Open Payment Gateway: Competitive Analysis - Why it's Critical for Businesses

Competitive analysis is key to shaping your business strategy. It determines your company's strengths and weaknesses in the marketplace, earning your business a clear advantage over direct and indirect competitors. Analysing your competitors also gives you a deeper understanding of your company.

If you're not sure how to conduct a competitive analysis, start by thinking about the following questions:

- Who are my competitors? Are they direct competitors?

Typically, a direct competitor is a company that sells the same products or services as you, or meets the same customer needs. This company may be larger, smaller or similar to your company.

- What are their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? This is known as a SWOT analysis. Is there a gap in the market that my company can fill? Are there gaps in the products and services offered by competitors? Finally, how can I use this information to increase my company's market share?

Delve into your competitors to find the answers to these questions.

Why is competitive analysis so important?

The benefits of competitive analysis are immense; it sets the pace and speed at which a business succeeds.

Know your strengths and weaknesses

This is where conducting a competitor SWOT analysis comes into play. Analysing the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses in the market.

Defining past, present and future business strategies

Analysing your competitors helps you develop an effective strategy for your company. Knowing where you stand in the market can provide you with early warning signs of threats and opportunities. Use this insight and foresight to take the steps that will lead you to your goals.

Understanding competitors' objectives and profiles

By knowing where your competitors are in the market, you can think about strategies to beat them or fill in the gaps.

Identify the elements you need to go beyond

You can learn from the successes and failures of other brands. This analysis establishes why unsuccessful companies fail, which helps you identify the key assets and skills you need to beat the competition.

Understanding threats to better respond

While analysing your competitors, you identify the threats and challenges posed by your competitors. This helps you to strengthen your company's strategy to cope with the competition.

Leveraging category convergence

Today, brands offer products in several different market segments. Brands are participating in segments that they have not historically been involved in. As a result, consumer perception of your brand plays a prominent role in defining competitive benchmarks.

What are the sources of information for researching competitors when conducting a competitive analysis?

Recorded data: Includes publicly available data such as annual reports, brochures, newspaper articles and press releases.

Observable data: data collected from multiple sources, such as competitor pricing, promotions, and patent applications.

Opportunity data: This type of data involves exclusive planning. It is basically obtained from clients, suppliers, seminars and conferences.

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