.

Case study 1. Netflix successfully researches to evaluate the potential for new product development

Case study 2. Amazon has not been able to succeed in China because it cannot grab the market’s characteristics

Trends of applying market research in e-commerce

The above two cases are clear evidence of the effectiveness of market research in business, including e-commerce models. Along with the development of the Internet, social networks and many other technological advances, market research in the e-commerce sector is also evolving in many different forms. Among them, the most popular are Online Desk Research, Social Research / Social Listening and Platform Data Analytics.

Recommendations for e-commerce businesses in Vietnam

Implementing market research not only solves immediate business problems but also aims at many long-term values for businesses such as understanding the market and building brand positioning. In terms of efficiency, market research also supports business planning and saves more cost in the testing stages (a step that can require a lot of marketing costs). Thus, e-commerce businesses should consider applying market research and choose the form that best suits their scale and goals.

Some recommendations for e-commerce businesses in Vietnam to start paying attention to market research

– Learn the basics of market reseach and cases where market research should be applied in business operations
– In the short term, businesses can coordinate with agencies specializing in market research to receive advice on the most optimal implementation methods
– In the long term, businesses can gradually build a suitable team of staff and systems to conduct internal research themselves

B&Company, Inc.

The first Japanese company specializing in market research in Vietnam since 2008. We provide a wide range of services including industry reports, industry interviews, consumer surveys, business matching. Additionally, we have recently developed a database of over 900,000 companies in Vietnam, which can be used to search for partners and analyze the market.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.

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