How to identify and analyze direct competitors in the export market

In the export market, a manufacturer’s main competitors are usually well-known and powerful manufacturers in the industry, rather than exporters who are not manufacturers. Determining the specific identity of competitors can help companies develop more effective market strategies. This article will combine specific steps and methods to help you identify and analyze direct competitors in the export market.

Domestic and international competitor positioning

First of all, if your company ranks in the top two in domestic export market share, your main competitors should be internationally renowned manufacturers or exporters in the industry, that is, the top two companies in the export share of this product in other countries. . In addition, the other two companies in the top three in the country are also your direct competitors. It is worth noting that these competitors should have the same business model as your company, such as manufacturers or traders.

For enterprises that are not among the top two domestic exporters, their competitors should be similar enterprises whose export market share is not more than twice their own share and not less than 50%. This means that by comparing market shares, you can target a pool of potential competitors.

How to find international competitors

To find the top two exporters in other major exporting countries, you can do this through the following steps:

Step 1: List the main exporting countries

Determine the list of countries where your main competitors are based on United Nations trade statistics. For example, assume that these countries are Country-A, Country-B, etc.

Step 2: Search using a search engine

• Enter “largest Product-A producers” into Google to search.
• Replace “producers” with “manufacturers” and search again.
• Through the above operations, some of the largest producers in the world can be found, such as Producer-A, Producer-B, etc.
• If you only find one well-known producer, try searching for “largest Product-A producers + Producer-A” or “Producer-A + Producer-B”.

Step 3: Organize information

From the search results, mutual verification and sorting can usually be done to sort out a list of 2 to 5 of the world’s largest manufacturers. If you are lucky, you may be able to find information like “World top 100 Product-A manufacturers”, which will greatly simplify the workload. It should be noted that during the search process, special attention should be paid to collecting relevant industry websites and articles for further analysis.

Competitor information collection skills

In addition to finding international competitors through the above methods, the following methods can also be used to collect information about competitors:

By customer inquiry

Communicate with customers with good relationships and try to obtain competitors’ company brochures and product samples to learn more about competitors, including sensitive information such as prices.

Use Internet resources

Use search engines such as Google to determine the most commonly used English keywords for the product and then search. Targets include the manufacturer’s website, the website of the agent/seller, as well as the websites of newspapers, magazines and other media and exhibition websites used by competitors for marketing promotion. After finding these websites, you can learn more about the functions, features, technical specifications, prices and other details of competing products, and understand your competitors’ marketing strategies. It is recommended to bookmark these URLs to check for updates at any time.

In order to improve search efficiency, you can use product keywords in combination with words such as “manufacturer”, “producer”, “supplier” or “vendor” to directly locate the manufacturer. In addition, some agent/seller information can also be found by searching for “product name + price/sales”. As for the advertising placement status of competitors in traditional media, you can obtain it by contacting the editorial departments of relevant newspapers and magazines.

In summary, through in-depth research and analysis of domestic and foreign markets, companies can better position their competitive position and adjust their strategic directions accordingly, thereby remaining invincible in the fierce market competition.

Analysis of entry capabilities of potential competitors

Potential competitors are new players who may enter a particular market. These new entrants may bring new production capabilities and compete with existing companies for raw materials and market share, thereby affecting the profit level within the industry. Whether a potential competitor can successfully enter an industry depends on a variety of factors, including financial strength, entry barriers, and possible responses by existing companies. It is important for entrepreneurs to keep an eye on potential competitors and think about how to respond to these new challenges. Although most e-commerce platforms currently do not provide specific data analysis tools about potential competitors, this does not mean that companies can ignore this aspect of work. Instead, develop a deep understanding of your domain so you can detect and assess potential threats promptly.