Competitor positioning maps

The results of competitor analysis are extremely important information for decision making. Competitor positioning maps allow you to find the least occupied market niches, as well as understand which competitors should be closely watched in order to capitalize on successful experiences or capture market share.

Drawing up positioning maps helps to take a comprehensive approach to analyzing competitors and presenting a picture of the market as a whole, taking into account all important parameters. In addition, positioning maps help to find additional markets and untapped consumer segments.

Maps can help track the development of competitors. Or, more often, they help select unoccupied market niches. That is, in the case when consumer segmentation has been carried out, the financial capacity of the segments has been calculated, the question arises about which segments should be focused on. Of course, some segments are saturated, others have a lack of supply. Drawing up positioning maps will help you choose the optimal segments from the point of view of the maximum possible income.

The minimum size of a representative sample for such projects per region is 800 questionnaires (if a quantitative methodology is used). By region we mean any territory for which separate analytics is required (this could be, for example, a city or country). In cases where it is necessary to separately consider and compare data from, for example, 2 cities, the minimum sample is 1600 questionnaires. The minimum period for such a survey is 1 business day.

The cost of a project to build competitor positioning maps consists of the cost of collecting a selected number of questionnaires (payment is taken only for fully completed questionnaires) and the cost of analytics (usually no more than 10-15% of the cost of data collection)

You can calculate the cost of one questionnaire yourself using our calculator (you will need to enter the number of open and closed questions in the questionnaire, quotas)

The cost of such a study is from 2000 £ (the cost is indicated for a minimum sample).

Visually, positioning maps can be completely different: separate descriptions of each competitor according to the required parameters or a three-dimensional matrix with marked competitors’ positions. The latter option is more applicable to the presence of competitors in consumer segments or division of the market according to key parameters (for example, price level, assortment width, service level).

The methodologies used to collect data for this type of research can vary, but more commonly a quantitative approach is used (data collected through in-person, telephone, or online surveys).

BCGroup's work on building competitive maps is structured as follows:

1. A BCGroup specialist clarifies the reasons for the need for such research, studies the market, discusses options for information collection methods with the customer;
2. An NDA (confidentiality agreement) is signed between BCGroup and the company;
3. A BCGroup specialist agrees with the customer on the final method of data collection, the final form of competitive maps (form for presenting results), as well as research tools (survey questionnaires, guides for in-depth interviews or focus groups);
4. BCGroup specialists collect data in a short time (it is possible to survey up to 5,000 people per day);
5. Next, the BCGroup employee transfers the data array to the customer’s representative in Excel, SPSS, Word or audio format;
6. After 5-10 days, a BCGroup employee sends an analytical report to the customer based on the results of building competitive maps (sample reports)