The analysis of market competitors in marketing is one of the most important first steps in the development of the marketing strategy. It includes a detailed research of the activities of the main players in the industry, starting with the analysis of prices, advertising, assortment and ending with a detailed SWOT analysis of competitors. Correct analysis and evaluation of the company’s competitive environment allow creating a sustainable competitive advantage of the product, choosing the right communication channels and reducing operational risks. We recommend adhering to the following rules of competitive market analysis: clearly understand the objectives of analyzing the activities of competitors (analyze and collect information can be infinite, the main thing to collect it purposefully), preliminarily determine the boundaries of competition and identify key competitors, not to refuse to conduct marketing research of competitors. When is competitor analysis necessary? The main goal of competitive analysis of any industry or market is to obtain sufficient information about the strengths and weaknesses of the competitor, about his strategy, intentions, and opportunities to improve the effectiveness of his actions. A comparative analysis of competitors in the industry can be carried out in great detail (up to prediction of the behavior of competitors for several years in advance) and can be carried out sufficiently capacitively to solve short-term problems. Possible situations in which competitive environment analysis is required:

– development of marketing strategy, product positioning

– forecast sales plan – development of assortment and product policy

– pricing

– product development: selection of properties and key product characteristics

– development of product promotion strategy