How did a fintech learn where they can win with Competitor Analysis? A case study
This case study is called how did a fintech learn where they can win with Competitor Analysis? Our client was experiencing a competitive fog with lots of chatter and cool interviews, vlogs and podcasts about how well their competitors were doing. They thought they could be getting left behind. But were they? We would be delighted to talk to you about it, but names and numbers have been changed to protect confidentiality.
You know how
You have built a successful fintech platform, have many customers, and are growing. Then, your investors are not as happy as they were, as growth is slowing somewhat. Still impressive, but the curve is flattening. New competitors are jumping into their pool every day. There’s market consolidation, and corporates are buying your rivals. Your market is changing, and you look to the future. You realise you know little about their current competitors.
Never mind the new competitors entering the market. You may have gone to an expensive Big Four consultancy or a market research agency. So now you know competitors’ revenues, head office locations, and growth projections.
How did a Fintech learn where they can win
You may even see the “finger in the air” guess known as the market’s CAGR. But so what? It’s nice to have the information, but what you need to know is missing.
They have built a worldwide bank-associated solution. Their platform is very popular, and they are developing new solutions. They have nearly 200,000 customers and have many software provider partners. Not an inconsiderable fintech. And they came to Octopus to help them answer questions about the future.
What we did
Octopus looked at the four competitive targets and provided an overview of five more. We contacted the targets after planning a series of approach tactics.
We conducted a Fintech Competitor Analysis for a well-known recurring payments provider, and they gained a better understanding of where they can win. Researching competitors and markets starts with isolating the questions that need answering. Most of the questions should be forward-looking. It should go beyond kindergarten research of revenues and profits.
We created questions like these:
- What are their ideal target customers?
- How is their customer journey structured? What are they doing to develop a partner program?
- What countries are they currently planning to support?
- What are there limitations on which services users can access? And what are they doing to resolve them?
- How do they present their pricing and charge for their services?
- What does an average, small and large contract look like for them?
- What is their top-level value proposition?
- Who do they see as their key competitors?
- How do they differentiate?
- What is their product roadmap?
This is what they got
- Knowledge of a competitor’s potential tech capability to become a strong competitor. Confirmation that there was little to no indication of any desire to move into the US or the Far East markets.
- Another competitor appeared to have a simple offering and a solid brand profile. However, understanding what they do beyond their main offering proved challenging. This was down to a poor marketing message. And the inability of their salespeople to pick up the phone or respond to emails and messages.
- One competitor said they were not used to third parties trying to introduce business to them. We found this to be untrue, as most of their sales are direct to targeted retailers.
- Despite claims, a competitor’s core B2B offering was not a SaaS platform, and we found out it was a very stable and established API.
- Another competitor revealed that their biggest market is Spain, with 60% of it. And in May 2022, they will launch a new platform and be a potentially dangerous rival for our client. We revealed that another competitor has a significant desire to expand. And planned TV advertising to start in autumn 2022.
- Another rival has built a strong partner integration program. We revealed relationships with Shopify, Stripe, BigCommerce, and Ingenico.
The result was that our client has
- Confidence and a clear route map to develop their products further for the right customers at the right price
- There is more certainty that a competitor will not disprute their competitive advantage journey.
- They have a clear understanding of what their competitors are working on.
- They realised they were doing better than they thought. They were experiencing better sales conversation rates and fees negotiated.
- They understood that some of the published competitor data were not as honest as claimed.
Also, they now had an excellent understanding of their competitors’ pricing strategies. And an in-depth knowledge of product development maps. Our client understood:
- How they were performing compared to their rivals,
- Areas of improvement
- Isolation of opportunities for them to exploit
- What their competitors’ next moves were going to be
- How to develop their own product
- How to counter competitor moves and get one step ahead of them
They told us that we provided a more comprehensive report than expected.
And you know what?
They have a partner to help with their current and future competitive environment. We can do the same for you. Feel free to get in touch below. In the meantime, here is our “Starting a Competitive Intelligence Project” questionnaire.
How did a Fintech learn where they can win with Competitor Analysis? A case study
In conclusion, this case study was called how did a fintech learn where they can win with Competitor Analysis? Our competitor was experiencing a competitive fog with lots of chatter and words about how well their competitors we doing. They thought they could be getting left behind. We made sure we let them know where they really were and proposed a number of ways for them to confidently move forward.
We are Octopus. The Global People-Powered Competitive Intelligence Agency.
Outsmart your competition. Make the unknown known. Octopus helps you gain clarity in complex markets. With clients and tentacles around the world, we deliver sharp, actionable competitive intelligence through a blend of deep primary (HUMINT) and secondary research. If you’re looking to make smarter decisions, beat the competition, and reduce uncertainty, we’re the partner you want on your side.
