Concepts
It involves comparing your products or services against those of your competitors to understand the advantages and disadvantages relative to the offerings of your rivals. As a CSP-PO, it is essential that you understand how to conduct a thorough competitive analysis to better strategize and deliver a product that stands out in the market.
Understanding Competitive Analysis
Before we delve into how to construct a competitive analysis let’s understand what it exactly entails. Competitive Analysis is a strategic assessment that identifies and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of current as well as potential competitors. The objective of this exercise is to provide a definitive understanding of the competitive landscape which can help the product owner to:
- Identify unique selling propositions
- Understand the competitive environment
- Develop product positioning
- Define the roadmap for the product
Understanding competitors’ capabilities and actions not only frames the strategy for product development but also helps the CSP-PO in stakeholder management.
Steps in Constructing Competitive Analysis
Identify your competitors
The first step in creating a competitor analysis is identifying your direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors offer a product or service that could directly replace yours, while indirect competitors’ products can meet the same need even if they are not exactly like yours.
Categorize your competitors
Next, it’s valuable to categorize your competitors into primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary competitors are your direct competitors, secondary competitors target your market but with different products, and tertiary competitors are tangentially related and may become direct competitors in the future.
Compare competitive products
After identifying and categorizing the competitors, the next step is to analyse their products. As a CSP-PO, it’s crucial that you understand how your product stacks up against those of competitors. This involves analysing several aspects like:
- Features of the product
- Pricing model
- User interface
- Customer reviews, and more
Evaluate competitors’ market position
It becomes crucial to understand where your competitors stand in the market. It can be done by analysing the market share, the marketing strategies they use, the audience they target, and the partnerships they have.
Review competitors’ social presence
In today’s dynamic digital landscape, gauging the competitors’ social media presence is important. This analysis could involve examining their content, interaction with users, frequency of posts, and the number of followers on various platforms.
SWOT Analysis
Finally, condense all your findings into a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This analysis provides a summary of internal and external factors affecting your product in relation to the competitive landscape.
| STRENGTHS | WEAKNESSES |
|---|---|
| One-of-a-kind features | Poor user interface |
| OPPORTUNITIES | THREATS |
| New technological advancements | New competitors in the market |
Competitive analysis is an ongoing process and many CSP-PO use tools like SWOT every time the product enters a new stage of its lifecycle.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the goal of a competitive analysis is to identify unique opportunities, define key objectives, and create a strategy that gives your products an edge over others in the market. As a CSP-PO, your understanding and application of competitive analysis are crucial to making strategic product decisions. Remember, knowing the competition is just as important as knowing your own product in today’s competitive business environment.
Answer the Questions in Comment Section
True or False: A competitive analysis is a strategy where you identify major competitors and research their products, sales, and marketing strategies.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: A competitive analysis indeed involves identifying your competitors and evaluating their strategies to determine their strengths and weaknesses relative to those of your own products or services.
In a competitive analysis, the first step is always to identify your competition.
- A. True
- B. False
Answer: A. True.
Explanation: Identifying your competitors is indeed the first step in a competitive analysis as it enables you to understand who you’re competing against in your market.
Which of the following are important factors to consider in competitive analysis? (Multiple select)
- A. Financial situation of the competitor
- B. Marketing strategies of the competitor
- C. Competitor’s product quality and features
- D. Competitor’s customer service
Answer: A. Financial situation of the competitor, B. Marketing strategies of the competitor, C. Competitor’s product quality and features, D. Competitor’s customer service.
Explanation: All of these factors are essential in competitive analysis as they contribute to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.
True or False: Competitive analysis is only beneficial before launching a product.
- True
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: Competitive Analysis is not only performed before product launch but it’s a continuous process and provides valuable insights throughout the entire product lifecycle.
Who should be responsible for conducting a competitive analysis?
- A. The product owner
- B. The Scrum Master
- C. The developer team
- D. All of the above
Answer: A. The Product Owner.
Explanation: The product owner, responsible for maximizing the value of the product, should be conducting the competitive analysis.
True or False: Competitive analysis includes analyzing both direct and indirect competitors.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: A holistic competitive analysis considers both direct competitors (those offering the same type of product or service) and indirect competitors (those offering alternative solutions).
Competitive analysis is useful for:
- A. Understanding your competition
- B. Identifying gaps in the market
- C. Develop strategies for how to market your products or services
- D. All of the above
Answer: D. All of the above.
Explanation: Competitive analysis helps to understand your competition, identify gaps in the market, and develop targeted marketing strategies based on those insights.
The primary purpose of competitive analysis is to:
- A. Make your company better than competitors
- B. Copy your competitors’ strategies
- C. Understand your competition and market better
- D. Challenge your competitors directly
Answer: C. Understand your competition and market better.
Explanation: The primary objective of competitive analysis is to understand the landscape of your market, not to copy or challenge your competitors directly.
True or False: A competitive analysis can help you identify potential opportunities for your product.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: By performing a competitive analysis, companies can identify gaps in the market or in a competitor’s product offering that present opportunities.
A competitive analysis includes consideration of a competitor’s:
- A. Pricing
- B. Marketing tactics
- C. Product offerings
- D. All of the above
Answer: D. All of the above.
Explanation: A thorough competitive analysis includes consideration of a competitor’s pricing, marketing tactics, and product offerings to get a comprehensive view of their strategy.
Great insights on competitive analysis for CSP-PO exams.
This blog post provided clear steps on how to analyze competitors effectively. Thanks!
I’m preparing for the CSP-PO exam and was wondering if anyone has tips on using SWOT analysis in this context?
Has anyone used Porter’s Five Forces for competitive analysis in the CSP-PO exam?
Insightful article, appreciated the detailed breakdown!
This post missed some critical points regarding market analysis. Needs improvement.
Porter’s Five Forces can sometimes be too broad. Has anyone tried the Value Net Model for CSP-PO?
Very informative. I’ve gained new perspectives for my exam prep. Thanks!