2002年4月にGMO総合研究所(株)を設立した。2006年9月にGMOインターネットグループ内でインターネットリサーチ事業を行う旧 GMOリサーチ(株)を吸収合併し、商号をGMOリサーチ(株)へ変更した。2024年5月には、AI技術をもってリサーチ業界においてリーダーシップを強化し、業界革新の先導を図る意欲を示すために、商号を現在のGMOリサーチ&AIに変更した。■Company Overview
1. Company Overview
GMO Research & AI ＜3695＞ is an enterprise that has “feelings for the world” as its philosophy, is responsible for the internet research field within the GMO Internet Group, and creates new value globally with market research and marketing centered on Japan and Asia. It has 5 overseas companies under its umbrella: Singapore, China, India, Malaysia, and the United States.
GMO Research Institute Co., Ltd. was established in 2002/4. In 2006/9, the former GMO Research Co., Ltd., which conducts internet research business within the GMO Internet Group, was absorbed and merged, and the trade name was changed to GMO Research Co., Ltd. In 2024/5, the trade name was changed to the current GMO Research & AI in order to strengthen leadership in the research industry with AI technology and show motivation to lead industry innovation.
It was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (hereafter, Tokyo Stock Exchange) Mothers in 2014/10, but it was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market in 2022/4 due to the review of the Tokyo Stock Exchange market classification.
2. Business model and main services
In market research, general business companies such as consumer goods manufacturers conduct market research activities* to accurately capture actual conditions and changes in general consumer behavior and attitudes, such as “positioning of their products in the market,” “new product needs,” “advertising/campaign measures and their effects,” and “satisfaction with products,” but most of these are market research by general business companies such as Macromill ＜3978＞, Cross Marketing Group ＜3675＞, and Neo Marketing ＜4196＞ Investigations have been outsourced to specialized companies.
※ Surveys where questionnaire forms are answered face-to-face, postal surveys where questionnaire forms are mailed and returned, internet research where questionnaire surveys are conducted on the internet, etc.
The company's business model mainly focuses on providing platforms and panels*2 that can complete research operation*1 on the internet to market research companies and business companies that conduct in-house market research in the global internet research market centered on Japan and Asia. It is a business model that connects customer companies (research companies, business companies, etc.) that conduct questionnaire surveys with panels (consumers) that respond to questionnaire surveys.
*1 Survey design - web survey screen creation - questionnaire implementation - panel management/use of Cloud Panel - scrutination/aggregation - report creation.
*2 A panel is a general consumer or business person who responds to surveys via the internet, and the company refers to that group as the “ASIA Cloud Panel,” a consumer-side platform.
The main services are the platform “GMO Market Observer” (the company's registered trademark) for domestic and international research companies (including think tanks, consulting companies, etc.) and the complete DIY (self type) platform “GMO Ask” for domestic general business companies (including schools, government offices, etc.).
“GMO Market Observer” is a general term for research solution platforms that can complete all research operations on the internet. The fact that internet research tools previously developed for each company have been standardized and made possible to provide them at low cost is an advantage on the customer side.
“GMO Ask” is an easy self-platform service where general business companies can create and distribute questionnaires in-house using the company's DIY questionnaire tool and survey panel network. Since demand for online, miniaturization, lighting, in-house production, etc. of market research work is increasing, “GMO Ask” is promoting the development of the domestic business company market.
The largest panel network in Japan and Asia is an advantage
3. Features and strengths
The company's characteristics and strengths include the fact that it has built the largest panel network “ASIA Cloud Panel” in Japan and Asia, and that it is a panel with high quality and convenience, such as eliminating fraudulent responses and optimal targeting distribution.
The company's survey panel “ASIA Cloud Panel” is constantly being updated by eliminating fraudulent responses and ensuring response quality by utilizing proprietary technology and AI, and optimal targeting distribution of questionnaires by creating a database of questionnaire responses.
As of 2024/10, the number of panels has reached a total of 67.44 million people in 16 Asian countries and regions (including Japan) with API connections to 451 companies (media) with loyalty membership (media). Also, according to the company's data, the company's market share in the panel supply market is ranked 1st in Japan (80% market share) and 9th in the world (same 2%). In 2024/1, the CASHMART business was taken over from SNOWBALL for the purpose of expanding the panel network and improving the panel member retention rate. The CASHMART business has approximately 0.5 million users in a smartphone application developed independently, and has a mechanism for collecting questionnaires and member engagement content using video advertisements.
Furthermore, the company requests survey subjects registered on the panel network to participate in the questionnaire, and points are given to the respondents as rewards. Respondents can exchange points for cash, gift certificates, products, etc. These point issuance costs, etc. account for most of the company's sales costs as project implementation costs.
Shift to high-margin deals
4. Sales category
The company's reporting segment is a single segment of the internet research business, but the business sales categories (changed from the 2024/12 fiscal year) are “business companies,” “research companies (domestic and overseas),” and “global panel companies” by sales channel. Cumulative sales by business for the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year ending 2024/12 were 483 million yen (sales structure ratio 13.2%) for operating companies, 697 million yen overseas (same 19.1%) for research companies at 2216 million yen (same 60.6%), and 259 million yen (same 7.1%) for global panel companies. As part of its growth strategy, the company is promoting sales expansion for domestic business companies with high profit margins, and is strategically shifting sales to global panel companies with low profit margins to overseas research companies. Furthermore, the average gross margin ratio for the fiscal year ended 2023/12 was 74% for domestic business companies, 59% for domestic research companies, 51% for overseas research companies, and 37% for global panel companies.
The market for providing platform sample panels is expanding
5. Risk Factors, Profit Characteristics, Issues, and Countermeasures
Common risk factors in the internet research industry include changes in demand due to economic fluctuations, etc., intensification of competition, delays in responding to technological innovation, system management/information security responses, and legal regulations.
Although there is a possibility that overall market research and demand for internet research will temporarily decline due to economic deceleration, the self-service platform/sample panel provision market developed by the company is expanding due to increased demand for online, miniaturization, lighting, in-house production, etc. of market research operations, etc., and it is thought that there will be no change in this trend over the medium to long term. Furthermore, we are working to maintain and strengthen our competitive advantage by developing services and expanding functions in response to market innovation.
Furthermore, as a seasonal factor, market research generally tends to focus on January to March and October to December as surveys for formulating marketing plans for the next fiscal year of operating companies and preliminary surveys for the Christmas sales season. For this reason, in the case of the company, sales tend to be biased towards the first quarter (January to March) and the fourth quarter (October to December). Also, there is a possibility that financial results will be affected as a temporary factor in cases where sales were scheduled to be recorded in the fourth quarter are off schedule, etc.
(Author: FISCO Visiting Analyst Masashi Mizuta Exhibition)
