Market research and competitive analysis in the fashion industry (2023)

Are you a clothing company in the fashion industry? That's great!

However, as you already know, the apparel industry is valued at1.9 trillion.

By far the most prominent apparel market is the United States and some of thetop earning clothing brandsThese include famous houses such as:

• Other Marines
• Geheimnis victories
• gap
• American Eagle outfitter
• Coach

So how do you successfully compete with such world-renowned names? In fact: Just trying to gain a foothold as an established clothing label is a huge challenge.

But it's not impossible.

It's about choosing the right products and managing them profitably.

How to do it: Effective preparation is one of the most important steps in launching a new product line – this includes market research and competitive analysis.

What do these terms mean? And why are they so important?

In this article, we explain everything you need to know to skyrocket your clothing brand. And also advise how you can conveniently carry out both types of research with EpiProdux.

Let's begin!

What is market research and competitive analysis?

market research

Market research involves gathering information about the needs of your potential customers and determining how profitable your new products (or business) will be in today's highly competitive fashion industry. You can conduct market research to develop a clear idea of ​​your target market, get opinions from actual consumers who are likely to buy your products, and reduce the risk of bringing goods to market that nobody wants or needs.

Market research puts you in direct contact with potential consumers who have the shopping experience to provide valuable and actionable feedback.

Use market research to:

• Recognize your target customer's pain points, expectations and preferences;
• Segment markets to deliver the right products and messages to the right consumers;
• Discover new markets and the potential they offer;
• Identify new product development opportunities and test them to determine feasibility;
• Gather price point information to tailor it to customers' spending habits;
• Prioritize the most valuable and popular products based on trends and feedback, helping you increase sales and reach a broader customer base;
• Experiment with marketing techniques and messages;
• Gain insights into your competitors;
• Learn more about customer satisfaction and how you can promote it with your products and services.

Analysis of the competitive landscape

Your clothing company has many competitors.

This is inevitable.

It's the nature of business.

You may have direct competitors (targeting the same audience with a similar product) and/or indirect competitors (targeting the same audience but with a different product).

However, the number of your competitors and the scope of their activities will vary depending on your target market.

For example, you may have fewer competitors if your business specializes in high quality, luxury organic men's socks than if you want to make fashionable clothing for men and women in their 20's and 30's.

Those:attrition pact

OR

Those:Organic Basics

Regardless of your target market, however, competitive analysis is fundamental to understanding the level of competition you face.

Competitive landscape analysis includes several assessment areas:

• Company (sales, customers, branding)
• Products (properties, prices, manufacturing processes)
• Marketing methods (digital marketing, offline marketing, channels, customer service)

With competitive analysis, you can gather pretty much a wealth of data that will help you compete more effectively with competing brands.

Competitive analysis offers several advantages. It can help you:

• Define your Unique Value Proposition (RRP), also a powerful feature of EpiProdux;
• Prioritize your product development based on the elements customers value most;
• Make better products and provide better service by being aware of competitors' weaknesses;
• Set benchmarks to monitor and measure your growth over time;
• Identify market segments that your competitors may be overlooking and find new ways to capture more meaningful market share.
• Identify opportunities to bring products to an underserved population to differentiate from the competition.

How to conduct a competitive analysis

Competitive analysis is crucial. Not least because you can use their data to determine your goals, marketing strategies, tactics, new product lines, pricing and more. Use competitive analysis to:

• Determine how strong the competition is
• Find ways to stand out from the competition
• Set the price for your product

There are a few techniques to find out who your competitors really are. You can start with a Google search, but remember that this will only show you the competition that ranks in the search results. How to find your competition online:

1. Set the keywords related to your product and business
2. Google the terms and make a list of websites that rank in the top ten.
3. Check their offer to see if they are competitive.

In addition, you can also use various online tools to find out who your competitors are. The limitation with this technique is that the tools only really work for companies with a high volume of website traffic.

Here are some tools you can use to find competitors online:

• Alexa
• Google similar sites
• Spyflu
• Majestic
• Product Search
• Als Alternative
• Euler

Once you have a list of your real competitors, you can now dive into their data. Find out what keywords they are targeting, either through paid or organic search. Use tools likeAhrefsto determine which keywords they are targeting, which pages get the most traffic, and other important metrics.

Find out the following data for each relevant keyword:

• Keyword Volume: How many people search for this term per month;
• Keyword Difficulty: How difficult is it to rank for this keyword?
• CPC: How much are your competitors paying for clicks on these keywords?

How many competitors should you compare?

The answer depends on your time, budget and available resources. Of course, the more the merrier, but we have to be realistic about what can be achieved.

As a general rule of thumb, 3 to 5 of your biggest competitors would be a good place to start and should give you plenty of data.

keyword research

When conducting your market research, you MUST also do keyword analysis. While this is often used for SEO purposes, also use keyword research to understand what your audience is searching for, the intent behind their search, and the search terms that relate to your competitors.

Keyword research helps:

• Indicate the size and scope of the demand. The more people search for your product, the higher the demand;
• Determine the level of competition. The higher the CPC bids, the more intense your competition and the higher the purchase intention.

How to define your keywords

Before you dive into the data for specific keywords, you need to know which keywords are relevant to your business and product.

You can search forums, social media groups, and Q&A sites to find keywords. These are a gold mine of information. Find and save common phrases used by your target audience.

In addition, your competitors are also a valuable resource. Find out what search terms they are targeting either organically or in their paid advertising campaigns. There's a good chance if they've made the effort to create a landing page or ad campaign that targets a specific keyword, it's a valuable term. So find out which sites are driving the most traffic to your competitors' sites.

You can also use Google to find out the search terms. Just enter your ideas for keywords and see how it ranks. See if the top 10 results are similar to your product and have a similar intent. In addition, you can use Google Autosuggest and the search snippets to see what Google also comes up with first.

Armed with your keyword list, head over to EpiProdux. Enter keywords in the product profile to determine search volume, keyword difficulty, and average cost per click.

Your keyword research will help you decide what products customers want, what information they are looking for, and what the monthly demand for a product is.

Remember to consider the intent behind a search. Try to understand where a customer is on their buying journey. For example:

Informational Search Intent

Information searches refer to the beginning of a customer journey. The buyer informs himself how best to solve his problem. They are in pain, but they are not yet sure of the solution.

Examples of keywords are:

• Best material for hot weather
• Which hiking shoes are waterproof
• Best type of pan for frying

navigation search intent

Once a customer has learned more about their problem and found the type of product that solves their problem, they start looking for the specific product they need. These are navigational queries that lead a user to specific solutions.

Examples of keywords:

• walking boots
• Leinenhose

Commercial Search Intent

These are your money terms. Hooray!

When a customer has identified the exact solution to their pain and is ready to buy, the search terms become laser-focused on purchase intent. There you will find the highest CPCs.

Examples of keywords:

• Shop linen pants near me
• Waterproof jacket under $50

Examples of how fashion brands use market research and competitive analysis

New look

New Look avoids competing on highly competitive non-branded terms in paid advertising. Instead, they focus on bidding for branded keywords like this:

far-fetched

Farfetch gets more than4 millionVisitors per month through SEO tactics. This traffic comes from people searching for luxury fashion brands like Versace, Givenchy, Burberry, Saint Laurent, and Valentino.

We can also see that Farfetch is using highly targeted ad copy for specific keywords that are cleanly matched to their landing pages.

As with search engine optimization, the essence of paid search is to attract people who need Farfetch products when they search for them.

Zara

A key part of market research is listening to consumers and noting what they can't find. This applies both in the initial phase of brand development and during an active presence.

For example, the fashion brand Zara is known for its direct research approach.

One famousFallincludes multiple customers in Tokyo, Toronto, San Francisco and Frankfurt entering Zara stores to purchase a pink scarf, only to find none available. At the same time, many other customers around the world were experiencing the same problems.

Not that these stores were sold out: Zara didn't have any in its collection. But more than 2,000 stores received pink scarves and 500,000 units sold out in three days.

Similarly, Zara trains its store managers and sales assistants to understand customers' shopping habits. Employees are encouraged to research behaviors and trends directly in their stores. They do this by listening to customers' comments on clothing options, making suggestions on how to improve the products, and examining what shoppers are wearing to inspire Zara's new products.

It's not difficult to understand why Zara's brand equity is so high$14.7 billionAs of late July 2020 and operates in more than 95 countries.

How to quickly and easily conduct market research and competitive analysis

EpiProdux helps you streamline your market research reports and competitor analysis with easy-to-use tools. We'll break down the process for you so you can get started right away. First, log in to EpiProdux and select a product. You see the product profile and the product goals.

Then click on the Markets icon on the left side of the screen. This takes you to the selection of relevant markets for this product, e.g. B.California Organic Apparel.

In the Markets section, go to the Details section to conduct a competitive analysis.

With this you define:

• Complete competition based on factors such as market position, keyword difficulty, product strength, pricing and funding to name a few;
• Easy access to see how easy it is to enter the selected market.

• Ease of doing business in a given country based on policies and current infrastructure, allowing you to plan how to get started in that location;
• How easy cross-border trade will be for importing and exporting products;
• Digital readiness to determine if consumers in the target market have the technology and knowledge to access and use your products;
• Barriers to entry in the market could prevent you from entering it and earning your fair share of the market.

You can also use EpiProdux to conduct in-depth market research, e.g. B. to measure market size and perform market validation. Both provide you with invaluable insight into:

• demand
• Erlös model
• purchase frequency
• Total Available Market (TAM)
• Serviceable Market Segment (SAM)
• Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM)

Use EpiProdux to calculate your sales, market share and other key data to make informed decisions. This can discourage you from investing in products that may not generate a decent ROI or hurt your reputation.

In the Market Validation section, you can conduct experiments to validate products before spending money and time on them. Distribute surveys, check demand and analyze fashion industry sales data to realistically assess your SAM size.

Diploma

Any fashion brand that sells clothing and apparel can benefit from market research and competitive analysis. With so many online channels for interacting with consumers, it's easier than ever to do good business. It can give you the data to make smart decisions about your products, marketing, and more.

EpiProdux simplifies market research and competitive analysis so you can gather the information you need on one centralized platform. Access key customer feedback and data to understand how you can impact your target market.

Want to learn more about how this platform works and how you can benefit from it?Try EpiProdux today with a free trial!