Market research is gathering information about a market, such as consumer behaviour, trends, or relevant local economies. Companies use this information to inform business decisions by providing insights into consumer preferences, competitors, and potential areas for growth or improvement.
While many companies often outsource market research, more are moving this function in-house. It’s usually cheaper, quicker, and they’ll actually own the data produced once the research is finished.
Good market research depends on solid data. Often, companies will conduct surveys with customers or interviews with focus groups to get this data. Other times, they will rely on secondary sources, such as reports from other companies.
Without massive resource pools, such as big customer bases that can be surveyed, companies conducting market research in-house have to rely on web scraping.
This, in turn, relies on proxy solutions that enable geo-specific web browsing, enable mass data scraping for competitive analysis, and enhance security.
When it comes to market research, these are key.
Accurate local data
Proxies allow companies to access online content from different geographic locations, which is invaluable for businesses looking to expand operations in certain localities, alter regional operations, or tailor advertising strategies to specific markets.
For example, pricing can often change by the region where the user’s IP address is located. So, if an e-commerce company is looking to expand into France but is conducting research from the UK, the prices on competitor websites might not be the same for French customers.
Proxy solutions let market research teams view pricing exactly as regional web visitors would see, giving them a more accurate and reliable data pool to build a strategy.
Mass web-scraping
Proxies act as intermediaries between a private network and the internet, masking the user's IP address from any websites it visits. This is vital for web scraping, as it allows businesses to gather data without the risk of being blocked. By leveraging proxy servers, companies can discretely monitor and analyse market trends, competitor strategies, price fluctuations, and product offerings without revealing their identity and getting blocked.
For example, if a brand aims to launch a new product line, they can employ proxy servers for comprehensive market analysis. The brand's team could scrape pricing data across competitor e-commerce platforms. If they discover that one competitor has significantly lowered prices for a similar product line, they can adjust their pricing strategy to remain competitive.
Likewise, the brand could use proxies to monitor and gather data on consumer reviews and feedback across various platforms for competing products. They could identify a common complaint among users about the lack of certain features and adapt their product to fill this market gap.
Security
When conducting market research, companies often deal with sensitive information that could be valuable to cybercriminals. Proxies encrypt web traffic, making it more difficult for interceptors to access data.
This encryption protects the confidentiality of data acquired when conducting market research, especially when transferring it across networks.
Remember, owning the data you keep is one of the most valuable aspects of conducting market research in-house. Without a reliable proxy solution to encrypt it, this benefit is at risk as it’s liable to be hijacked by a malicious party.
What to look for in a proxy solution
Not all proxy solutions are created equal. If you are using them for market research, they need three things:
Ensure that the proxy solution offers self-rotating proxies and guarantees 24/7 support. Market research often requires continuous data gathering, so downtime can significantly disrupt your operations and data collection efforts.
Opt for a proxy solution that prioritises security measures like web traffic encryption. This helps protect sensitive market research data from potential cyber threats and ensures confidentiality throughout the data collection process.
Look for a proxy solution that provides access to servers in various geographic locations. This feature allows you to gather accurate and relevant data from specific regions, enabling you to tailor your market research strategies based on local market conditions and consumer behaviour.
In 2024, proxy servers are fundamentally shaping the market research landscape, providing invaluable benefits to companies conducting in-house data analysis. Trusted Proxies, with our advanced features and reliability, help countless companies conduct and scale in-house market research efforts.
For more information on how Trusted Proxies can help your company conduct in-house market research, please contact us and we will gladly discuss it.
