Market research is the starting point of marketing. For cross-border e-commerce, there are many environmental factors involved and the situation is complicated. Doing a good job in market research can make enterprises get twice the result with half the effort. The purpose of market research is to provide a scientific basis for market forecasting and business decision-making, that is, to provide an objective and correct basis for enterprises to understand the current situation and development trends of the market and for decision-makers of enterprises to formulate policies, make market forecasts, make business decisions, and formulate plans. Generally speaking, market research is divided into macro market research and micro market research.
Macro market research refers to the analysis of the main social forces that cause market opportunities and environmental threats to corporate marketing activities and the discovery of new market opportunities. The purpose of macro market research is to grasp the market development trend, better understand the environment, adapt to the social environment and its changes through corporate marketing efforts, and achieve the marketing goals of the company. In marketing activities, trends are a huge potential energy. Following the trend is like sailing with the wind, and going against the trend is like sailing against the current. Only by studying and grasping the trend can marketing activities be carried out smoothly.
In strategic management, macro market research can be simply summarized as PEST research, that is, studying the macro environment of the market from four aspects: politics, economy, society and technology. As explained in Chapter 1, six factors that have a greater impact on cross-border e-commerce are selected: demography, law, culture, ethics, geography and nature, which are collectively called the “Ten Factors of Macro Marketing Environment” with PEST.