Introduction to Industry and Market Research

This guide will show you how to find industry/market information on trends, market share, market size, competitive forces, etc. Please note that all databases below may also be used to search for company information.

First Step: Getting Started

Canada Only:

Industry Canada

Includes industry profiles. Enter industry keyword in search box. To find statistics and research publications on small businesses in Canada, click on the "Just for Businesses" tab on the main page and select "Find statistics and research".

Associations Canada

This resource provides a listing of Canadian Associations. Associations may provide detailed information on their respective industry. N.B. Be sure to uncheck all databases, with the exception of Associations Canada.

Canada, U.S. and International:

IBISWorld

Provides Canadian, US, and Chinese industry reports containing trends, statistics & analysis on market size, market share of major companies, industry growth rates, major market segments and key external forces affecting supply and demand within the industry. Enter in keyword.

Marketline

Provides industry reports and analysis including Porter's Five Forces analysis. Enter in keyword. Select "Industry Profiles" from drop-down menu.

S&P NetAdvantage

Comprises of detailed surveys of U.S. industries and industry profiles.

Click on the "Markets" tab at the top of the screen and select an industry under the Industries subheading to find detailed information including constituents, key stats and ratios, etc.

To access industry surveys, click on the "Markets" tab at the top of the screen and click "Industry Surveys" under the Market Research subheading.

To access industry profiles, click on Search Profiles on the left panel of the database homepage, then enter industry name into the search box and click on the arrow to the right of the search button. Tick the box next to Industries under Profiles, then click the "Search" button.

Nexis Uni

Contains industry news. On main page, enter  industry name into the search box,  then select News from "All Content Types" dropdown list.

Passport

Offers industry/market analysis and forecasting. Select an industry from drop-down "Industries" menu or enter keyword in search box.

Business Source Complete

Doing article research provide a wealth of information on industry trends and different factors that can impact a specific industry. Business Source Complete provides trade, scholarly, and popular articles on a variety of business topics. See the library's tutorial on finding articles for help.

Note: Look for additional databases, trade journals & newspapers in the Industry Research guide.

Second Step: Finding Market Share Information

For articles related to market share, search in ProQuest Business databases or Business Source Complete. Where possible use the company name AND the phrase "market share" or "brand share" when searching in article databases. Market share information may be available in special issues of trade journals.

Market Share Reporter

Provides some information on market share for Canadian products, companies and/or services but main focus is U.S. and International. Search by product, company name or industry classification codes.

Passport

Produced by Euromonitor, Passport provides data on market size, brand shares, and retail shares of companies and products globally or by country/region. Market share data is generally included in the industry country reports. To find an industry country report, click Industries tab at the top, or type industry name into the search box on the main page. 

Marketline

Contains market share data of leading companies by industry. Market share data is found in industry reports, under "Market Segmentation".

Third Step: Comparing Companies in an Industry

• Click on "Connect to Resource" to access Mergent Online.
• Search by SIC or NAICS code to determine the code for your industry. Use the "Code Lookup" if unsure. In this example, we'll select Primary SIC code "23".
• Then, click on (ALL) to pick all companies. Alternatively, click on only companies you are interested in comparing.
• Click on "Company Analysis List" drop down menu found in the top left corner of the page and choose "Add All Companies". Then click on "My Mergent Tools" and select the "Company Analysis List".
• You can choose all or some of the companies by clicking/highlighting them and then clicking on the > arrow. The companies you have selected will appear in the Multiple Company Report Box.
• Then, choose "Company Financials" from "Select Data Items" by clicking on the + sign. Scroll down and highlight which report items you want. Again, click on the > arrow so that they appear in the Report Items box.
• Once finished choosing the data item and companies, go to the bottom of the page and beside "Create Multiple Company Report", select a format from the drop down menu. Click on the “Create Multiple Company Report” button. A document will appear with numbers you can use for comparison with your company.

"User Guides" for Some Databases:

• NetAdvantage, Passport, and Marketline. *Note: Not all features of the databases found in the User Guides are available for the library's database versions.