Market research & intelligence

The problem

Most market decisions are made on anecdote. A distributor got in touch at a trade fair, a competitor announced an office somewhere, a colleague has a contact in a country — and a year later the company has spent real money finding out that the market was the wrong one, or the right one entered the wrong way.

The usual alternative is not much better. A large syndicated report describes a region at a level of abstraction no one can act on, costs a great deal, and still leaves the same question open: do we go, and if so, through whom?

What we do instead

We research a specific decision, for a specific company, in a specific set of candidate markets — and we finish with a recommendation we are willing to defend, including the recommendation not to enter.

Research is assembled from several sources, because no single one is reliable on its own:

• Trade and customs data — import and export flows, volumes, unit values and origin countries, to establish what is actually moving and at what price.
• Desk research — industry bodies, regulators, company filings, tenders, retail and distributor listings, trade press and local-language sources.
• Field checks — retail and wholesale pricing observed in the market, shelf and channel presence, packaging and claim norms.
• Direct conversations — structured calls with distributors, importers and buyers in the channel, which routinely contradict the desk view.
• Competitor analysis — who is already there, how they price, how they distribute and where they are weak.

How a market study runs

1. Scope. We agree the candidate markets, the product definition, the customer you are trying to reach and the decision the research has to support.
2. Size and structure. Market size and growth, import dependence, price bands, channel structure and the share held by the main players.
3. Competition and pricing. Who occupies the space, at what price points, with what positioning — and what the realistic landed cost and margin structure looks like for you.
4. Regulation. Product registration, labelling, certification, import documentation and any restrictions that would make entry slow or impossible.
5. Channels and partners. How product actually reaches the buyer in that country, and which kinds of partner control it.
6. Conclusion. A ranked shortlist with the reasoning, the risks, the likely cost of entry and a recommended route — presented and discussed, not just delivered.

Market sizing when the data does not exist

For many industrial and niche categories there is no published market size, and the number quoted in a press release is a guess. We build the estimate instead, usually from two directions at once and then reconcile them:

• Top-down from import statistics, production data and consumption proxies — population, household counts, installed base, industrial output.
• Bottom-up from channel structure: the number of buying points, realistic volume per point, and observed purchase frequency.

What this is not

We do not run large-scale consumer panels, brand-tracking studies or statistically representative surveys — that is a different discipline with different economics, and a specialist agency will serve you better.

Our work is commercial intelligence for B2B decisions: which market, through which channel, against which competitors, at what price, and what it will take to get the first order.

What you receive

Every engagement ends in assets you own outright. On this service that means:

• A written market report covering size, growth, pricing, competitors, channels and regulation for each market studied
• A ranked shortlist of markets or segments with the reasoning behind the ranking
• A competitor matrix with positioning, pricing and channel strategy
• A channel map showing how product reaches the buyer, and which partner types control each route
• A regulatory checklist of what must be in place before a first shipment
• A recommended entry route, with the risks and the likely cost of pursuing it

Who this is for

• Manufacturers and exporters deciding which country to open next
• Brand owners weighing a new region or a new channel
• Technology and service companies choosing where to put a sales effort
• Investors and advisors who need independent commercial due diligence on a timetable

Coverage

We work from the United Arab Emirates and deliver worldwide, with particular depth across the Middle East and Europe — including the GCC, Türkiye, the European Union and the United Kingdom. Our methods are industry-agnostic, and we work in English, Arabic, Turkish, German, Russian.

Frequently asked questions