Good market research is systematic and objective information gathering which increases understanding of a current or potential market. It can generate new sales and identify unmet consumer needs and it can help make marketing campaigns more effective. An easy example is identifying an area that does not have a comparable retail facility. Minimizing risk - A timely survey may help a business avoid attempting start up in a saturated market. It can also be used to evaluate the success of a business.
Market research can show whether advertising is reaching the customers in an effective way.
Knowing the income and demographic information about a customer base is vital. Whether the pay with cash or credit is also useful to know. Direct comparison to comparable competitors can yield information critical to important changes in a business. Sometimes that is a less obvious question than it sounds. Good competitive intelligence can lead to discovery of information about gaps in the opposition's product array or other exploitable weaknesses.