How to Conduct a Competitive Product Analysis

With the development of the Internet, we will face fierce competition in both the real & the virtual economy. If we can't keep up with the speed of product development, we will be kicked out by our competitors. So how can we keep up with the market to keep our superiority and not be forced out? One key point is that we must do an excellent job in competitive product analysis.

What is a competitive product analysis? Why do we do such analysis? In short, when you have a preliminary product idea, but you can't know whether the product can survive in the market? Whether it can meet the needs of customers? Whether there are some products similar to your ideas in the market? How do your competitors operate? And what their business performance is? So the competitive product analysis can help you clarify these problems, let you go through systematic and scientific analysis before the actual operation.

Next, I will use mind maps from EdrawMind to help you understand in detail what competitive product analysis is, and what the elements include.

Competitive Product Analysis: Product Analysis

The main steps of product analysis are: selecting research objects --- acting as users --- functional analysis --- UI interaction analysis - technical analysis. First of all, we need to find out the relevant competitive products according to the products we want to operate or are already running. When selecting the research objects, we need to focus on the major products in the market or products that are more mature than your own. Next, we should assume that we are users and make an objective evaluation of these products.

If we operate an online product, we need to analyze its functionality, such as the comparison of functions in different terminals, and what features these functions have, and so on. Online products are also inseparable from UI design, so we also need to do some related analysis on its interface. After the above processes, we also need to analyze the technical feasibility, advantages, and disadvantages of this product.

Competitive Product Analysis: Market Analysis

If you have a good product but have less market share, or you enter the unfavorable market area, which is also the high-frequency issues in operation at present. So how do we do a market analysis? For the details, we should focus on four aspects: competitive situation, business model, market share distribution, and market trend information. For the competitive conditions, you should distinguish whether the market you involved in or going to enter is the Red Sea or the Blue Sea? The Red Sea means that all industries have existed, that is, the market space we know; the Blue Sea represents that there still have some sectors that do not yet exist, that is, the market space unknown.

Among that, the distribution of market share is the point we need to focus on. We can refer to the hot-selling products in this market, and analyze whether our products have competitive strength or upside potential to this market. Finally, market analysis is not a thing once for all, and it is a process of the quantitative change to the qualitative change. So we also need to follow the trend of this market, pay attention to relevant investors as well as entrepreneurs, and so on, to help us monitor the market promptly and make adjustments.

Competitive Product Analysis: Operations Analysis

Generally, product operations are mainly divided into seven aspects, as shown in the mind map below, which also briefly introduces some common operation tools and some analysis indicators. From it, we should pay close attention to the prediction of the revenue performance of competitive products, which is to monitor and observe for a certain period or even a time cycle because many manufacturers will use the means of data fraud in product packaging. Therefore, when we analyze, we should also avoid these traps, or you will be the next one to be knocked off.

Competitive Product Analysis: Resources Analysis

The operation needs the support of resources. We need to make clear what resources we can use. Most of the resources can be divided into the listed things in the following mind map. Notably, we should pay more attention to cooperative partners because cooperation is a concept that every operator must go deep into. This society, full of gambling, solidarity, and collaboration, often will bring you unexpected effects.

The competitive product analysis of operation also needs to combine the user analysis, situation analysis, etc. that will be involved in a complete mind map. Of course, I believe what suits you are right. It's recommended to use EdrawMind for sorting out your understanding. And mind maps can help us to clarify the logic and build the knowledge network.