Web research for data extraction is an important part of market research. Websites are increasing and evolving phenomenally, and have become an integral part of the technological world. The use of data collection through web data research is also growing like never before, across industries. With more than one billion websites on the internet, it is a clear indication of the exponential growth we have and we will witness in the coming years.
Companies are resorting to data extraction services from India to collect data from online sources for market research, business intelligence, attracting new customers, tracking industry trends, analysis for business purposes, understanding government regulations etc. But data extraction through web research is becoming an incredibly difficult task due to reasons like:
Data extraction/collection challenges:
- Data collection from nearly 8 billion live pages containing unstructured information.
- Over 1 billion Google searches happen every day and over 294 billion emails are sent every day.
- The need of ongoing data/content from more than 100,000 websites, or a million items from one site.
- Ever changing website formats etc.
- Extracting data where more than 70% of websites are generating dynamic content.
- Consistently changing web content either, with updated newsfeeds, or changing prices, customer feedback and sentiments etc.
- Collecting unstructured information, from beneath layers of data comprising of social media posts, comments sections, online user groups, blogs and several other pages which are mostly not indexed.
- Facebook stores 30+ petabytes of user-generated data, Twitter deals with 230+ million Tweets every day.
- Trillions of sensors monitor, track and communicate with each other, populating the Internet of things with real-time data.
In-house teams working on data extraction with help of conventional tools and techniques never was a sure shot solution. Automated custom scripts, if they use any to collect dynamic data, are very complex & crashed easily – fixing it is a major effort. With frequent changes in the website formats, because scripts are looking at detailed HTML on webpages, the slightest changes can create chaotic situations.
Considering such challenges organizations need a non-stop data supply chain, as an assortment of data extraction, transformation, normalization and data delivery.
Outsourcing web research for data extraction to experts in India is the real solution. They scrape and extract data based on how often a site is updated, how critical the data is; and all these while keeping in mind the uninterrupted flow of data into your systems. Web research for data extraction services tap into online sources to help companies reach out to, and understand what their customers are saying, thinking, or looking for in specific services and products.
Benefits of web data extraction for market research
Increasing number of C-suite members are hopeful of collecting data through web scraping as it is the only source which can help them data to understand their customers and build effective engagement models for existing and potential consumers. It is one of the main reasons why organizations nowadays include web data collection in their strategy and budgets, as part of their market research efforts.
Enlisted are some more ways how enterprises can optimize market research by outsourcing data extraction:
1. Data collection for product & pricing information
Product manufacturers and online stores can use data extraction to pull the pricing information from online marketplaces, competitor websites or from web-based catalogs. Web data extraction professionals collect product and pricing information from vendors like Amazon.com, Walmart, Snapdeal, BestBuy and much more alike.
The activity is also helpful for gathering data for potential investments and acquisitions, too. Data extraction teams will collect all the relevant information, extract, and aggregates it to deliver it in one or more structured formats of your choice. Collected data provided by an outsourced service provider is accompanied with database tables, enabling companies to compare pricing data over time. It helps them asses what the current prices are for similar products and also can go back to previous months or even years to determine pricing trends.
2. Harvesting customer sentiments
Outsourced web researchers are well aware of how to effectively use the internet for research, and the pros and cons of using the internet for research. Internet research companies and their specialists with web research skills include the pages and forums where customers, existing and potential, are discussing their experiences and expectations. If these customers are looking for or discussing your products or services, it would be certainly helpful for you as a manufacturer or seller.
You can gather the product ranking given to your product and even know what and how customers feel and say about your product or services in form of feedback. Enterprises can harvest customer sentiments data from numerous sites including retail sites, repair sites, review sites, or competitor sites – to find out what people are saying with regards to reliability, price, and even ease of use.
3. Identify undesired activity
Though mentioned last in the list, it happens to be one of the most important and potentially interesting uses of web data extraction in market research is to find out counterfeit pricing or products. Real estate for instance, where a real estate firm can see what prices are charged across MLS – Multi-listing sites & appraisers – month on month.
If residential & commercial property is sold below market value, the real estate company would want to take a closer look at details including grantor / grantee details (name(s), address(s)), deed date/record date etc. from deeds, mortgages, assignments, releases, credit documents, and public notices. They may conclude that their product is being priced wrong or determine that it is a fake propaganda to tarnish their image.
Outsource web data extraction
Websites are a treasure of data and information in itself. Enterprises can use the data to analyze trends, understand the market and make informed decisions. However; it’s nearly impossible to leverage it without help from outsourced data extraction companies with experts onboard and the experience of extracting data not only from the surface but from layers beneath.
