The content of international market research is also multifaceted, and cross-border e-commerce companies should conduct research on various issues related to trade. Generally speaking, there are the following points:
(1) Country research. Since there are many differences among countries in the world, it is necessary to study the specific conditions of different countries, understand and analyze the characteristics of different markets, so as to make our business activities more planned and less blind. Country research mainly studies the overall economic development of a country (such as research on national production accounting account indicators, as well as industrial production, orders, fixed capital investment indicators, employment and unemployment, trade indicators, stocks and other securities, international balance of payments indicators, etc.), economic policies, market size, market competition and other aspects.
(2) Customer research. Customer research is one of the important contents of international market research, because it is directly related to the selection of what kind of foreign businessmen or traders to trade, as well as the size of the transaction amount, whether it can open up product sales and other issues. On the one hand, we need to understand the situation of foreign manufacturers with whom we have trade relations, such as the amount of capital, operating capacity, credit, business scope, organizational structure, etc. On the other hand, we need to understand the situation of foreign manufacturers’ trade with us, such as historical business contacts, annual transaction volume, contract execution, etc.
(3) Product research. This mainly refers to the study of the supply and demand of products, their own conditions (such as product performance, quality, volume, packaging, color, trademark and after-sales service, etc.), consumers’ attitudes towards a certain product, the stage of the product’s life cycle, the demand elasticity and supply elasticity of the product, as well as the competition situation, development and changes, new product development, etc.
(4) Price research. The price issue is a key issue in transactions and an important part of market research. The success of a transaction and whether a commodity can open or expand sales in the international market will ultimately be reflected in the commodity transaction price. Price research mainly studies the formation, change rules, price elasticity, pricing policies and strategies of commodity prices in the international market, as well as the factors affecting international market price changes, so as to grasp the rules and characteristics of price changes and provide reference and basis for setting appropriate prices.