Benchmarking is an instrument used by businesses to conduct a competitive analysis. Basically, it is a process of comparing products, methods and services of other similar businesses. It helps to gather insights on competitors' business operation in order to ascertain gap in the company's performance.
With benchmarking, businesses are able to identify differences, close performance gaps and uncover possibilities for improvement. By identifying best practices of the most successful companies, benchmarking as a management method helps to better assess one's own position on the market.
Systematic benchmarking helps to better understand business processes.
