Staying ahead of competitors in the banking, financial services, and insurance domains is the most important step in business growth. The first step to becoming a market leader is to understand your competitors. Competitor analysis thoroughly examines the competitor’s strengths, weaknesses, market positioning, and more. With a robust fintech market research partner, a company can conduct solid competitor analysis and get insights needed to understand its market position relative to their competitors.

Leveraging fintech market research can help your BFSI company gather and analyze data on various aspects of your competitors, including pricing strategies, product offerings, customer satisfaction levels, and marketing tactics. Insights from market research assist your business in benchmarking its performance and uncovering market gaps while predicting future trends. A comprehensive understanding of the competitive landscape allows BFSI companies to make informed strategic decisions, innovate their product lines, and enhance customer engagement strategies.

Understanding Competitors

Competitor analysis for a company involves systematically studying, understanding, and gathering information about rival forms to gain strategic insights. Some of the critical areas of focus while conducting a competitor analysis are:

  1. Products: The first aspect one should evaluate while conducting a competitor analysis is the competitors’ product offerings. This identifies gaps and opportunities in offerings and gives scope for innovation.

  2. Pricing: Understanding your competitors’ pricing strategies aids in positioning products competitively while guaranteeing profitability.

  3. Marketing strategies: Companies can analyze marketing and promotional tactics to get insights into effective communication and branding techniques.

  1. Customer Base: Studying competitors’ customer demographics and satisfaction levels helps you tailor your services to attract customers and retain clients.

  2. Financial Performance: Assess your competitors’ financial health to understand how they make and execute their financial decisions and plans.

A practical competitor analysis through market research enables you to make informed, strategic decisions that ensure sustained growth and competitive advantage.

Tools and Techniques for Competitive Analysis in BFSI

When conducting competitive analysis, there are some standard tools and techniques that market research companies follow. These strategies help them demystify the process and bring about some organization. Here’s an overview of the various tools and techniques used in market research for competitive analysis in the BFSI sector:

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis (SWOT)

SWOT analysis helps BFSI companies understand the internal and external factors influencing their competitors. These insights help identify your company’s strengths and weaknesses and position you to differentiate yourself.

  • Strengths: These key points cover factors or instances of a competitor’s internal strengths, such as a strong brand reputation, robust financial health, and technological capabilities.
  • Weaknesses: These key points pinpoint areas competitors may lack, such as a limited product range, poor customer service, or regulatory challenges.
  • Opportunities: This section explores external opportunities that competitors might leverage, like emerging markets, new financial technologies, or regulatory changes.
  • Threats: Knowing what threatens the competitor helps your company assess external threats that could impact competitors, including economic downturns, increased competition, or disruptive technologies.

Political, Economic, Social, and Technological Analysis (PEST)

PEST analysis is used in conjunction with SWOT to obtain a macro-environmental perspective. It helps BFSI companies anticipate changes in the external environment that could affect their competitive position. This type of analysis is leveraged when companies want to gauge external factors that could impact profitability. This analysis method is effective within larger organizations, which are more likely to experience the myriad effects of macro-events.

  • Political: Examine the impact of political factors on competitors, such as regulatory changes, tax policies, and trade restrictions.
  • Economic: Analyze conditions affecting competitors, including interest rates, inflation, and economic growth.
  • Social: Understand social trends that influence consumer behavior and preferences, such as demographic changes and cultural shifts.
  • Technological: Evaluate the technological advancements that competitors are adopting or might adopt in the future.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Porter’s Five Forces analysis gives BFSI companies an avenue to understand the competitive dynamics of their industry and devise various strategies to improve their market position.

  • Threat of New Entrants: Assess the likelihood of new companies entering the market and analyze the barriers to entry they might face.
  • Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Evaluate the power of suppliers in the BFSI sector and how they influence pricing and quality.
  • Bargaining Power of Customers: Understand customers’ power over pricing and service offerings.
  • Threat of Substitute Products or Services: Identify your company’s alternative products or services and anticipate those that could replace existing ones and affect market share.
  • Industry Rivalry: Analyze the intensity of competition among existing players in the BFSI sector.

How Market Research Companies Can Help BFSI Companies

Financial services market research providers can help BFSI companies conduct comprehensive competitor analyses, market trend evaluations, and consumer behavior studies, all of which are crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.

Expertise and Resources

With specialized expertise and resources at their disposal, market research providers have access to advanced analytical tools and technologies that can process vast amounts of data quickly. These firms have a team of experts with deep subject matter expertise and ensure that insights are both relevant and actionable. Additionally, market research companies maintain comprehensive databases and provide syndicated research reports offering industry-specific information that BFSI companies can leverage for business growth.

Custom Research Solutions

To cater to BFSI companies’ unique requirements, market research firms design and execute tailored research solutions that include conducting surveys, focus groups, and interviews. These processes gather primary data directly from consumers and industry stakeholders. Competitive benchmarking and market sizing are other critical services that assist BFSI companies in establishing their position. Market research companies also help in customer segmentation and audience persona development, enabling BFSI firms to target their marketing efforts effectively.

Benefits of Outsourcing Market Research

Outsourcing market research to specialized firms offers several advantages for BFSI companies. Market research giants such as Borderless Access can help conduct your research cost-effectively and time-efficiently, allowing you to focus on your core operations while the experts handle the research. Borderless Access also provides unbiased and objective insights that reduce the risk of internal biases influencing strategic decisions. Moreover, these insights enhance strategic decision-making capabilities, helping your BFSI company make informed choices that drive growth and improve competitive positioning.