Industry Research Skill

A comprehensive skill for conducting deep industry research across multiple sectors including consumer, technology, healthcare, and finance industries.

Description

This skill provides reusable methodologies, frameworks, and best practices for analyzing industry trends, identifying key market players, understanding market dynamics, tracking industry news, and forecasting future outlooks.

Core Research Areas

1. Industry Trends Analysis

• Current market trends and growth patterns
• Emerging technologies and innovations
• Consumer behavior shifts
• Regulatory and policy changes
• Market disruptions and transformations

2. Key Companies & Market Leaders

• Market leaders and their market share
• Notable players and emerging competitors
• Competitive positioning
• Company performance metrics
• Strategic initiatives and investments

3. Market Dynamics

• Market size and growth rates
• Key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Market segmentation
• Pricing trends
• Supply chain dynamics

4. Industry News & Developments

• Recent industry news and events
• Regulatory changes and compliance updates
• Major mergers and acquisitions
• Product launches and innovations
• Industry conferences and announcements

5. Future Outlook

• Emerging trends and opportunities
• Market predictions and forecasts
• Technology disruptions on the horizon
• Regulatory changes expected
• Investment and growth opportunities

Research Methodology

Phase 1: Source Identification

1. Industry-Specific News Sources

   • Identify top industry publications
   • Track industry trade publications
   • Monitor industry association websites
   • Follow industry analysts and thought leaders

2. Market Data Sources

   • Financial data platforms (Yahoo Finance, Finviz)
   • Market research reports (Gartner, Statista, industry reports)
   • Government data sources
   • Industry databases

3. Company Information Sources

   • Company websites and investor relations
   • Financial filings and reports
   • Industry databases (Crunchbase, PitchBook)
   • News aggregators

Phase 2: Data Collection

1. Browser Automation Workflow

   • Navigate to each source using Playwright MCP servers
   • Capture screenshots for visual analysis
   • Extract structured data from pages
   • Verify data accuracy against screenshots

2. Screenshot Analysis

   • Always capture screenshots before extraction
   • Use Read tool to visually analyze screenshots
   • Extract only what is visible in screenshots
   • Verify extracted data matches screenshot content

Phase 3: Analysis & Synthesis

1. Trend Identification

   • Group related information by theme
   • Identify patterns across multiple sources
   • Distinguish between trends and isolated events
   • Note confidence levels based on source diversity

2. Market Analysis

   • Compile market size and growth data
   • Compare metrics across companies
   • Identify market leaders and their positions
   • Analyze competitive dynamics

3. Insight Generation

   • Synthesize information into actionable insights
   • Connect trends to market implications
   • Identify opportunities and threats
   • Provide forward-looking analysis

Industry-Specific Frameworks

Consumer Industry Framework

• Focus Areas: Retail performance, e-commerce growth, consumer spending, brand analysis
• Key Metrics: Same-store sales, online vs. offline growth, consumer sentiment, brand value
• Sources: Retail Dive, Consumer Reports, NRF, Statista consumer data

Technology Industry Framework

• Focus Areas: Innovation trends, market leaders, sector performance, emerging technologies
• Key Metrics: Market share, R&D spending, patent activity, adoption rates
• Sources: TechCrunch, The Verge, Ars Technica, Gartner reports

Healthcare Industry Framework

• Focus Areas: Healthcare trends, regulatory changes, biotech developments, market dynamics
• Key Metrics: FDA approvals, clinical trial results, market size, growth rates
• Sources: STAT News, Fierce Healthcare, Healthcare Dive, industry reports

Finance Industry Framework

• Focus Areas: Banking trends, fintech innovation, regulatory changes, market performance
• Key Metrics: Assets under management, loan growth, fintech adoption, regulatory compliance
• Sources: American Banker, Financial Times banking, Fintech News, industry reports

Best Practices

Data Quality Standards

• ✅ All data should be current (latest available)
• ✅ Verify data against multiple sources when possible
• ✅ Extract only what is visible in screenshots
• ✅ Note data recency and source reliability
• ✅ Distinguish between facts and opinions

Research Workflow

1. Start Broad: Begin with industry overview and major trends
2. Narrow Focus: Drill down into specific companies and metrics
3. Cross-Reference: Verify information across multiple sources
4. Synthesize: Combine insights into coherent analysis
5. Document: Save all screenshots and raw data for reference

Source Evaluation

• Primary Sources: Company websites, financial filings, official reports
• Secondary Sources: News articles, industry publications, analyst reports
• Tertiary Sources: Aggregators, summaries, third-party analysis
• Reliability: Prioritize primary sources, cross-check secondary sources

Output Structure

All research outputs follow this directory structure:

outputs/
└── <agent_name>/
    └── <customer_name>/
        ├── reports/        # Final markdown research reports
        ├── scripts/         # Generated research code
        ├── raw/            # JSON/CSV data files
        └── screenshots/    # PNG screenshots of sources

Report Template

## [Industry] Research Report

**Generated:** [Date/Time]
**Research Period:** [Date range]
**Sources Analyzed:** [List of sources]

---

### Executive Summary
[2-3 paragraph overview of key findings]

---

### Industry Trends
[Current trends with analysis and sources]

---

### Key Companies & Market Leaders
[Top companies with market position and analysis]

---

### Market Dynamics
[Market size, growth rates, key metrics with sources]

---

### Recent Developments
[Industry news and events with dates and sources]

---

### Future Outlook
[Emerging trends, predictions, and opportunities]

---

### Source Attribution
[List of all sources and URLs used]

Code Examples

Basic Industry Research Workflow

import asyncio
from playwright.async_api import async_playwright

async def research_industry_trends(industry_sources):
    """
    Research industry trends from multiple sources.
    
    Args:
        industry_sources (list): List of URLs to research
        
    Returns:
        dict: Research findings organized by source
    """
    findings = {}
    
    async with async_playwright() as p:
        browser = await p.chromium.launch()
        page = await browser.new_page(viewport={"width": 1920, "height": 1080})
        
        for source_url in industry_sources:
            try:
                # Navigate and capture
                await page.goto(source_url, wait_until="domcontentloaded", timeout=120000)
                await page.screenshot(path=f"screenshot_{source_url.replace('/', '_')}.png", full_page=True)
                
                # Extract data (implement based on page structure)
                # ... extraction logic ...
                
                findings[source_url] = extracted_data
            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Error researching {source_url}: {e}")
        
        await browser.close()
    
    return findings

Market Data Extraction

async def extract_market_metrics(page, selector_mapping):
    """
    Extract market metrics from a financial data page.
    
    Args:
        page: Playwright page object
        selector_mapping (dict): Mapping of metric names to CSS selectors
        
    Returns:
        dict: Extracted metrics
    """
    metrics = {}
    
    for metric_name, selector in selector_mapping.items():
        try:
            element = await page.query_selector(selector)
            if element:
                text = await element.inner_text()
                metrics[metric_name] = text.strip()
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Error extracting {metric_name}: {e}")
    
    return metrics

Common Research Tasks

1. Industry Trend Analysis

• Identify recurring themes across multiple sources
• Track trend evolution over time
• Distinguish between fads and lasting trends
• Analyze trend drivers and implications

2. Competitive Landscape Mapping

• Identify market leaders and their positions
• Map competitive relationships
• Analyze market share distribution
• Identify emerging competitors

3. Market Size Estimation

• Gather market size data from multiple sources
• Compare estimates across sources
• Note methodology differences
• Provide range estimates when sources differ

4. Regulatory Impact Assessment

• Track regulatory changes and proposals
• Assess impact on industry players
• Identify compliance requirements
• Forecast regulatory trends

Integration with Agents

This skill is designed to be used by specialized industry researcher agents:

• consumer_researcher.md - Consumer/retail industry
• tech_researcher.md - Technology industry
• healthcare_researcher.md - Healthcare/biotech industry
• finance_researcher.md - Finance/banking industry

Each agent applies this skill's methodologies to their specific industry domain.

Dependencies

• Playwright for browser automation
• Screenshot capture capabilities
• Visual analysis tools (Read tool)
• Data extraction and processing capabilities

Performance Notes

• Research multiple sources in parallel when possible
• Cache screenshots for reference
• Save raw data for future analysis
• Organize findings by research area for easy access