“Know your competitors” is one of the most important rules in trade. If you own a restaurant or a hair salon, your competitors are probably local, mostly. However, if you manufacture or sell products that are shipped around the world, competition is probably the world.
The Trade Data Online from Industry Canada to help you find the information needed to understand where the competition. By using the “Product Search”, you will know who your competitors are in Canada and abroad.
• First look at the countries to which Canada buys. You can then determine who will be your competitors in the markets in Canada and internationally. Select your product for a detailed report of total exports for all countries.
For example, if your company manufactures vitamins, the report indicated that Canada imports most of its vitamins United States, China, Switzerland, Germany and France. On the whole, Canadian imports of vitamins increased 23% between 2005 and 2010. China, Switzerland, Italy and India are experiencing tremendous growth in the Canadian market, while purchases from Germany, Japan and Korea are down. With this information, you can search for manufacturers of vitamins on growth markets, to better understand the competition.
• If U.S. companies are strong competitors in your industry, you can narrow your search by determining the states where your strongest competitors. If you create a report of total Canadian imports from the United States by using the “Distribution Status”, you can determine the states that sell more goods to Canada.
About half of Canadian imports of vitamins from the United States comes from New Jersey. If you look at the vitamin manufacturers in New Jersey, you can probably identify some of your biggest competitors in the domestic and international markets.
• In addition to compete with international companies, you can also compete with Canadian companies, both domestically and on export markets. A report of total exports by province or territory will tell the country from where the competition.
Two-thirds of Canadian exports of vitamins from Ontario. Quebec and British Columbia are also important international competitors in the market for vitamins, holding a market share of 19% and 14% respectively. You can search for companies in these provinces to find out where your domestic competitors.
The data itself may not teach you much about your competitors. However, they can help you narrow and focus your research. Once you know where it came from competition (countries, provinces or territories), you can search for companies in these particular regions to deepen your knowledge of the competition.