Benchmarking as a promising tool for marketing research of Ukrainian enterprises

Within the framework of this article, the substantiation of the demand for benchmarking technology as a promising tool for enterprise marketing research is carried out. This will help to increase the efficiency of their marketing activities in general and the activities of all their business processes in particular, taking into account the successful experience of competitors and business partners. The essential characteristics of the concept of "benchmarking" are analyzed and the author's view of its content is formed. According to the authors, benchmarking is an effective method of comparative analysis (standard comparison), which enterprises systematically use to study the successful experience of competitors and its further implementation in their own management activities. This will improve competitiveness, customer satisfaction and financial performance of the enterprise. A comparative analysis of large and small enterprises in the Ukrainian market by the number and volume of sales of their goods was conducted. It was found that the dynamics of the number of small enterprises during 2014-2023 is growing, while the number of large enterprises is decreasing. It was revealed that the sales volumes of small enterprises in Ukraine for the period 2014-2023 are insignificant compared to the volumes of large enterprises, which became even smaller during the martial law of 2022-2023. In such conditions, benchmarking can become an effective tool for small enterprises in Ukraine. And this is despite the obstacles to the implementation of benchmarking in the activities of enterprises. On this basis, the stages of benchmarking research procedures have been developed and the main errors in the process of their implementation have been identified. Various sources and digital marketing tools can be used to collect and analyze data in the benchmarking process. The main factors limiting the implementation of benchmarking at Ukrainian enterprises include the following: high cost of benchmarking, lack of opportunities to transfer experience, lack of qualified specialists, inaccurate interpretation of benchmarking, difficulty in adapting international experience to Ukrainian realities, insufficient experience in the field of comparative analysis and development. The article contains proposals to increase the level of demand for benchmarking among Ukrainian enterprises as an effective method of marketing research.