After the economic crisis of 2008, South Africa saw the fall of big corporations and the rise of millions more small businesses, as young South Africans started to get more and more resourceful in their search of prosperity, choosing to do their own thing in the wake of job scarcity. Due to this, big corporations are no longer the market leaders in various fields, as their competition grows stronger and stronger.

So how do companies make sure that their products perform best, that their products are perfect for the job at hand, or that they are focusing on the correct demographics and clients? The answer is simple: Market research.

According the American Marketing Association, Market research is:

"the process or set of processes that links the producers, customers, and end users to the marketer through information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications."

Without efficient market research, how would a company know who their competion is, or how their products compare to that of their closest competitors? How would a company know if their products are accurately priced?

Market research allows the company to connect with the client, allowing them to get into the client’s head, and know the client’s every need before even the client does. Predicting your client’s needs and moves are essential for a successful sales pitch – it sets the company above the competition, and gives the company the power to tailor-make products specifically designed for certain industries, groups or clients.

As such, market research is an extremely important aspect of any business, specifically those in the sales or retail industry.

Do your research – know how to sell your product. It’s as easy as that.