Published on May 08, 2010 Plan your website with DIY market research
It’s time that more Australian businesses took advantage of the huge online shopping market potential that’s there before international competitors take all of the market. The statistics are clear that Australians want to shop online. But if they can’t get good local shopping options, they’ll buy off shore:
- Research giant Forrester Research is predicting online spending in Australia to grow to $32 billion by 2012
- Forecaster IBIS World predicting that there’s potential for the market of Australian shoppers going online could grow to $75 billion
- Australia’s online shopping industry still has a lot of untapped potential in spite of the global economy. This is because in countries with mature online markets like the United States and the UK, online sales are around 7-8% of total retail spend for the country, but recent statistics revealed in Australia suggest the level of online spend is around 3%.
What better time to be cementing your own place in the online world before your competition does! But if you want to run an online business and don’t have a massive budget for professional market research, how do you go about researching your market?
Market research tips for getting started online:
- Think of the industry you want to be in. What are you passionate about? If you’re not passionate about what you are selling there’s really no point because you won’t be able to weather the storm when the going gets tough.
- Look at what your competitors are doing in that industry. Read their blog as they will often share their ideas and direction, sometimes industry trends
- Go to the newsagent and buy some magazines about the industry you want to sell in. Magazines are full of useful ideas, tips and tricks that you might not have been aware of. Journalists get paid to distill information from a number of other sources so may have done your research for you. The key things to look at are what customers are concerned about, what is selling and what is not, what things are criticised and what things are praised. Are there any gaps that don’t seem to be covered?
- Think about your product and exactly who it will sell to. Draw a rough picture in your mind of the type of person who would benefit from having your product or service (don’t think about features, keep that word BENEFIT in mind). Try to picture that person who would buy your product. Why would they buy it? Would it be a gift? What would they think and feel before buying it? How much research would they want to do? How much information would they need to make a decision? Is it an in-depth purchase where the specifications matter, or is it an emotional one?
- Try to find people you know who fit the profile that you have defined above. Ask them for their honest opinions about the product or idea and what they need to make a decision. Find out what brands sell now.
- Go to a physical shop selling the same products. Look at how they market their product. How is it displayed? What questions do the salespeople ask you? What promotions are they running? What was your experience as a customer like? What would make you buy that product online instead of in the shop you visited? What concerns did you have?
- Crowdsource: run a competition or post in forums to get ideas from the others
- Google is your friend. Search for statistics on that industry, buy a report from a forecasting company, look at competitors websites and what products are their best sellers. Research what suppliers offer those products and how much it would cost to ship to you, what are their lead times, how reliable are those companies and what kinds of reviews can you read? Don’t limit yourself to Australian suppliers, spread your net wide.
- Read marketing forums for more ideas on market research. The ideas here are just to get you started. There are whole websites dedicated to this topic!
No Comments