Finding Market Research Information for your eCommerce Site

If you are running a clicks-and-mortar business, i.e. your store has a physical, as well as an internet presence, then you are probably familiar with the concept of market research updates. Published via trade publications like “the Grocer” and “Engineer”, they are an important tool, showing new trends and developments as they happen.

If your e commerce business is pure-play i.e. entirely internet based, you still need market research information – but it’s not so easy to obtain. The market research companies furnishing e commerce firms know that online trade publications are rare. Therefore they charge astronomical amounts – sometimes hundreds of pounds – for you to have access to their information.

So how do you keep ahead of the game, without going bust? Well, for a start you could Google the market research firms’ websites, and check their press releases. You can also put in keywords relating to your area of expertise, plus the words “research study.” This will send you to article databases that will have abstracts of the latest findings. Other keywords you can try are “quantitative e commerce sites” and  “e commerce statistics aggregators.” Once on the sites, you can streamline the search to your area of expertise. You will only get the summaries for free – but that’s all you need.

Perhaps the best way, though, is the user generated content approach, where customers can leave feedback on your site re your own or other people’s products. This can be as simple as a short streaming media presentation; inviting browsers to take part in a short survey. UGC and streaming media are just two services we at MPP Global can offer your company.