When you gather information about your competition, your customer habits or trends in your marketplace… you're engaging in competitive intelligence research.

Gathering Competitive Intelligence (CI) is an ethical and legal business practice (as opposed to industrial espionage which is illegal).

Keeping a close eye on decision making is one of the most important aspects of marketing your business. Investing your time on competitive intelligence strategies can be one of the most profitable uses of your time.

For example, the internet makes it easy to spy on just about anyone… especially your competition. There are many secret ways to see private statistics of your competitors armed with only a connection to Google.

But competitive intelligence isn't limited to just your competition. Business intelligence research allows you to (for example) analyze how your customers buy and offer them easier ways to buy. Grocery stores use competitive intelligence and analysis to find out that more than 80% of their customers who buy diapers also buy fresh flowers.

There's no reason for you to struggle with competitive intelligence gathering.. If you're ready to boost your profits now, you might want to grab these competitive intelligence research tips, techniques and methods.