Marketing Analytics

A Market Analytics is a documented investigation of a market that is used to inform a firm's planning activities particularly around decisions of inventory, purchase, work force expansion/contraction, facility expansion, purchases of capital equipment, promotional activities, and many other aspects of a company. The goal of a market analytics is to determine the attractiveness of a market, both now and in the future. Organizations evaluate the future attractiveness of a market by gaining an understanding of evolving opportunities and threats as they relate to that organization's own strengths and weaknesses.

Organizations use the findings to guide the investment decisions they make to advance their success. The findings of a market analytics may motivate an organization to change various aspects of its investment strategy. Affected areas may include inventory levels, a work force expansion/contraction, facility expansion, purchases of capital equipment, and promotional activities.

Markets are not uniform. Therefore it is also important for investors to identify and evaluate the various segments that make up the total market. This analytics helps organization determines which areas account for the greatest share of the market's growth and are more susceptible to change. This information, in turn, helps them pinpoint the most promising opportunities within the overall market and guides the choice of specific investments.

The literature defines several areas in which market analysis is important. These include: sales forecasting, market research, and marketing strategy. Not all managers will need to conduct a market analysis. Nevertheless, it is important for managers that use market analytics data to how analysts derive their conclusions and what techniques they use to do so.