A comparative market assessment built around your product, HS code and export origin. R1 evaluates your candidate markets on the same commercial criteria and gives you a clear market ranking and recommendation.
Best commissioned before selecting your first or next target export market.
R1 starts with your Questionnaire, compares up to three candidate markets across seven weighted dimensions, checks live conditions, and turns the evidence into a ranked recommendation and action plan.
The approved R1 process infographic — from Questionnaire to seven-factor scoring, live adjustment, ranked recommendation and phased action plan.
Exporters often shortlist countries because they are large, familiar, nearby or already generating enquiries. Those signals can be useful — but they do not show whether demand, competition, market access and commercial conditions combine to make a country worth pursuing.
A large import market may also contain powerful incumbents, difficult channels or intense price competition that makes entry difficult for a new exporter.
Demand can be expanding while entry barriers, regulations or route-to-market constraints make the opportunity difficult for a new supplier to reach.
Trade growth, pricing, competition and market risk each tell a partial story. Assessed independently, they can point in different directions.
You do not need to know whether Country A is interesting in isolation. You need to know whether it is more attractive than Countries B and C for your specific product and situation.
R1 is frequently compared with generic country reports and trade-statistics websites. They serve a different purpose.
| Generic country research | R1 Market Opportunity Assessment |
|---|---|
| Describes one market | Compares candidate markets side by side |
| Broad macroeconomic statistics | Product and HS-code-specific trade evidence |
| Market size viewed in isolation | Demand, growth, competition and accessibility considered together |
| Different sources with no common framework | Every market assessed against the same criteria |
| No ranking — reader decides what matters | Clear priority ranking with commercial interpretation |
| General conclusions | Recommended next step for the exporter |
R1 produces three coordinated outputs that take you from a shortlist of candidate markets to a well-supported, evidence-led market decision.
The comparative decision tool. Your candidate markets are scored side by side, with a weighted overall ranking and a clear view of their relative strengths and weaknesses.
see immediately which market currently offers the strongest overall opportunity.
One structured assessment per candidate market — covering demand evidence, competitive intensity, market access, commercial constraints, key strengths and principal concerns.
understand why each market received its position in the ranking.
The analyst recommendation that translates the scores into a business decision — recommended priority market, rationale, conditions, markets to defer, and immediate next steps.
decide where to concentrate the next stage of your export investment.
Compare the opportunities
Understand the evidence
Choose the next market
The same assessment framework is applied to every candidate market so you are comparing like with like — not impressions formed from different sources at different times.
Genuine extract from the R1 sample report — side-by-side market ranking and factor comparison.
Overall scores alone are not enough. R1 shows the seven weighted factors behind the decision, the evidence supporting those scores, and the trade-offs that explain why one market ranks ahead of another.
Genuine extract from the R1 sample report — the seven-factor scoring and evidence behind the recommended market.
R1 does not leave you to interpret the ranking alone. The final section provides a clear analyst recommendation — which market to prioritise, why, what conditions or reservations apply, and what to investigate before committing further resources.
Visual summary based on Section 10 of the R1 sample report — phased market entry sequence and 30/60/90-day action plan.
Download the complete R1 sample to see the seven-factor market comparison, the evidence behind the scores, the final ranked recommendation and the 30/60/90-day action plan.
Download Sample R1 ReportOpens the complete R1 sample report in a new tab.
Markets are assessed consistently across the same seven weighted dimensions so that the ranking reflects relative market attractiveness and fit — not simply which country has the biggest import market.
Is demand large enough and moving in the right direction?
Can the product enter on workable tariff and regulatory terms?
How difficult is the supplier and incumbent environment?
Is there a sufficiently broad and reachable buyer base?
Can the market support attractive economics after logistics and access costs?
How well does the market match your current capacity, MOQ, certifications, export experience and operational capability?
How manageable is the market-level payment environment?
The assessment uses your Questionnaire as part of the analysis, so the strongest market is judged for your business rather than in the abstract. Current conditions are then checked through a live current-affairs and shipping scan. Where a relevant event materially affects one of the defined factors, the permitted adjustment is applied before the final ranking is calculated.
A large market does not automatically receive the highest ranking. R1 combines opportunity, accessibility, commercial economics, operational fit and risk. Scores provide a structured basis for comparison — they support commercial judgement but do not guarantee future sales or market performance.
R1 combines official trade statistics, licensed international trade transaction data where appropriate, market-access and regulatory sources, current operational and risk intelligence, and analytical review to produce conclusions you can act on.
Product-specific import values, volumes and trends from official sources, supplemented where appropriate by licensed international trade transaction data to illuminate shipment patterns, supplying relationships, unit values and competitive structure.
Tariff rates, access conditions and relevant regulatory information from official and specialist sources appropriate to your product and origin.
Evidence on supplying countries, market concentration and existing competitive pressure — so the ranking reflects how accessible the opportunity actually is.
The data is interpreted and reviewed so that temporary spikes, partial datasets and misleading comparisons are not treated automatically as genuine opportunity signals.
Every R1 report is personally reviewed before delivery. The review tests whether the ranking remains commercially sound when the evidence is considered as a whole — not just factor by factor.
Market selection often fails when one attractive statistic is allowed to dominate the decision. The review process checks whether the recommended market remains commercially persuasive when all the evidence is weighed together.
The real comparison is not with the cost of a country report. It is with the time, specialist data and analytical work required to compare markets properly on your own.
R1 does not promise that the highest-ranked market will produce sales. It gives you a structured, evidence-led basis for deciding where further export investment is most justified.
Tell us your product, HS code, export origin and up to three candidate markets. Include any relevant commercial priorities — minimum market size, preferred routes to market, or specific constraints. The Questionnaire is designed to take approximately 10–15 minutes to complete.
We assemble product-level evidence for each candidate market, apply the common assessment framework, and test each market against the same decision criteria. The analysis is reviewed before the report is finalised.
The Market Ranking, individual Seven-Factor Evidence & Scoring and Recommendation & Action Plan are delivered to you by email within three working days of receiving your completed Questionnaire.
Up to three marketsThe standard R1 compares up to three agreed candidate markets for one agreed product and HS code. Delivered within three working days of receiving your completed Questionnaire. One revision if the report materially fails to meet the agreed scope.
One product scopeThe assessment is built around the agreed product and HS code. Additional products or substantially different product categories require separate analysis.
Comparative, not predictiveR1 identifies the preferred market based on available evidence. It does not guarantee sales, future market performance, or that the recommended market will remain the strongest option as conditions change.
Data availabilityTrade data quality and recency vary by country and product category. Where material limitations exist, they are clearly identified in the report.
Market-selection scopeR1 recommends the priority market. It does not replace the detailed entry, buyer, operational or risk work provided by later TradeMatch Pro reports.
Advisory analysisR1 is commercial market intelligence, not legal, tax, financial or investment advice. Regulatory information is indicative and should be verified with specialist advisers before committing to market entry.
One product · Up to three markets
Your card is authorised at checkout but not charged until we confirm we can deliver. If we can't, nothing is taken. Your Questionnaire is sent once we've confirmed we're going ahead.
Compare your candidate markets, review a sample, or ask us a question before commissioning R1.