In order to stay competitive in the business industry, continuous business research is necessary. Knowing your competitors' statistics is an advantage because it serves as your guide on how to deal with the competition. In business, competitive edge can be achieved simply by enhancing the basic P's of marketing - price, place, product and services, promotion and distribution.

Here are some tips on how to conduct a research for retails statistics in your market area:

PREPARE A RESEARCH PLAN. List in details all the needed information you want to acquire through research. It is best that you start with your research goals or objectives. Come up with a main research objective and break it down specifically with detailed sub-goals. The use of hypothesis can also be useful in identifying the data needed to research. Include in your research plan the time table for the duration of the research and the possible sources of your data.

CHOOSE YOUR RESEARCH METHOD. Identifying your kind of research will make it easy for you to conduct the study. Before starting a research, choose specifically the research method you want to apply either quantitative or qualitative. For a market research, quantitative method is highly advisable. Numerical data are needed to establish statistical analysis.

IDENTIFY YOUR RESEARCH BOUNDARIES AND LIMITATIONS. Set your research scope and delimitations. Identify specifically who and what will be covered in your research study. Specifying your boundaries will simplify your research but it is not actually a guarantee of accurate results. If you tend to come up with a serious research study, it is better to cover all your existing market area plus potential target market. The wider the scope of your research, the harder it is but the higher the probability of acquiring more reliable information.

PREPARE YOUR RESEARCH MATERIALS. Needed research materials such as questionnaires and interview guide must be prepared. Quantify all questions and answers if you choose quantitative method in order to easily convert answers to statistical tabulations. Other sources of information such as books, magazines, company records and forms should be listed and available. Government and non-government offices, industry personnel, supplier's representatives, and other source persons or offices should be notified in advance and agreed to allow you to gather information relevant to your research.

CONDUCT A SURVEY. Do your survey scientifically following a planned format. This survey format should specify the exact quantity sampling needed and the manner of acquiring these data. Respondents should be properly identified in order to minimize possibility of null questionnaires. Tabulations will be done after gathering all survey information and presented in a tableau format.

APPLICATION OF STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. All information needed for the research will undergo statistical computation and analysis in order to acquire results that will prove and unproved given hypothesis that will meet research objectives. Sensitivity analysis of the results will provide you must sensible information that can be used in creating your business plans.

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