Analytics and intelligence
Market intelligence
Information about a market — its size, players, prices and trends — gathered to inform strategy.
In practice
Web data makes it continuous rather than annual.
Set the scope of the market
Market intelligence combines observations about customers, competitors, products and conditions to support a decision. Define the geography, category, channel and time period first. A dataset covering selected online retailers is evidence about that observed channel, not automatically a complete measure of the market’s size or sales.
Example: assessing an assortment opportunity
A retailer may observe that several competitors are expanding a product type while its own range remains unchanged. That is a signal to investigate. Check whether the apparent growth comes from genuinely new products, additional sellers or duplicated listings. Combine the observation with demand and commercial evidence before treating competitor assortment growth as proof of an attractive opportunity.
Separate facts from interpretation
Keep collected facts, derived metrics and analyst conclusions distinguishable. Document coverage gaps and collection dates, and compare like-for-like samples over time. Public listing counts and prices can describe visible supply, but they do not directly reveal unit sales or profitability. A useful intelligence output explains the evidence and uncertainty behind a recommendation, not just the recommendation itself.
Import.io supplies the external web data behind market, competitive and alternative-data programs, delivered on the cadence decisions need.
Data for analytics providers →