Market Research & Intelligence
Research that supports better decisions
Good strategic decisions depend on good information. Souter Point provides focused market research and intelligence that helps organisations understand markets, identify opportunities, assess risks and make important commercial decisions with greater confidence.
Our approach is decision-led rather than research-led. We start by establishing the questions that need to be answered and the decisions the research needs to support. We then identify, gather and analyse the evidence required to provide those answers. This ensures that research remains focused on delivering actionable insight rather than simply accumulating information.
Wherever possible, we work from authoritative primary evidence, including government publications, official statistics, regulatory information, procurement data and company reporting. This can be supplemented by credible industry research, market intelligence, specialist databases and other secondary sources. We clearly distinguish between established facts, third-party estimates and our own analysis or assumptions, allowing clients to understand both the findings and the evidence behind them.
How we can help
Our research and intelligence assignments can include:
-
Market sizing and forecasting – assessing market scale, historical development, future growth and addressable opportunities;
-
Competitor intelligence – understanding competitors, their capabilities, customers, market positioning and potential strategic direction;
-
Customer and stakeholder research – identifying customer requirements, behaviours, priorities and emerging needs;
-
Government procurement analysis – examining procurement pipelines, historic awards, contracting models, suppliers and future opportunities;
-
Regulatory research – understanding legislation, regulation and public policy and their implications for a market or business;
-
Trend analysis – identifying technological, commercial, political and behavioural developments that could reshape a market;
-
Benchmarking – comparing organisations, markets, services, operating models or performance against relevant peers; and
-
Bespoke research reports – answering specific strategic or commercial questions through tailored analysis.
The result is decision-grade intelligence: evidence that does not simply describe a market, but helps clients determine what it means for their organisation and what they should consider doing next.
Case Study: Visa Application Outsourcing and the Impact of Digitization
Souter Point produced a 185-page industry report examining the global visa application outsourcing market and how digitisation could reshape its future. The research combined detailed market analysis with insights from eight senior industry experts and wider stakeholder feedback.
This report - a world-first on the visa application outsourcing industry - analyses a complex and rapidly changing market, summarising it into actionable intelligence for investment and strategic decision-making. The report helps organisations understand the size and growth potential of the market, identify attractive segments and opportunities, benchmark competitors, evaluate market-entry options and anticipate how emerging technologies could affect existing business models.
Nine major digitisation trends — including electronic visas, remote biometric enrolment, digital documents, automation and self-service — are assessed for their potential impact on profitability, competition, operating models, implementation timescales and risk.
The resulting evidence base enables investors to assess opportunities and risks, service providers to develop growth strategies, technology companies to identify emerging opportunities, and governments to understand how the supplier market is evolving, providing stakeholders with the evidence needed to make better-informed strategic and commercial decisions.
Case Study: Travel to the Schengen Area
Souter Point was appointed by a German research institute to advise on the reasons why people from five third countries choose to travel to certain destinations within the Schengen Area.
The engagement covered a series of expert interviews to answer research questions and propose future lines of enquiry, a review of research findings and their interpretation, and the provision of market research services to provide the researchers with additional information and data relevant to their study.
Leveraging an extensive network within the travel industry, Souter Point also arranged a series of expert interviews with people working directly with travel to the Schengen Area, including several approved destination service (ADS) travel companies from China, which the German research institute had tried to engage but could not obtain a satisfactory response.
The final report was presented to the German Federal Foreign Office and will be used to develop future German visa and travel policy.
Book an exploration call
Book a free 30-minute exploration call to discuss your organisation's Market Research & Intelligence needs. Just complete the below form and we will be in touch to arrange a call.