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Research Guides

Marketing: Industry Research

Industry Research

When looking for industry information, use sources that help you answer these questions:

  • What are the opportunities & threats in your industry and markets?
  • What are the political, economic, social and technological aspects affecting your product or service?
  • Who are the major competitors in your segment?

The following resources provide industry data and information.

NAICS codes and the earlier SIC codes are used to define industries.

Use these sources to verify your industry codes and definitions. These codes are often required to search for industry information.

The US Census gathers data monthly, quarterly, annually and, in more detail, every 5 years (Economic Census) and is a great source for free US data.

The 2012 Census data has been partially released only. If you do not find the product you are looking for, you may want to find data in the Annual Surveys for Manufacturing, ...Retail Trade, etc.

It helps to know the NAICS code but sometimes a product code used in the Value of Product Shipments will be different.