Library: Business: Industry Research

Getting Started with Industry Research

Industries exist on a continuum from very broad (retail) to niche (customized gift baskets). Many sources are biased towards broader industries.
The same industry can be described in many different ways, depending on the source! Take note of alternate ways your industry is described. (Examples: Jos. A. Bank could be said to be in the clothing, apparel, or menswear industry.)
Does your industry sell its products/services to businesses in other industries (B2B)? Those industries would well be worth researching too.
Do you need information that is local, regional, US-based, global? This will affect where you need to look for info and the amount of info you find.
There is a synergy between company and industry information. Detailed company information will often yield useful nuggets of industry information.
Use and understand Industry Codes as needed...

NAICS: North American Industry Classification System (5-6 digits)
The newer system (1997) of industrial codes for US, Canadian and Mexican industries.
SIC: Standard Industrial Classification (2-4 digits)
Though this 1930s system was superseded by NAICS, some sources still use SIC codes.

Bloomberg Businessweek
Provides some free (and some not so free) content such as Industry Outlook reports.
Current Industrial Reports
Government data on production and shipments of selected manufactured products as reported by the Manufacturing, Mining & Construction Statistics division of the Census.
Fortune
Provides information on the economic, political and social trends that affect business. On the left, click "Search within this publication" and enter your industry into the 2nd search box.
MarketResearch.com
Industry and other intelligence report abstracts are free, but the full-text has to be purchased (often for high prices).
U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration (ITA)
With a little digging in ITA's Data & Analysis section, you can find market size estimates, etc.
Wall Street Journal
Search this news source for articles from the Wall Street Journal back to 1984.
2017 Economic Census
Done every 5 years, the Economic Census is a vast source of industry information.