Small enterprises and soloprenuers are actively utilising the platform of market research technology even for their smallest businesses to reach out the target segment of their business. Once, market research was considered to be purview for big companies only, such as Fortune 1000 brand, if you weren’t on that list than investing in market research was outside the scope for many businesses. But the time has changed over time and now it is a whole range of services to even the smallest businesses. Singapore is the hottest destination for many businesses to enter the APAC region because of its low tax regime and ease of doing business policy in the country. Let’s know about the country and Singapore Market Research segment, why it is necessary to gather all the information of this small but tech-savvy and highly advanced island in terms of business.

Many businesses are routinely testing ideas before entering the Singaporean market and saving tens of thousands of dollars and years of time developing products and services that fall flat with the market. Singapore is the world’s 4th biggest financial centre and one of the five busiest ports and most of all one of the major commercial hub in the world.  Along with Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan, the country is known as one of the original Four Asian Tigers. It is majorly known as one of the freest, most competitive, most innovative and most business-friendly nation. The country, in general, is socially conservative, but with the advancement and changing era some liberalisation has occurred. The population of the country is 5.61 million, and the nominal GDP is $ 311.282 billion, in 2017.

Singapore Market Research Industry:

Singapore has always been the hottest and ideal starting point for the companies who are endeavouring to produce most of the benefit through their businesses and wants to connect with the global market. Companies established in Singapore enter the ASEAN Free Trade Area and the 19 other regional and bilateral Free Trade Agreements that helps the company to trade easily in the global market. The country has established itself as the gateway to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and all major Asian markets for foreign companies. The Singaporean government has always been a big support to the country by actively supporting the local association member.

In the past recent years, Singapore has seen a number of new innovative startups and SME’s that have attracted further investment in the market research industry. In 2016, Singapore is one of the fastest growing markets in the Asia Pacific according to net growth rates which was 26%. Singapore’s total market size amounted to US$ 173 million (S$ 237 million) among the top 5 international subcontracting market research and 48% were subcontracted from outside the country in 2016. The country is well known for its most politically and economically stable in the world and stands at the 38th largest market position in the world and the 13th largest in Asia. 70% of the recorded turnover is produced from the domestic and local clients whereas, the remaining 30% achieved from the international customers.

Expansion of Market Research in Singapore:

Invention and innovation are an integral part of Singapore’s business culture. It is the next hotbed of innovation after world-shaking innovative companies launched at Silicon Valley. Singapore is leading the momentum of innovation in market research in the Asia Pacific region. In 2016, 35,021 new businesses were registered in the country. For any company looking for expand and initiating a new business in any country should have a clear understanding of the market to succeed in the country. For market research of the business before initiating, the owner makes sure that is he/she has or needed great marketing strategies to realize the company’s full potential. So, the need for market research agencies arises to get the proven marketing strategies that can count on to take the company to the next level and secure its sustainability in the current competitive world of business.

With the increasing expansion of internet penetration and digitalization, the scope of market research is also evolving. With the high-speed popularization of the internet economy, the knowledge of consumers has been modified and increased the acceptance of new emerging trends in the market research industry. Market research is playing a crucial role in providing success to many companies by providing them with insight. Market research companies, whether large and small, is helping local and international companies to carry out market analysis. The Singaporean government is partnering all segments of the corporate landscape, whether it is large local enterprises and MNCs to push for innovation. The country’s concentration of Fortune 500 companies and the availability of venture capital and private equity is a major reason for the development of the Singapore market research industry and business development of the country.

Challenges for Market Research Industry in Singapore:

In Singapore, the need for market research is increasing as the industries are growing but the industry is no longer recession-proof. The market research industry holds a tough challenge of survival for the agencies, who do not deliver clear and compelling insights then the survival is a tough scenario for those companies. The companies requiring market research generally prefer for more powerful, direct to the point, more nimble and able to bring greater depth into the insights rather than big, predictable and – quite frankly – boring trackers. Better, faster and cheaper has become the new race for the market research companies. Various new techniques, platforms and processes have emerged in this industry that allows clients to get insights back quicker. Singapore is the targeted platform for many leading companies aiming to invest in new technologies of the Asia-Pacific region, have moved ahead and are now reaping the rewards of their outlays.

Market research companies need to up their game more than ever before because the clients are more demanding now and want insights to them in a very actionable, tangible way. The clients require the company working for should really know their business well (based on an accumulation of knowledge across multiple projects/years for brands or stakeholders) then present the analysis report to them. They want to hire a senior market research staff who can offer compelling recommendations on a client’s business objectives with all the credibility in the boardroom. As economic pressures continue to affect all, the clients are also needed the cheaper, better and faster in order to compete with the new challenges. DIY research is the new experiment of clients, they are experimenting with it in massive amount. Asian clients are embarking their own market research internally due to the accessibility to better technology and current business environment.

Opportunities for Market Research in Singapore:

Singapore’s attractiveness to talents, connectedness to the world, traditional strengths as a trusted business location and the growing vibrancy of the start-up ecosystem set a strong scientific base for the companies to enter the country for business. As it is a small country but attracting industry leaders and foreign investments will remain important for Singapore. Economic Development Board (EDB) is continuously taking efforts to strong semiconductors, energy and chemicals, biomedical sciences, aerospace, industrial machinery and infocomm technology industries. Also, EDB is trying to expand into other industries, such as cleantech, speciality chemicals, cell therapy, robotics, digitalisation and e-commerce, etc. Over the years, Singapore corporate scene has gained acceptance for the market research. In most of the companies, managers are using more and more research data to improve decision making.

With the increasing startups in the country, opportunities for market research firm is also growing and making a transformation into value-creation and innovation-led economy in Singapore. There are lots of ambitions of young Singaporean’s startups that desire to make a difference in the start-up ecosystem of Singapore. Between 2012 and 2017, venture deals more than doubled from 80 to 174, and funding amounts multiplied tenfold, from US$136.4 million to US$1.37 billion. With the rapidly growing startup ecosystem of Singapore, the country is enhancing its ecosystem development through expanding local and international partner networks. With the expansion of local and international partner networks, the chances of growing market research companies also increase two-times.

For customised market research reports for any kind of startups and business in any industry, you can contact Craft Driven Market Research team here directly.

Tags: Asians, Craft Driven, Data Processing, DIY Research, Economic Development Board (EDB), Four Asian Tigers, market research, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, Research Industry, Singapore Market Research