Competitive intelligence covers the strategies realized by analyzing the data collected in the context of many marketing factors, especially the competitor and customer parameters. The correct use of this data adds vital importance to the company in a competitive environment. As a matter of fact, it provides many advantages in the competitive environment by analyzing and using the correct data while also allowing the enterprise to reach its target audience.

Competitive Intelligence for CPGs and Retailers

In today's business environment, the entry of new competitors to the market and the rapid change in new product presentation have become difficult situations for businesses to manage. To be effective and proactive, organizations need to respond to the opportunities, challenges, risks, and limitations created by the external environment. 

In order to manage this change and minimize possible risks, businesses need to obtain and analyze data and information about their competitors in the market. At this point, it is vital for the enterprise to access the data of the current market, analyze them skillfully, to produce and follow a strategy accordingly.

From Data to Insights: The Importance of Competitive Intelligence

The concept of competitive intelligence; It can be argued that it resembles concepts such as competitor intelligence, information management, market research, and espionage. However, these concepts are all different from each other. Competitive intelligence, which provides an important transformation with the position approach in strategic management, consists of the process of collecting, compiling, classifying, and transmitting data to the strategists and decision-makers of the enterprise for analysis with the support of artificial intelligence in order to monitor what their competitors are doing in order to find a position in the market and to maintain this position.

While information management focuses on the acquisition and transformation of information within the business, competitive intelligence focuses on obtaining information on external events that affect the business. Competitive intelligence and market research approaches have quite different forms in terms of information collection and analysis. From this point of view, the private information of the enterprises, which is like knowledge, experience, or know-how, is not shared with other enterprises. The data that each business needs differ from each other. In this context, Vispera analyzes the market data needed by the businesses, especially the suppliers, with the support of visual intelligence & AI and provides services in the context of the product, service, or quality that the business needs.

How Vispera works: 

  • Vispera reports the data collected from the field after processing it according to the needs of the customer with the support of advanced artificial intelligence and making it meaningful. 
  • Without sharing any confidential data of the customers with others, only the data that can be accessed by everyone from the field are analyzed, and reports are made. 
  • The reports obtained by analyzing the field data with artificial intelligence are scaled according to the needs of the customers. 
  • At this point, the analysis of the visuals and field data coming to Vispera becomes the most basic operation.

With flexible data connectivity tools, you can effectively use all aspects of Vispera to reach all retail channels and enable your field team to create actionable reports.

What are Internal and External Sources of Competition Intelligence Data, and How do Retailers use them?

Retail businesses can improve their field operations with competitor analysis and competitive intelligence. In this context, the main field supports provided by competitive intelligence are

  • It plays an active role in the emergence of business opportunities or problems that will enable proactive strategies to be effective
  • Provides a foundation for continuous improvement
  • It helps to reveal competitor strategies
  • Supports the acceleration of globalization by providing rapidity for market applications; It increases the probability of continuity of the business
  • Increases the business volume
  • It allows the customers to be evaluated better
  • Improves understanding of external influences
  • Analyze market trends
  • Enhance product offerings
  • Better decision-making

Product Assortment: The Component of Competitive Intelligence

One of the most beneficial areas of competition analysis is the product type that is shaped according to the market. Businesses that are in search of unique products compared to their competitors can better analyze the products or services so that they can stand out and have a say in the market with competitive intelligence. 

At this point, using Vispera's advanced artificial intelligence tools, the data in the market is analyzed and evaluated. The reference information that Vispera has as a result of market research is analyzed at this point and provides data that best meets business needs. You can optimize your price offers or product selection by identifying products or services that can be at the forefront of inventory or stock or meet the need for diversity.

Trends & Best Practices of Competitive Intelligence

Competitive intelligence in retail has many benefits, and as the industry is adopting the technology, we see new trends emerging. Thanks to the shelf data coming to Vispera, field data is analyzed, and reports are created. In these reports, the information of the enterprises is never shared. In addition, the data that can be easily accessed by everyone is researched and analyzed on a large scale and organized according to the needs of the customers. It is possible to list the areas where the obtained reporting data is mainly used as follows:

Product Trends

Among the main data presented in product trends, which is one of the most prominent points of competitive intelligence, are the following:

  • Product Variety
  • Inventory analysis
  • Supply – Demand Balance
  • Analysis and evaluation of trend products depending on the period

Competitive Pricing Trends

Although you are knowledgeable in terms of product variety and inventory, if you do not have detailed information about market pricing, you may not be able to create accurate pricing and price offers. As a result, products or services that do not have correct pricing and pricing studies tend to disappear from the market. Thanks to the competitive intelligence data provided by Vispera, you can determine your pricing with a more accurate strategy. Based on this data, optimized product–service pricing becomes much more effective. 

Cross Merchandising

Cross Merchandising provides customers can purchase products that complement each other, as well as products that they are interested in. To give an example of Cross Merchandising, which we encounter every time we shop in our daily life, situations such as snacks next to the alcohol aisle, and similar content next to Youtube videos are examples of Cross Merchandising. Cross Merchandising, which enables the marketing of complementary products to customers, has recently gained importance with the reporting of physical store operations. It is possible to cross-market effectively with the data you can obtain, thanks to Competitive Intelligence.

Meet Your Competitive Intelligence Solution for Retail: Vispera

Competitive intelligence helps managers understand the information they need to know about current and future competition, their organizations’ strengths and weaknesses, the financial status of large customers in the market, how to make a detailed analysis of current products, and what new technologies competitors are using. The dynamic process of acquiring, evaluating, integrating, distributing, and using knowledge is critical to developing organizational capabilities and realizing competitive advantages. The quality of competitive intelligence is listed as its accuracy, usability, depth, relevance, responsiveness/affordability, and acquisition at the right time.

Adding value to brands with advanced artificial intelligence systems in terms of competitive analysis, Vispera has an extremely useful infrastructure for retailers and businesses. In this context, it enables the operator to have a say in the market with the market competition analysis obtained from both market research and reference data.