New research from Bright Data, the industry-leading web data platform, and independent research firm Vanson Bourne reveals how pervasive and crucial web data is to business strategies across the retail, travel and banking sectors. Nearly all 500 respondents (93%) believe that web data is either “very important” or “crucial” to supporting operations and decision-making across their organisations – with an additional 6% ranking it as “somewhat important.”

Crucially, 87% of those surveyed believe that the need for web data within their organisations has grown in the last year, and in spite of challenging market conditions, 90% report their budget for web data has increased in that time. This comes at a time when companies are reducing budgets and downsizing operations across the board to counteract the uncertainties surrounding a fluctuating global economy. However, while most department budgets are shrinking the data acquisition market, which businesses view as essential to their future success, remains unaffected.

“It's not surprising to see that web data has become the most used source of data in businesses today across the board,” said Amir Yazdi, Marketing Analyst at McDonald’s Canada. “As the survey indicates, the uses of web data range from competitive strategy building to pricing strategy, from measuring public sentiments to training operational systems. All this is done to ensure that customers or consumers get the most relevant services, offers or products. After all, that is the goal of every business and organisation."

Amid growing market demand for insights gleaned from web data, the research also suggests that organisations are searching to make acquisitions or find external partners to support their web data efforts. Over half (55%) of respondents say that they’re actively considering this option – an over 25% increase compared to just 24 months ago.

In addition, organisations are diversifying their approach to collecting web data. Ninety-seven per cent of those surveyed consider it important to gain access to multiple web data sources or data sets; this includes specifically tailored data sets. Nearly half (48%) are focused on collecting the data themselves, while a third (32%) are focused on pre-made data sets, which can be purchased "off-the-shelf" as a package and are typically updated periodically. All these findings point to the emerging trend of organisations putting more resources into their web data efforts and planning to add to their budgets, as these efforts require significant investment in teams to collect, clean, structure and analyse data.

“It is clear that in the past two years the market reliance on web data has significantly increased," said Or Lenchner, CEO at Bright Data. “As the demand now grows, so does the data market advancement and the data sets on offer. That’s why more and more market leaders across every sector are looking at on-demand data solutions, such as ready-made data sets to make their data operation and data management that much more efficient and cost-effective.”

Continued Lenchner: “Both tailored and pre-made data sets are becoming significantly more attractive for organisations of all sizes. Pre-made data sets serve long-term strategic goals as they tend to be more comprehensive and often come with enrichment options. The smartest players are using a combination of both offerings, whether it is specifically tailored data sets or ready-made to address their most essential questions.

From product development to pricing to consumer or customer sentiments, the web data market provides the right kind of immediate necessary answers,” concluded Lenchner.

“The content that has come out of the Bright Data research project is fantastic,” said Sam Palmer, Research Executive at Vanson Bourne. “We are seeing some fascinating storylines, including a recent increase in the need for web data. For example, 87% of our survey respondents report that their organisation’s operational need for web data has changed in the last 12 months, and nearly three quarters (74%) report the same in the past 24 months. The data is also not limited to this one area of interest, and the final report is well worth a read and offers many more brilliant insights.”

Other key findings show that:
 • Over eight in 10 (87%) respondents say their organisation’s operational need for web data has changed in the last 12 months
 • The vast majority (90%) of organisations have increased web data consumption and managing budgets in the past 12 months – the average increase is 6%
 • Nine in 10 (90%) organisations are currently using web data applications or technologies
 • Primary uses of web data are product research and development (47%), competitor monitoring (45%) and testing/training operational systems (43%)
 • Primary sources of web data are social media (58%), search engines (56%) and competitor websites (47%)