Competition may not necessarily be perceived as a positive by business owners, but it offers a raft of benefits for both consumers and companies. As this infographic shows, there are several advantages to encouraging healthy competition.
Every business has rivals. All the leading brands we invest in fight for our attention, and this produces benefits for businesses and buyers. The first advantage is innovation. Consumer desires and demands evolve, and to keep up, businesses must innovate and take an interest in setting trends rather than following them. In addition, competition gives companies credibility. To impress customers, you have to set a certain standard. If you drop below, there’s a risk of losing even the most long-standing clients.
Competition also puts pay to complacency, which not only promotes innovation, but also improves standards of customer service. If you’ve got a business going all-out to try and poach your customers to dominate the market in which you operate, there’s no room for complacency, even if you’ve been a market leader for years. The business landscape evolves and changes constantly, and new opponents can emerge at any time.
Having established the benefits of competition, it’s interesting to take a closer look at some real-life examples. Consider the impact of startups like FitBit. FitBit is now the top-rated seller of wearable technology, despite the fact that Nike has been around for decades and is a brand synonymous with innovation and performance. Pepsi versus Coke is one of the most high-profile battles, and there’s no doubt that the fierce rivalry between these two brands has contributed to their growth. Currently, Pepsi has a higher global revenue, but Coke boasts a larger market share.
Infographic Produced By University of Alabama Birmingham
