What is Market Dominance?

Wouldn’t it be nice to be the leader in your industry?  It would be like your business being a giant like Wal-Mart or Microsoft.  When your business presence can affect change in the market, you have achieved market dominance.

What is market dominance?  As you have probably guessed, it involves becoming very big in the business world.  Your product or brand name has risen to new heights and is a household name somewhere in your country.

For a product, company, brand, or service to have market dominance, it has to have the lion’s share of the market in a particular area.  Market dominance can spread nationwide, but it doesn’t have to.  In a certain geographic area, your business may have cornered the market in silly shoelaces or something because everyone wants a pair.

Market dominance doesn’t happen without competition.  There are others around who sell products similar to yours, but they don’t sell as well.  The closest competition doesn’t have a high percentage of the market share.

Let’s define market share.  You hear that term a lot.  In any market, such as retail sales, your business will have a majority share – usually at least fifty percent – to be declared as having a dominant market share.  Market share is not a precise indicator of how well you are doing.  Market share changes depending on customer sales, governmental regulations, and other markets. 

A business that has achieved market dominance makes it hard for other businesses of that type to enter into competition in the geographic area.  There is not enough of a market left for them to compete since you control most of it. 

A business that has a large market share also has market power and the potential for market dominance.  Market power is a great thing to have.  Even if you manufacture less of your products, you don’t have to change the price.

Let’s say that you sell glass bowls.  If the market starts to go south and other companies are slashing prices, you don’t have to, because you have such a large market share that people will still pay what you ask for your products.  One reason why people will still pay your asking price is quality and a unique product they can’t find anywhere else. 

Market dominance doesn’t automatically transfer from one area to another.  It depends on the strength and adaptability of your product in the market.  If you began to offer your product internationally, you have the potential to dominate that market as well, but it is not a certainty.  The competition there may be different and stronger.

Gaining market dominance is certainly something to strive for.  Look to gain a foothold in your market by building your brand and a quality product that everyone can get behind.