Industry research involves gathering information about businesses that make or sell similar products and services to analyze how companies compete with each other and to investigate the factors that impact them. This includes information about trends, growth, competitors, and the economic and political factors that impact an industry.
The U.S. federal government assigns codes to companies using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). An emerging industry may not yet have a code assigned. Other countries have their own industry codes. Using NAICS codes can simplify your keyword searches-- for example, which is the best keyword for Nike products? Is it "shoes," "footwear," "sports apparel," or "clothing?" Looking up the NAICS code for Nike, you can see it is 316210 - Footwear Manufacturing.
