Project Management: International market research

Department for Business & Trade

Free export advice from Great.gov.uk on Finding a new export market and Establishing a business overseas. The section on How to research export markets online provides expert advice on 

• where you should focus your research
• useful websites and other digital resources
• how you’d record and analyse research to make best use of it.

i. Department for Business & Trade/Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade

Exporting Country Guides. For businesses interested in selling overseas.

Many of these guides are also on the Markets section of Great.gov.uk.

The Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade publishes advice on how to do business in specific countries in its Doing Business Handbooks.

ii. British Chambers of Commerce (BCC)

BCC has a global business network of accredited chambers of commerce. For example, the UK-ASEAN Business Council  (UKABC) is the leading UK-based organisation promoting trade and investment between the UK and ASEAN’s dynamic markets. Created out of UK Trade & Investment’s 2011 Strategy ‘Britain Open for Business’, the UKABC is passionate about helping UK companies of all sizes export and invest in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and The Philippines.

iii. International Statistical Institute - Statistical Offices worldwide. Select a country from the drop-down menu.

iv. International organisations

• IMF World Economic Outlook database
• OECD iLibrary. Browse by country.
• World Bank country data
• UNCTAD Country profiles. Select the General profile and this should show you the profile for Afghanistan. Then select from the list.
• Global Edge (US Department of Education) Country comparator tool.

v. UK business press country profiles

• FT World reports. Look for or search for reports titled Investing in...
• Economist Intelligence Unit Country Briefings

i Local and overseas trade associations

The Trade Association Forum website http://www.taforum.org/ provides details of the UK’s trade associations. For example, the UK Fashion and Textile Association provided important advice to Hawick Knitwear, advising the company to focus on Japan rather than China as its main export market. As the Managing Director stated: “You're putting lots of money, time, resource, effort, reputation, talent, into an overseas push, and it is frightening”. You can see how this was applied in episode 2 of Digby Jones, The New Troubleshooter. You will need to register with Box of Broadcasts and sign in to view this content.

ii Trade Journals

Trade journals usually supply product and process information, technical articles, news and details of events and shows, advertisements and jobs. ProQuest One Business will search trade magazines for you. Use the advanced search to combine keywords. Specify where you want your keywords to occur: for example, you can search by location. Limit to full-text and restrict your search by publication date.

iii. Newspapers

Nexis UK contains a News Section which includes content from over 33,000 sources of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines. You need to select a region, enter additional search terms and restrict your search by date to avoid finding excessive results. 

iv Trade Shows

The Department for Business & Trade's Events page is updated regularly with both UK and overseas events as well as overseas missions. Information about forthcoming events will also be given in trade journals. Trade shows are likely to cost money to enter. As the Sales Manager at Hawick Knitwear confirmed: “Trade shows are a great gateway into the international market. It gets us in front of customers from all over the world”.

i Statistics

Statistics represent the most basic form of market data. Use information from the international statistical agency (see 1.3 above) for official publications. Use trade association sources for reliable evidence. The sources vary in the amount of analysis they contain: some just present the data while others include text and analysis of the data provided.

The university has a subscription to Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform with an extensive collection of statistics, reports, and insights on over 80,000 topics from 22,500 sources in 170 industries. 

ii Market research publishers

Market research reports present data on an industry or a service in a structured package which can be immensely useful to you. Their value lies in their currency so check the publication date of the reports you access. Although the focus of some of these publishers will be on the UK market, both Passport and MarketLine Advantage are international in scope.

iii Library of Birmingham

The Library of Birmingham is in Broad Street providing a public library service to the people of Birmingham. Its Business Library on level 3 contains extensive directories and publications from trade associations as well as a range of business databases and market research reports.