business
Local Business: Know Your Market The importance of understanding demographics for business.
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ith tourism grinding to a halt due to the Corona crisis, businesses in Gibraltar have had to rely entirely on the local market. For many businesses this has meant a change in the clientele base and a shift in the profile of the typical customer. In order to succeed in the new business environment, especially in the short term until tourism recovers, business owners must better understand the local market to ensure a good product fit. A key element to understanding the local market is understanding the market demographics. Business owners are always looking for an edge in marketing products and services to generate more revenue and profit margins. Understanding customer demographics is one of the most important factors for improving your overall business, and it also has a significant influence on the effectiveness of your marketing strategy. At Benefit Business Solutions we have been assisting retailers and 16
It is one of the most important factors for improving your overall business.
other businesses in configuring the right product mix for them in light of the new market conditions and conducting CostBenefit Analysis to measure the potential effectiveness of planned marketing strategies. One such example has been a local clothing retailer on Main Street considering adding a collection of top-quality branded business suits for men as part of their new product mix. Assuming there will be negligible tourism, is there sufficient local demand to justify buying the stock of branded business suits? Demographics to the rescue! We
can start by assuming that the potential local market will consist of men at working age of 18-65. However, given that in Gibraltar there is also a significant number of cross-border employees, rather than looking at Census figures, a better source of information would be the Employment Survey Report as it includes figures of cross-border employees. According to the 2018 Gibraltar Employment Survey Report, there were 29,995 employees working in Gibraltar in October 2018. Out of this total figure, a total of 17,846 were men working in the Private Sector, Ministry of Defence and Public Sector. However, not all men wear a business suit for work and so a further analysis into sector breakdown was necessary, as GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE MAY 2020
