Market Insights & Analytics Category Procurement Intelligence Report

The market for Market Research and its sub-segments such as Market Insights & Analytics are at an interesting intersection. The growing shortage of skilled talent and increasing salaries of employees is driving the operational costs of service providers. This is expected to increase service charges at least within the tier 1 suppliers who put a high premium on the talent pool that utilize.

The market is rapidly showing signs of a great divide - at one extreme is a low-cost market with almost commoditized services and at the other end is the market for high cost specialized services. Market Insights & Analytics vendors are adopting starkly different business models and cost structures to address both the markets.

Proliferation of supply pool in regions such as APAC is expected to intensify supply market competition. This will compel service providers to compete on price points to attract new buyers, which is expected to offset some of the increase in procurement cost arising out of increasing supplier OPEX.

Trends like these and many others discussed in this report are necessitating a relook at the way Market Insights & Analytics is procured and the procurement cost saving opportunities that exist.

As market conditions become more dynamic and procurement practices get more sophisticated, category managers need to be cognizant of the best practices that work for their Market Insights & Analytics category procurement. The report offers a succinct analysis of Market Insights & Analytics procurement best practices.

For example, Contract should outline the expected levels of service with respect to recruitment of panel, data interpretation, relevance of technologies used, outcomes expected and other related processes by the service provider.

Buyers should invite bids from all potential service providers that can meet overall requirements. Bids must be evaluated based on pre-defined parameters such as reputation, service offerings, geographical knowledge and expertise, and track record. Buyers can use standard scorecards to evaluate service providers and provide necessary comments to rationalize the given scores. This helps effectively document the decision-making process for buyers.

It is crucial to develop measurable milestones that help monitor and benchmark the performance of service providers. In case of variations, buyers should discuss and find appropriate solutions in conjunction with the service provider, followed by the implementation of an effective strategy to avoid variations in the future. The performance of service providers can also be linked to a portion of their fee and can be paid upon rendering of services in a satisfactory manner. For instance, measuring performance based on adherence to budget and accuracy of data or information provided during research.

Market Insights & Analytics procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Market Insights & Analytics procurement. Some examples include: