Talking about the market will not be complete without talking about supply and demand. These two terms are already familiar, especially in the discussion of microeconomics. Demand and supply describe the tendency of consumer and producer activity in buying and selling activities.
The amount of demand will always be inversely proportional to the price so that when the price of goods is high, the demand will decrease and vice versa. Meanwhile, supply is directly proportional to price. If the price goes down, the supply will go down and vice versa.
When depicted on a graph, the two curves will meet each other at the equilibrium point. This point indicates the amount of the price agreed upon by both the buyer and the seller. When the price has been agreed upon, then the exchange of goods can occur.
The Importance of Research on Supply and Demand
As a producer that provides goods and services, of course you need to observe how the demand trend from the market is. This is very important to do in order to know the consumer response to the potential goods or services that you offer. That way, you can also find out the possibility that the product you are going to offer will sell well in the market or not.
However, doing research on consumer demand is not just to find out that there are consumers who will buy your product. Furthermore, this will be very useful because it can help you to gather information about pricing strategies, marketing ideas and steps, purchasing, to potential business partners that you can get.
Now that you know the importance of seeking information regarding demand from consumers, now you need to know that demand trends will fluctuate greatly over time. This is influenced by a number of factors that arise in the consumer environment.
Factors that can influence these trends include changes in seasons or weather, to natural disasters and pandemics. In addition, demand builds on how many people want to buy your product, how much they are willing to pay, and how much of the product is available.
Analyzing the demand in the market will help you to avoid producing goods that consumers do not want. Apart from that, it will also help you to manage your production and distribution flow. This can prevent you from hoarding things for too long or even running out of stuff.
When you are doing research on demand, you need to distinguish between individual demand and market demand. Individual demand comes from a person personally, while market demand includes the behavior shown by a number of individuals in a particular segment. Individual requests do not reflect the behavior of society in general. Therefore, you must be able to do research on consumers as a whole with different levels of preference for products.
How to find out the number of requests from potential customers
To find out the overall market demand, you can start by doing a simple survey to a number of people personally or show your product to a number of people and see the response given.
However, of course this method requires considerable time and energy. There are several other alternatives that can make it easier for you to find out trends in market demand, here are the alternatives.
1. Using search engine optimization tools
Today, there are tons of search tools that you can use to help you optimize your online search. You can choose to use the tools available for free or paid. Of course the difference in cost will make the features offered are different.
For example in Google Trends, you can type in a keyword related to the topic or product you are analyzing. You can set up a search by time or by location to find out current trends.
In addition, you can also see how much the keyword is being searched for by many people and how big the level of competence is in the market regarding a specific product.
2. Using social listening tools
This tool collects various conversations that occur on social media about a product, industry, brand, etc. You will be 'assisted' to perform specific searches and draw conclusions from the analysis of various data. In short, this tool will show you various people's responses to a product through social media.
Then, you also need to pay attention to the activities carried out by your competitors. What is the price range offered by your competitors for the same product. This applies to competitors who sell products directly or who are third parties.
It is undeniable, running a business is not an easy thing. However, passion and bright ideas will add to your passion to continue to innovate and present products that are liked by consumers.
For that, you must be able to prepare everything in a neat and planned manner. Doing research on market demand is one of your capital to prepare a good business strategy.
Regardless of large and small scale, the amount of demand in a business will be influenced by many factors. Chaotic situations must be anticipated, especially by business executives. Through the Strategic Business Analysis program, participants can learn the activities of formulating and implementing strategies to safeguard the company's future.