Research guides: INF2325: Launching Information Ventures: What sources should you use for your market research?

Researching your market: Library sources

This page provides a selection of secondary market research sources, including:
Market research reports
Customer or user group data
Industry information
Competitors and company information

Market research reports

Market research reports can help you assess the size and shape of business opportunities, including trends and forecasting. These resources are not considered academic but are rather endorsed within the business community.

Factiva This link opens in a new window
Current and archived news, business and company information worldwide.
Global Market Information Database: Reports This link opens in a new window
Search Euromonitor reports by industry or by country. Industries focus on consumer products from Alcoholic Beverages to Toys and Games. Consumer demographics include lifestyle, income, population, and technology and media usage.
MarketResearch.com Academic This link opens in a new window
Find research reports on Service Industries, Consumer Goods, Demographics, Food & Beverage, Heavy Industry, Life Science, Public Sector, Technology & Media. Publishers include Kalorama (for health technology), Packaged Facts (consumer packaged goods) and SBI (energy) among others.
Note: MarketResearch.com Academic does NOT have all the content available in the full Marketresearch.com site.

Demographic and customer/user information

SimplyAnalytics This link opens in a new window
Mapping tool contains Canadian demographic data including census, health, household spending, and health and lifestyle. Requires (free) personal account creation to save your research.
Statista This link opens in a new window
Categorized into 21 market sectors, Statista.com provides direct access to quantitative data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas of interest or markets.

CANSIM
CANSIM (Canadian Socio-Economic Information Management System) is Statistics Canada's database of Canadian social and economic statistics. Includes price indexes that can be helpful when pricing a product or service. Data ends at 2012.

Industry research

IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Canadian, US and global industry profiles organized by NAICS code and including key statistics, market share and segmentation, performance summary, SWOT analysis. Particularly strong in manufacturing sectors.
Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window
Over 1,000 global and regional industry reports primarily focused on consumer goods, but also including construction and retail. Prepared by MarketLine.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Abstract and citation information for peer-reviewed scientific research, including journals, books, and conference papers.
Key Business Ratios This link opens in a new window
Industry benchmarks to measure the performance and productivity of a company against others in the same field and region/country. Searchable by NAICS code.

Company and competitor research

Companies may be competitors, potential customers, partners or an exit strategy. Search company profiles in the databases and directories below, or jump to information resources for Annual Reports and Regulatory Filings.

AngelList
Venture capital and startup data searchable by company, individual, location, market sector. Accessible salary data and valuation data.
CrunchBase
Detailed investment information on startup companies, executives, and investors in Canada and globally. Search the Business Graph to link them all together.

Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
Detailed company profiles including business overview and history, financial statements, annual reports and ratios. Large public Canadian companies are covered.
Investext This link opens in a new window
Full-text company reports written by analysts at leading investment banks, brokerage houses and consulting firms. Note: requires IE 8 or earlier.

More library resources

Can't find what you're looking for?

Try the Entrepreneurship Research Guide for more resources and tips.

The MaRS Startup Library is another great source of information on commercialization and startups in general, as well as specifically on the ICT (information and communication technologies), clean tech, and health sectors.

Want more business resources? Please visit the Rotman Business Information Centre website.

Research Guides

INF2325: Launching Information Ventures

Researching your market: Library sources

Market research reports

Demographic and customer/user information

Industry research

Company and competitor research

More library resources

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