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Research Gap – Types, Examples and How to Identify

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Research Gap

Definition:

Research gap refers to an area or topic within a field of study that has not yet been extensively researched or is yet to be explored. It is a question, problem or issue that has not been addressed or resolved by previous research.

How to Identify Research Gap

Identifying a research gap is an essential step in conducting research that adds value and contributes to the existing body of knowledge. Research gap requires critical thinking, creativity, and a thorough understanding of the existing literature . It is an iterative process that may require revisiting and refining your research questions and ideas multiple times.

Here are some steps that can help you identify a research gap:

• Review existing literature: Conduct a thorough review of the existing literature in your research area. This will help you identify what has already been studied and what gaps still exist.
• Identify a research problem: Identify a specific research problem or question that you want to address.
• Analyze existing research: Analyze the existing research related to your research problem. This will help you identify areas that have not been studied, inconsistencies in the findings, or limitations of the previous research.
• Brainstorm potential research ideas : Based on your analysis, brainstorm potential research ideas that address the identified gaps.
• Consult with experts: Consult with experts in your research area to get their opinions on potential research ideas and to identify any additional gaps that you may have missed.
• Refine research questions: Refine your research questions and hypotheses based on the identified gaps and potential research ideas.
• Develop a research proposal: Develop a research proposal that outlines your research questions, objectives, and methods to address the identified research gap.

Types of Research Gap

There are different types of research gaps that can be identified, and each type is associated with a specific situation or problem. Here are the main types of research gaps and their explanations:

Theoretical Gap

This type of research gap refers to a lack of theoretical understanding or knowledge in a particular area. It can occur when there is a discrepancy between existing theories and empirical evidence or when there is no theory that can explain a particular phenomenon. Identifying theoretical gaps can lead to the development of new theories or the refinement of existing ones.

Empirical Gap

An empirical gap occurs when there is a lack of empirical evidence or data in a particular area. It can happen when there is a lack of research on a specific topic or when existing research is inadequate or inconclusive. Identifying empirical gaps can lead to the development of new research studies to collect data or the refinement of existing research methods to improve the quality of data collected.

Methodological Gap

This type of research gap refers to a lack of appropriate research methods or techniques to answer a research question. It can occur when existing methods are inadequate, outdated, or inappropriate for the research question. Identifying methodological gaps can lead to the development of new research methods or the modification of existing ones to better address the research question.

Practical Gap

A practical gap occurs when there is a lack of practical applications or implementation of research findings. It can occur when research findings are not implemented due to financial, political, or social constraints. Identifying practical gaps can lead to the development of strategies for the effective implementation of research findings in practice.

Knowledge Gap

This type of research gap occurs when there is a lack of knowledge or information on a particular topic. It can happen when a new area of research is emerging, or when research is conducted in a different context or population. Identifying knowledge gaps can lead to the development of new research studies or the extension of existing research to fill the gap.

Examples of Research Gap

Here are some examples of research gaps that researchers might identify:

• Theoretical Gap Example : In the field of psychology, there might be a theoretical gap related to the lack of understanding of the relationship between social media use and mental health. Although there is existing research on the topic, there might be a lack of consensus on the mechanisms that link social media use to mental health outcomes.
• Empirical Gap Example : In the field of environmental science, there might be an empirical gap related to the lack of data on the long-term effects of climate change on biodiversity in specific regions. Although there might be some studies on the topic, there might be a lack of data on the long-term effects of climate change on specific species or ecosystems.
• Methodological Gap Example : In the field of education, there might be a methodological gap related to the lack of appropriate research methods to assess the impact of online learning on student outcomes. Although there might be some studies on the topic, existing research methods might not be appropriate to assess the complex relationships between online learning and student outcomes.
• Practical Gap Example: In the field of healthcare, there might be a practical gap related to the lack of effective strategies to implement evidence-based practices in clinical settings. Although there might be existing research on the effectiveness of certain practices, they might not be implemented in practice due to various barriers, such as financial constraints or lack of resources.
• Knowledge Gap Example: In the field of anthropology, there might be a knowledge gap related to the lack of understanding of the cultural practices of indigenous communities in certain regions. Although there might be some research on the topic, there might be a lack of knowledge about specific cultural practices or beliefs that are unique to those communities.

Examples of Research Gap In Literature Review, Thesis, and Research Paper might be:

• Literature review : A literature review on the topic of machine learning and healthcare might identify a research gap in the lack of studies that investigate the use of machine learning for early detection of rare diseases.
• Thesis : A thesis on the topic of cybersecurity might identify a research gap in the lack of studies that investigate the effectiveness of artificial intelligence in detecting and preventing cyber attacks.
• Research paper : A research paper on the topic of natural language processing might identify a research gap in the lack of studies that investigate the use of natural language processing techniques for sentiment analysis in non-English languages.

How to Write Research Gap

By following these steps, you can effectively write about research gaps in your paper and clearly articulate the contribution that your study will make to the existing body of knowledge.

Here are some steps to follow when writing about research gaps in your paper:

• Identify the research question : Before writing about research gaps, you need to identify your research question or problem. This will help you to understand the scope of your research and identify areas where additional research is needed.
• Review the literature: Conduct a thorough review of the literature related to your research question. This will help you to identify the current state of knowledge in the field and the gaps that exist.
• Identify the research gap: Based on your review of the literature, identify the specific research gap that your study will address. This could be a theoretical, empirical, methodological, practical, or knowledge gap.
• Provide evidence: Provide evidence to support your claim that the research gap exists. This could include a summary of the existing literature, a discussion of the limitations of previous studies, or an analysis of the current state of knowledge in the field.
• Explain the importance: Explain why it is important to fill the research gap. This could include a discussion of the potential implications of filling the gap, the significance of the research for the field, or the potential benefits to society.
• State your research objectives: State your research objectives, which should be aligned with the research gap you have identified. This will help you to clearly articulate the purpose of your study and how it will address the research gap.

Importance of Research Gap

The importance of research gaps can be summarized as follows:

• Advancing knowledge: Identifying research gaps is crucial for advancing knowledge in a particular field. By identifying areas where additional research is needed, researchers can fill gaps in the existing body of knowledge and contribute to the development of new theories and practices.
• Guiding research: Research gaps can guide researchers in designing studies that fill those gaps. By identifying research gaps, researchers can develop research questions and objectives that are aligned with the needs of the field and contribute to the development of new knowledge.
• Enhancing research quality: By identifying research gaps, researchers can avoid duplicating previous research and instead focus on developing innovative research that fills gaps in the existing body of knowledge. This can lead to more impactful research and higher-quality research outputs.
• Informing policy and practice: Research gaps can inform policy and practice by highlighting areas where additional research is needed to inform decision-making. By filling research gaps, researchers can provide evidence-based recommendations that have the potential to improve policy and practice in a particular field.

Applications of Research Gap

Here are some potential applications of research gap:

• Informing research priorities: Research gaps can help guide research funding agencies and researchers to prioritize research areas that require more attention and resources.
• Identifying practical implications: Identifying gaps in knowledge can help identify practical applications of research that are still unexplored or underdeveloped.
• Stimulating innovation: Research gaps can encourage innovation and the development of new approaches or methodologies to address unexplored areas.
• Improving policy-making: Research gaps can inform policy-making decisions by highlighting areas where more research is needed to make informed policy decisions.
• Enhancing academic discourse: Research gaps can lead to new and constructive debates and discussions within academic communities, leading to more robust and comprehensive research.

Advantages of Research Gap

Here are some of the advantages of research gap:

• Identifies new research opportunities: Identifying research gaps can help researchers identify areas that require further exploration, which can lead to new research opportunities.
• Improves the quality of research: By identifying gaps in current research, researchers can focus their efforts on addressing unanswered questions, which can improve the overall quality of research.
• Enhances the relevance of research: Research that addresses existing gaps can have significant implications for the development of theories, policies, and practices, and can therefore increase the relevance and impact of research.
• Helps avoid duplication of effort: Identifying existing research can help researchers avoid duplicating efforts, saving time and resources.
• Helps to refine research questions: Research gaps can help researchers refine their research questions, making them more focused and relevant to the needs of the field.
• Promotes collaboration: By identifying areas of research that require further investigation, researchers can collaborate with others to conduct research that addresses these gaps, which can lead to more comprehensive and impactful research outcomes.

Disadvantages of Research Gap

While research gaps can be advantageous, there are also some potential disadvantages that should be considered:

• Difficulty in identifying gaps: Identifying gaps in existing research can be challenging, particularly in fields where there is a large volume of research or where research findings are scattered across different disciplines.
• Lack of funding: Addressing research gaps may require significant resources, and researchers may struggle to secure funding for their work if it is perceived as too risky or uncertain.
• Time-consuming: Conducting research to address gaps can be time-consuming, particularly if the research involves collecting new data or developing new methods.
• Risk of oversimplification: Addressing research gaps may require researchers to simplify complex problems, which can lead to oversimplification and a failure to capture the complexity of the issues.
• Bias : Identifying research gaps can be influenced by researchers’ personal biases or perspectives, which can lead to a skewed understanding of the field.
• Potential for disagreement: Identifying research gaps can be subjective, and different researchers may have different views on what constitutes a gap in the field, leading to disagreements and debate.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Framing challenges

Gap analysis for literature reviews and advancing useful knowledge

By Steve Wallis and Bernadette Wright 02/06/2020

The basics of research are seemingly clear. Read a lot of articles, see what’s missing, and conduct research to fill the gap in the literature. Wait a minute. What is that? ‘See what’s missing?’ How can we see something that is not there?

Imagine you are videoconferencing a colleague who is showing you the results of their project. Suddenly, the screen and sound cut out for a minute. After pressing some keys, you manage to restore the link; only to have your colleague ask, ‘What do you think?’. Of course, you know that you missed something from the presentation because of the disconnection. You can see that something is missing, and you know what to ask for to get your desired results, ‘Sorry, could you repeat that last minute of your presentation, please’. It’s not so easy when we’re looking at research results, proposals, or literature reviews.

While all research is, to some extent, useful, we’ve seen a lot of research that does not have the expected impact. That means wasted time, wasted money, under-served clients, and frustration on multiple levels. A big part of that problem is that directions for research are often chosen intuitively; in a sort of ad-hoc process. While we deeply respect the intuition of experts, that kind of process is not very rigorous.

In this post, we will show you how to ‘see the invisible’: How to identify the missing pieces in any study, literature review, or program analysis. With these straight-forward techniques, you will be able to better target your research in a more cost-effective way to fill those knowledge gaps to develop more effective theories, plans, and evaluations.

The first step is to choose your source material. That can be one or more articles, reports, or other study results. Of course, you want to be sure that the material you use is of high quality . Next, you want to create a causal map of your source material.

We’re going to go a bit abstract on you here because people sometimes get lost in the ‘content’ when what we are looking at here is more about the ‘structure’. Think of it like choosing how to buy a house based on how well it is built, rather than what color it is painted. So, instead of using actual concepts, we’ll refer to them as concepts A, B, C… and so on.

So, the text might say something like: ‘Our research shows that A causes B, B causes C, and D causes less C. Oh yes, and E is also important (although we’re not sure how it’s causally connected to A, B, C, or D)’.

When we draw causal maps from the source material we’ve found, we like to have key concepts in circles, with causal connections represented by arrows.

Figure 1. Abstract example of a causal map of a theory

There are really three basic kinds of gaps for you to find: relevance/meaning, logic/structure, and data/evidence. Starting with structure, there is a gap any place where there are two circles NOT connected by a causal arrow. It is important to have at least two arrows pointing at each concept/circle for the same reason we like to have multiple independent variables for each dependent variable (although, with more complex maps, we’re learning to see these as interdependent variables).

For example, there is no arrow between A and D. Also, there is no arrow between E and any of the other concepts. Each of those is a structural gap – an opening for additional research.

You might also notice that there are two arrows pointing directly at C. Like having two independent variables and one dependent variable, it is structurally better to have at least two arrows pointing at each concept.

So, structurally , C is in good shape. This part of the map has the least need for additional research. A larger gap exists around B, because it has only one arrow pointing at it (the arrow from A to B). Larger still is the gap around A, D, and E; because they have no arrows pointing at them.

To get the greatest leverage for your research dollar, it is generally best to search for that second arrow. In short, one research question would be: What (aside from A) has a causal influence on B? Other good research questions would be (a) Is there a causal relationship between A and D? (b) Is there a causal relationship between E and any of the other concepts? (c) What else besides A helps cause B? (d) What are the causes of A, D, and E?

Now, let’s take a look at gaps in the data, evidence, or information upon which each causal arrow is established.

From structure to data

Here, we add to the drawing by making a note showing (very briefly) the kind of data supporting each causal arrow. We like to have that in a box – with a loopy line ‘typing’ the evidence to the connection. You can also use different colors to more easily differentiate between the concepts and the evidence on your map. You can also write the note along the length of the arrow.

Figure 2. Tying the data to the structure

From data to stakeholder relevance

Finally, the gap in meaning (relevance) asks if those studies were done with the ‘right’ people. By this, we mean people related to the situation or topic you are studying. Managers, line workers, clients, suppliers, those providing related services; all of those and more should be included. Similarly, you might look to a variety of academic disciplines, drawing expertise from psychology, sociology, business, economics, policy, and others.

Which participants or stakeholders are actually part of your research depends on the project. However, in general, having a broader selection of stakeholder groups results in a better map. This applies to both choosing what concepts go on the map and also who to contact for interviews and surveys.

Visualizing the gaps

All of these three gaps – gaps in structure, data, and stakeholder perspectives – can (and should) be addressed to help you choose more focused directions for your research – to generate research results that will have more impact. As a final note, remember that many gaps may be filled with secondary research; a new literature review that fills the gaps in the logic/structure, data/information, and meaning/relevance of your map so that your organisation can have a greater impact.

Figure 3. Visualizing the gaps (shown in green)

Some deeper reading on literature reviews may be found here:

• Practical Mapping for Applied Research and Program Evaluation (SAGE) provides a ‘jargon free’ explanation for every phase of research:

https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/practical-mapping-for-applied-research-and-program-evaluation/book261152   (especially Chapter 3)

• This paper uses theories for addressing poverty from a range of academic disciplines and from policy centers from across the political spectrum as an example of interdisciplinary knowledge mapping and synthesis:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/K-03-2018-0136/full/html

• Restructuring evaluation findings into useful knowledge:

http://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/download/481/436/

This approach helps you to avoid fuzzy understandings and the dangerous ‘pretence of knowledge’ that occasionally crops up in some reports and recommendations. Everyone can see that a piece is missing and so more easily agree where more research is needed to advance our knowledge to better serve our organisational and community constituents.

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How To Find A Research Gap, Quickly

A step-by-step guide for new researchers

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewer: Eunice Rautenbach (DTech) | April 2023

If you’ve got a dissertation, thesis or research project coming up, one of the first (and most important) things you’ll need to do is find a suitable research gap . In this post, we’ll share a straightforward process to help you uncover high-quality, original research gaps in a very time-efficient manner.

Overview: Finding Research Gaps

• What exactly is a research gap?
• Research gap vs research topic
• How to find potential research gaps
• How to evaluate research gaps (and topics)
• Key takeaways

What is a research gap?

As a starting point, it’s useful to first define what we mean by research gap, to ensure we’re all on the same page. The term “research gap” gets thrown around quite loosely by students and academics alike, so let’s clear that up.

Simply put, a research gap is any space where there’s a lack of solid, agreed-upon research regarding a specific topic, issue or phenomenon. In other words, there’s a lack of established knowledge and, consequently, a need for further research.

Let’s look at a hypothetical example to illustrate a research gap.

Within the existing research regarding factors affect job satisfaction , there may be a wealth of established and agreed-upon empirical work within a US and UK context , but very little research within Eastern nations such as Japan or Korea . Given that these nations have distinctly different national cultures and workforce compositions compared to the West, it’s plausible that the factors that contribute toward job satisfaction may also be different. Therefore, a research gap emerges for studies that explore this matter.

This example is purely hypothetical (and there’s probably plenty of research covering this already), but it illustrates the core point that a research gap reflects a lack of firmly established knowledge regarding a specific matter . Given this lack, an opportunity exists for researchers (like you) to go on and fill the gap.

So, it’s the same as a research topic?

Not quite – but they are connected. A research gap refers to an area where there’s a lack of settled research , whereas a research topic outlines the focus of a specific study . Despite being different things, these two are related because research gaps are the birthplace of research topics. In other words, by identifying a clear research gap, you have a foundation from which you can build a research topic for your specific study. Your study is unlikely to resolve the entire research gap on it’s own, but it will contribute towards it .

If you’d like to learn more, we’ve got a comprehensive post that covers research gaps (including the different types of research gaps), as well as an explainer video below.

How to find a research gap

Now that we’ve defined what a research gap is, it’s time to get down to the process of finding potential research gaps that you can use as a basis for potential research topics. Importantly, it’s worth noting that this is just one way (of many) to find a research gap (and consequently a topic). We’re not proposing that it’s the only way or best way, but it’s certainly a relatively quick way to identify opportunities.

Step 1: Identify your broad area of interest

The very first step to finding a research gap is to decide on your general area of interest . For example, if you were undertaking a dissertation as part of an MBA degree, you may decide that you’re interested in corporate reputation, HR strategy, or leadership styles. As you can see, these are broad categories – there’s no need to get super specific just yet. Of course, if there is something very specific that you’re interested in, that’s great – but don’t feel pressured to narrow it down too much right now.

Equally important is to make sure that this area of interest is allowed by your university or whichever institution you’ll be proposing your research to. This might sound dead obvious, but you’ll be surprised how many times we’ve seen students run down a path with great excitement, only to later learn that their university wants a very specific area of focus in terms of topic (and their area of interest doesn’t qualify).

Step 2: Do an initial literature scan

Once you’ve pinned down your broad area (or areas) of interest, the next step is to head over to Google Scholar to undertake an initial literature scan . If you’re not familiar with this tool, Google Scholar is a great starting point for finding academic literature on pretty much any topic, as it uses Google’s powerful search capabilities to hunt down relevant academic literature. It’s certainly not the be-all and end-all of literature search tools, but it’s a useful starting point .

Within Google Scholar, you’ll want to do a few searches using keywords that are relevant to your area of interest. Sticking with our earlier example, we could use the key phrase “job satisfaction”, or we may want to get a little more specific – perhaps “job satisfaction for millennials” or “job satisfaction in Japan”.

It’s always a good idea to play around with as many keywords/phrases as you can think up.  Take an iterative approach here and see which keywords yield the most relevant results for you. Keep each search open in a new tab, as this will help keep things organised for the next steps.

Once you’ve searched for a few different keywords/phrases, you’ll need to do some refining for each of the searches you undertook. Specifically, you’ll need to filter the results down to the most recent papers . You can do this by selecting the time period in the top left corner (see the example below).

Filtering to the current year is typically a good choice (especially for fast-moving research areas), but in some cases, you may need to filter to the last two years . If you’re undertaking this task in January or February, for example, you’ll likely need to select a two-year period.

Need a helping hand?

Step 3: Review and shortlist articles that interest you

Once you’ve run a few searches using different keywords and phrases, you’ll need to scan through the results to see what looks most relevant and interesting to you. At this stage, you can just look at the titles and abstracts (the description provided by Google Scholar) – don’t worry about reading the actual article just yet.

Next, select 5 – 10 articles that interest you and open them up. Here, we’re making the assumption that your university has provided you with access to a decent range of academic databases. In some cases, Google Scholar will link you directly to a PDF of the article, but in most cases, you’ll need paid access. If you don’t have this (for example, if you’re still applying to a university), you can look at two options:

Open-access articles – these are free articles which you can access without any journal subscription. A quick Google search (the regular Google) will help you find open-access journals in your area of interest, but you can also have a look at DOAJ and Elsevier Open Access.

DeepDyve – this is a monthly subscription service that allows you to get access to a broad range of journals. At the time of shooting this video, their monthly subscription is around $50 and they do offer a free trial, which may be sufficient for your project.

Step 4: Skim-read your article shortlist

Now, it’s time to dig into your article shortlist and do some reading. But don’t worry, you don’t need to read the articles from start to finish – you just need to focus on a few key sections.

Specifically, you’ll need to pay attention to the following:

• The abstract (which you’ve probably already read a portion of in Google Scholar)
• The introduction – this will give you a bit more detail about the context and background of the study, as well as what the researchers were trying to achieve (their research aims)
• The discussion or conclusion – this will tell you what the researchers found

By skimming through these three sections for each journal article on your shortlist, you’ll gain a reasonable idea of what each study was about, without having to dig into the painful details. Generally, these sections are usually quite short, so it shouldn’t take you too long.

Step 5: Go “FRIN hunting”

This is where the magic happens. Within each of the articles on your shortlist, you’ll want to search for a few very specific phrases , namely:

• Future research
• Further research
• Research opportunities
• Research directions

All of these terms are commonly found in what we call the “FRIN” section . FRIN stands for “further research is needed”. The FRIN is where the researchers explain what other researchers could do to build on their study, or just on the research area in general. In other words, the FRIN section is where you can find fresh opportunities for novel research . Most empirical studies will either have a dedicated FRIN section or paragraph, or they’ll allude to the FRIN toward the very end of the article. You’ll need to do a little scanning, but it’s usually pretty easy to spot.

It’s worth mentioning that naturally, the FRIN doesn’t hand you a list of research gaps on a platter. It’s not a silver bullet for finding research gaps – but it’s the closest thing to it. Realistically, the FRIN section helps you shortcut the gap-hunting process  by highlighting novel research avenues that are worth exploring.

This probably sounds a little conceptual, so let’s have a look at a few examples:

The impact of overeducation on job outcomes: Evidence from Saudi Arabia (Alzubaidi, 2020)

If you scroll down to the bottom of this article, you’ll see there’s a dedicated section called “Limitations and directions for future research”. Here they talk about the limitations of the study and provide suggestions about how future researchers could improve upon their work and overcome the limitations.

Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction: a moderated mediation model of proactive personality and psychological empowerment (Maan et al, 2020)

In this article, within the limitations section, they provide a wonderfully systematic structure where they discuss each limitation, followed by a proposal as to how future studies can overcome the respective limitation. In doing so, they are providing very specific research opportunities for other researchers.

Medical professionals’ job satisfaction and telemedicine readiness during the COVID-19 pandemic: solutions to improve medical practice in Egypt (El-Mazahy et al, 2023)

In this article, they don’t have a dedicated section discussing the FRIN, but we can deduct it based on the limitations section. For example, they state that an evaluation of the knowledge about telemedicine and technology-related skills would have enabled studying their independent effect on the perception of telemedicine.

Follow this FRIN-seeking process for the articles you shortlisted and map out any potentially interesting research gaps . You may find that you need to look at a larger number of articles to find something interesting, or you might find that your area of interest shifts as you engage in the reading – this is perfectly natural. Take as much time as you need to develop a shortlist of potential research gaps that interest you.

Importantly, once you’ve developed a shortlist of potential research gaps, you need to return to Google Scholar to double-check that there aren’t fresh studies that have already addressed the gap. Remember, if you’re looking at papers from two years ago in a fast-moving field, someone else may have jumped on it . Nevertheless, there could still very well be a unique angle you could take – perhaps a contextual gap (e.g. a specific country, industry, etc.).

Ultimately, the need for originality will depend on your specific university’s requirements and the level of study. For example, if you’re doing an undergraduate research project, the originality requirements likely won’t be as gruelling as say a Masters or PhD project. So, make sure you have a clear understanding of what your university’s expectations are. A good way to do this is to look at past dissertations and theses for your specific programme. You can usually find these in the university library or by asking the faculty.

How to evaluate potential research gaps

Once you’ve developed a shortlist of potential research gaps (and resultant potential research topics) that interest you, you’ll need to systematically evaluate  them  to choose a winner. There are many factors to consider here, but some important ones include the following:

• Originality and value – is the topic sufficiently novel and will addressing it create value?
• Data access – will you be able to get access to the sample of interest?
• Costs – will there be additional costs involved for data collection and/or analysis?
• Timeframes – will you be able to collect and analyse the data within the timeframe required by your university?
• Supervisor support – is there a suitable supervisor available to support your project from start to finish?

To help you evaluate your options systematically, we’ve got a topic evaluation worksheet that allows you to score each potential topic against a comprehensive set of criteria. You can access the worksheet completely free of charge here .

Recap: Key Takeaways

We’ve covered quite a lot of ground in this post. Here are the key takeaways:

• A research gap is any space where there’s a lack of solid, agreed-upon research regarding a specific topic/issue/phenomenon.
• Unique research topics emerge from research gaps , so it’s essential to first identify high-quality research gaps before you attempt to define a topic.
• To find potential research gaps, start by seeking out recent journal articles on Google Scholar and pay particular attention to the FRIN section to identify novel opportunities.
• Once you have a shortlist of prospective research gaps and resultant topic ideas, evaluate them systematically using a comprehensive set of criteria.

If you’d like to get hands-on help finding a research gap and research topic, be sure to check out our private coaching service , where we hold your hand through the research journey, step by step.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

Very useful for me, but i am still confusing review of literature review, how to find out topic related previous research.

Powerful notes! Thanks a lot.

This is helpful. Thanks a lot.

Thank you very much for this. It is really a great opportunity for me to learn the research journey.

Very Useful

It nice job

You have sharpened my articulations of these components to the core. Thanks so much.

It’s educative and an inspiring way of impacting research knowledge…

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The Best Method In Identifying Research Gap: An In-depth Analysis

What is research gap.

A research gap refers to an area or topic that has not been sufficiently explored or studied, leaving unanswered questions or unresolved issues. This article will provide an overview of the research gaps concept and their significance in the research process. It will also discuss the importance of identifying research gaps and how they can be used to formulate research objectives and problem statements. Additionally, this section will explore various techniques and strategies for conducting research gap analysis and bridging the gap between existing knowledge and future research endeavors.

Background of Research Gap

In the world of research, identifying and addressing research gaps is a crucial step towards advancing knowledge and understanding in a particular field. A research gap refers to an area in the existing body of knowledge where there is a lack of research or unanswered questions. In other words, it is a gap in the literature that needs to be addressed through further research.

Research gaps can occur for various reasons, such as a lack of studies on a specific topic, contradictory findings in existing research, or the emergence of new ideas or concepts that have not been explored. Identifying research gaps is crucial for the advancement of knowledge and the development of new research questions. By filling these gaps, researchers can contribute to the existing body of knowledge and address unanswered questions.

Furthermore, research gaps provide opportunities for researchers to make significant contributions to their field by conducting innovative and impactful studies. Understanding the background of research gaps is essential for researchers to identify areas where their research can make a meaningful impact.

Significance of Research Gap

The research gap plays a crucial role in the field of academia and scientific research. It holds significant importance for researchers, scholars, and the overall advancement of knowledge.

Contributing to Knowledge and Developing New Theories

One of the primary reasons why the research gap is significant is that it identifies areas where there is a lack of knowledge or understanding. It highlights the gaps in existing research, indicating the need for further investigation and exploration. By identifying research gaps, researchers can contribute to the existing body of knowledge by filling in the missing pieces. This leads to the development of new theories, concepts, and insights that can enhance our understanding of a particular subject or field.

Fostering Innovation and Progress through Unexplored Areas

Furthermore, the significance of research gaps lies in their potential to drive innovation and progress. When researchers identify areas that have not been extensively studied, they have the opportunity to explore new ideas, methodologies, and approaches. This can lead to groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in various disciplines.

Efficient Utilization of Resources to Avoid Duplication

Moreover, research gaps also help in avoiding duplication of efforts. By identifying what has already been studied and what areas are yet to be explored, researchers can focus their efforts on addressing the gaps rather than repeating existing research. This ensures that resources are utilized effectively and efficiently.

Impacting Practical Applications and Real-World Solutions

Additionally, the significance of research gaps extends to the practical application of research findings. By addressing the gaps in existing knowledge, researchers can provide valuable insights and solutions to real-world problems. This can have a direct impact on industries, policy-making, and decision-making processes. In conclusion, the significance of research gaps cannot be overstated. They serve as catalysts for knowledge advancement, innovation, and practical application. By identifying and addressing these gaps, researchers contribute to the growth and development of their respective fields, ultimately benefiting society as a whole.

Research Gap Examples

Identifying research gaps is crucial for pursuing innovative research. There are various types of research gaps that can be found in existing literature.

Knowledge gaps

Sometimes, a research gap exists when there is a concept or new idea that hasn’t been studied at all. For example, in the field of psychology, there might be a lack of research on the effects of social media on mental health in adolescents.

Conceptual gaps

Conceptual gaps occur when there is a lack of understanding or clarity about a particular concept or theory. For instance, in the field of economics, there might be a research gap in understanding the relationship between income inequality and economic growth.

Methodological gaps

Methodological gaps refer to the absence of appropriate research methods or techniques to study a specific phenomenon. For example, in the field of biology, there might be a research gap in developing a reliable method to detect a certain type of genetic mutation.

Data gaps occur when there is a lack of available data or insufficient data to address a research question. For instance, in the field of climate science, there might be a research gap in obtaining long-term temperature data for a specific region.

Practical gaps

Practical gaps exist when there is a discrepancy between theoretical knowledge and practical application. For example, in the field of education, there might be a research gap in implementing effective teaching strategies for students with learning disabilities.

Research Gap Analysis Techniques

Carry out a comprehensive literature review.

There are several techniques that can be used to identify research gaps. One common technique is conducting a comprehensive literature review, where researchers examine existing research papers, articles, books, and other relevant sources. By analyzing these materials, researchers can pinpoint what has already been explored and identify areas that require further investigation.

Examining Limitations and Contradictions in Existing Studies

During the literature review, researchers should pay attention to the limitations and gaps in the existing studies. These limitations can include unanswered research questions, contradictory findings, methodological issues, or areas that have not been explored in depth. Researchers can also gain insights by comparing and contrasting the findings, methodologies, and conclusions of different studies within their field, which helps in building a more complete understanding of the topic.

Exploring Interdisciplinary Insights to Identify Gaps

Additionally, researchers can seek inspiration from interdisciplinary fields or related disciplines to identify research gaps. Sometimes, a research gap in one field may have been addressed in another field, and researchers can draw upon these insights to identify areas that have not been explored within their own field. It is important to note that identifying research gaps is not a one-time process. As new studies are published and the field evolves, new gaps may emerge. Therefore, researchers should continuously update their knowledge and review the literature to stay informed about the latest developments and identify new research gaps.

Utilizing Surveys and Interviews for Direct Insights

Another technique is conducting surveys or interviews . This allows researchers to gather information directly from individuals who are knowledgeable in the field. Surveys can be distributed to a large number of participants, while interviews provide more in-depth insights from a smaller group of experts. By collecting data through surveys or interviews, researchers can identify gaps in knowledge or areas where more research is needed. Focus groups are another effective technique for conducting a research gap analysis. In a focus group, a small group of individuals with relevant expertise or experience is brought together to discuss a specific topic. Through group discussions and interactions, researchers can gain valuable insights and identify gaps in knowledge or areas that require further investigation.

Employing Quantitative Analysis to Discover Data Gaps

Quantitative analysis techniques, such as statistical analysis, can also be used to identify research gaps. By analyzing existing data sets, researchers can identify patterns, trends, or gaps in the data that may indicate areas where further research is needed. This type of analysis can provide valuable insights into the gaps in existing knowledge and guide future research directions.

Applying Gap Analysis Frameworks for Structured Assessment

In addition to these techniques, researchers can also use gap analysis frameworks or models to systematically identify and analyze research gaps. These frameworks provide a structured approach to assess the current state of knowledge, determine the desired future state, and identify the gaps that need to be addressed. By using a framework, researchers can ensure a comprehensive analysis of research gaps and develop strategies to bridge those gaps.

Research Gap and Problem Statement

A research problem is a specific issue or question that a researcher wants to investigate. It is the foundation of a research study and provides a clear direction for the research process. The identification of a research gap often leads to the formulation of a research problem.

The problem statement is a constructed sentence that defines the research problem and guides the research question. It helps to clarify the purpose of the study and provides a framework for the research design and research methodology. By addressing the research gap through the problem statement, researchers can contribute to the existing body of knowledge and fill the void in the literature. The research problem becomes the focal point of the study, and the research gap serves as the motivation for conducting the research.

Identifying a research gap and formulating a problem statement are crucial steps in the research process. They ensure that the research study is relevant, meaningful, and contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field. As a key component of the research framework , the problem statement integrates directly into the overall structure that guides the entire research process, ensuring that all aspects of the investigation are aligned with the identified gaps and research questions.

Bridging the Research Gap

Bridging the research gap is crucial for the advancement of knowledge and the improvement of various fields. It involves closing the divide between research findings and their practical application in real-world settings. By bridging this gap, researchers can ensure that their work has a meaningful impact on society and that it is effectively utilized by practitioners and policymakers.

Effective Collaboration between Researchers and Practitioners

There are several strategies and approaches that can be employed to bridge the research gap. One practical way is to establish collaborations and partnerships between researchers and practitioners. By working together, researchers can gain valuable insights from practitioners’ experiences and expertise, while practitioners can benefit from the latest research findings and evidence-based practices. This collaboration can lead to the development of more relevant and effective solutions to real-world problems.

For facilitating such connections and collaborations, platforms like Researchmate.net are invaluable resources, providing the tools and community needed to bring together researchers and practitioners from diverse fields.

Intermediary Organizations in Facilitating Research Application

Another approach to bridging the research gap is through the use of intermediary organizations. These organizations act as a bridge between researchers and practitioners, facilitating the translation and dissemination of research findings into practical applications. They can provide training, resources, and support to practitioners, helping them to implement evidence-based practices in their work. Intermediary organizations also play a crucial role in promoting knowledge exchange and collaboration between researchers and practitioners.

Enhancing Communication and Knowledge Transfer in Research

Furthermore, bridging the research gap requires effective communication and knowledge transfer. Researchers need to communicate their findings in a clear and accessible manner, using language that is understandable to practitioners and policymakers. This can be achieved through the use of plain language summaries, policy briefs, and other forms of knowledge translation.

Engaging with Practitioners and Policymakers

Additionally, researchers should actively engage with practitioners and policymakers, seeking their input and feedback to ensure that research findings are relevant and applicable to real-world contexts.

In conclusion, exploring the research gap is a critical step in the research process. It helps researchers identify areas where further investigation is needed, contributes to the advancement of knowledge, and drives innovation. By understanding the research gap, researchers can make meaningful contributions to their field and address unanswered questions. Bridging the research gap requires collaboration and commitment from all stakeholders, but the potential benefits are immense.

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How To Perform A Gap Analysis In 5-Steps + Free Template

Most of us have at least a rough vision of where we'd like to take our organization. But sometimes, knowing where and how to begin can be challenging. This is where strategic gap analysis comes into play.

Gap analysis is a great strategic analysis tool  that gives us a broad framework for defining not just where we are today but, more importantly, where we want to be and how we're going to get there.

In this article we’ll cover:

What is gap analysis, what are the benefits of gap analysis, when to use gap analysis.

• Gap Analysis Examples

Types Of Gap Analysis

Complete gap analysis template (excel format), 5-step gap analysis process, gap analysis tools & frameworks, free gap analysis templates to download, use cascade to close the gap 🚀.

⚠️ Don't just identify the gap, close it! Understanding strengths and weaknesses is key, but translating insights into action is where the magic happens. Cascade Strategy Execution Platform bridges the gap between analysis and execution. Talk to a strategy expert and see how to turn your gap analysis into real progress.

📽️ Visual learner? Check out the video version of this article:

Gap analysis is a method used by organizations to compare their current state to their desired future state . This process includes assessing the actual performance of your organization to determine whether business goals or objectives are being met and, if not, creating an action plan that will bridge those identified performance gaps .

It's a great tool for your company's  internal analysis . Almost all major businesses usually assign the completion of a gap analysis template to project managers or business analysts.

Conducting a gap analysis is actually quite simple, but it can also have its challenges. That’s why it’s useful to follow a step-by-step approach to ensure your  strategic planning  is well-structured and meaningful when assessing your business goals.

The gap analysis framework forces you to think about your current situation, your desired future state, the root causes of the gaps between the two, and the action plan to bridge that gap in a very structured and clear manner.

Think about it as the bridge that will get you from point A (your current state) to point B (your desired state).

But apart from that, it presents a  framework for collaborating  on creating a strategic plan and a common execution  roadmap  that is visible and aligned with all stakeholders. When multiple people are involved in strategic planning and execution, their different approaches can sometimes conflict with each other.

This framework can also be used to  analyze historical performance . The first time you run a gap analysis process, you will explicitly capture the current performance of your business (in both qualitative and quantitative forms) . So, the next time you do one, you will have a benchmark against which you can compare your most recent performance to efficiently set goals.

To streamline your process, we've developed a  free gap analysis template . This handy tool poses thought-provoking questions that guide you in your strategic planning journey, integrating all the pieces seamlessly.

Gap analysis is most useful when you need to:

• Create a new strategy for your team and want to understand where you currently sit
• Figure out the right areas of focus to achieve your business goals
• Develop a new product, understanding the gap between your current offer and what customers want
• Find out why you aren't meeting important KPIs and strategic objectives
• Develop a  change management strategy , but you need first to identify the gap between the current and desired state
• Identify opportunities to improve current processes or workflows
• Prepare for an audit and showcase how you are proactively addressing gaps
• Prepare  a strategic plan  and prioritize  resource allocation

These are, of course, just some use cases... This is a versatile tool that can be applied to many different scenarios. The best part is that it’s suitable for companies and teams of all sizes and industries.

Gap Analysis Example

Let’s check out some  “real-life”  scenarios where a gap analysis would be a great option:

Example 1: New Product Launch

A technology company plans to launch a new mobile app to expand its product offerings and reach a wider audience. To ensure the app's success, they conduct a gap analysis to evaluate their current app development processes, features, and user interface compared to competitors in the app market.

By identifying gaps and areas for improvement, they refine the app's functionalities, enhance user experience, and align it better with customer needs, positioning it as a standout solution in the competitive app market.

Example 2: Human Resources Strategic Planning

The Human Resources (HR) team at a medium-sized organization faces challenges with employee retention and satisfaction. To improve the department's performance, they conduct a gap analysis to assess their current practices, employee feedback mechanisms, and talent management strategies.

By pinpointing gaps between existing practices and desired outcomes, they develop a strategic action plan. This plan includes implementing effective employee engagement programs, talent development initiatives, and performance management systems, leading to improved retention rates and increased employee satisfaction.

Example 3: Digital Transformation In Manufacturing

A manufacturing company aims to undergo a digital transformation to enhance operational efficiency and adapt to evolving industry demands. They perform a gap analysis to evaluate their current technology infrastructure, data management processes, and workforce skills in relation to the digital transformation objectives.

By identifying gaps in technology and skills, they develop a comprehensive  digital transformation strategy . This includes upgrading technological capabilities, implementing data analytics systems, and providing relevant training to employees, facilitating a successful transition to an advanced and digitally enabled manufacturing environment.

In each of these scenarios, gap analysis plays a crucial role in identifying areas for improvement and guiding strategic decisions. By bridging the identified gaps, these organizations can effectively meet their goals, improve their overall performance, and stay competitive in their respective industries.

As you can probably imagine from the previous examples, this method comes in different forms, and each serves a unique purpose to tackle specific challenges and opportunities within an organization.

Here are some types of gap analysis you might find helpful:

• Performance Gap Analysis : Evaluates the difference between an organization's current performance and its desired state to identify areas for improvement and enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness.
• Market Gap Analysis : Focuses on analyzing the gap between customer expectations and the products or services offered by a company, helping to identify opportunities to meet market demands and gain a competitive edge. ‍
• Product Gap Analysis : Assesses the features, pricing, and qualities of a product or service against customer needs and expectations to identify gaps and prioritize improvements or innovations.
• Skills Gap Analysis : Analyzes the existing skill sets of employees in an organization and compares them with the skills required to meet organizational goals, leading to targeted training and development initiatives. ‍
• Compliance Gap Analysis : Evaluates an organization's adherence to relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards, identifying areas of non-compliance and guiding efforts to meet legal requirements. ‍
• Financial Gap Analysis (or Profit Gap Analysis) : Compares an organization's current financial performance with its financial objectives, uncovering discrepancies and guiding financial planning and decision-making . ‍
• Technology Gap Analysis : Assesses an organization's technology infrastructure, systems, and capabilities, comparing them with the technology required to support its strategic goals and initiatives. ‍
• Environmental and Social Gap Analysis : Focuses on an organization's environmental and social impact, identifying gaps in sustainability practices and providing insights for implementing responsible and eco-friendly strategies.

A gap analysis template visualizes the differences between actual performance and potential or desired performance, helping you identify and address areas of improvement. It serves as a structured tool for conducting an effective gap analysis, allowing organizations to compare their current state with their desired goals and develop strategic action plans to bridge the gaps.

So, before we discuss the steps to implement your analysis, grab your  free Gap Analysis Template . Armed with this effective gap analysis tool, follow the step-by-step guide below, fill the template with your own data, or use it as a reference to build your own template.

Step 1: Define your focus areas

To create an effective gap analysis, start by clearly defining the scope. Instead of vague ambitions like "I want to be the biggest and best company in Asia," focus on specific areas for improvement.

Common focus areas include:

• Financial growth
• Customer excellence
• Employee happiness
• Community impact

These focus areas should succinctly describe what you aim to improve through your gap analysis.

🤓  Want to dive deeper?  Read our go-to guide on how to define focus areas.

Step 2: Identify your desired future state

Contrary to most gap analysis guides, we recommend starting with your desired future state instead of the current state. Why? Because your organization doesn’t have a single current state—it has many, varying by team, measure, and individual.

Defining your current state without knowing your goals can be futile and confusing. Therefore, begin with the future state, leveraging your strategic focus areas. For instance, if 'Innovation' is a focus area, frame your aspirational future state broadly.

Example: "To be recognized as one of the most innovative SaaS platforms in the industry."

Keep this high-level—avoid specific KPIs for now. Here are more examples for various focus areas:

• Customer Excellence : "To achieve market-leading customer retention and referrals."
• Community Impact : "To make lasting and meaningful changes in the community."

With high-level desired future states defined, you're ready to move to the next stage of the analysis process.

Step 3: Assess your current state

Next, understand your current state. Use the focus areas defined in Step 1 to scope your analysis, starting high-level and getting specific in Step 4 .

For each focus area, write a realistic summary of your current state using similar language to your desired future state.

• Innovation : "We are not currently known for innovation; however, our software does contain a couple of unique features."
• Customer Excellence : "We have high customer satisfaction and retention in our Enterprise segment, but our smaller customers are significantly less satisfied."
• Community Impact : "Most members of the local community are not currently aware of our presence."

Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses. You might already know your current state due to specific problems, but thorough assessment is crucial.

🔎 Use gap analysis tools like SWOT Analysis, PEST, and McKinsey 7-S to assess your current state. These tools help diagnose your company and detect gaps, complementing your gap analysis. We’ll cover some of these tools in the following section: Gap Analysis Tools & Frameworks .

Step 4: Apply metrics / KPIs to your gap analysis

Now, specify what you want to achieve and how, by adding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each focus area. Here’s how to select the right KPIs:

• Choose KPIs you can measure and decide on your measurement approach.
• Select KPIs with existing baselines for easy gap measurement.
• Use both leading and lagging KPIs for a comprehensive set of measures.

Here are specific KPI examples for your gap analysis. Define targets for your desired future state and compare them to your current state.‍

Focus Area: Innovation

Leading KPI : Dedicate at least 50% of developer resources to creating new features. ‍

• ‍ Current State : <10% of developer resources are on creating new features.

Lagging KPI : Achieve an 'Innovation' score of over 80% on at least one customer review website. ‍

• ‍ Current State : 'Innovation' score on G2Crowd is less than 60%.‍

Focus Area: Customer Excellence

Leading KPI : Achieve an average customer NPS score of at least +7. ‍

• ‍ Current State : NPS score is less than 3 on average.

Lagging KPI : Decrease overall gross customer churn to less than 10% per annum. ‍

• ‍ Current State : Gross customer churn is greater than 20% per annum.

Focus Area: Community Impact

Leading KPI : Raise community awareness to 70%. ‍

• ‍ Current State : Community awareness is less than 20%.

Lagging KPI : Get directly involved in at least 3 major political initiatives. ‍

• ‍ Current State : Not participating in any political initiatives currently.

The "gap" in your gap analysis is the variance between the KPIs of your current state and your desired future state. For example, you have a gap of 50% between your current community awareness (20%) and your desired future state (70%).

Step 5: Create an execution-ready action plan and roadmap

Creating a gap analysis leads to the crucial step of formulating an action plan and roadmap to address the gaps you identified. This involves defining strategic projects for each focus area, aiming to close the gaps identified in Step 4.

Think of your gap analysis action plan as a series of projects that directly contribute to achieving the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set for each focus area.

Here are specific project examples for each focus area:

• Project 1 : Hire four additional developers dedicated to new feature development.
• Project 2 : Implement an 'Innovation Check' for all new features to ensure they meet the definition of innovation.
• Project 1 : Launch an automated survey to gather reasons for customer cancellations.
• Project 2 : Establish a dedicated retention team in customer service to handle cancellation requests.
• Project 1 : Launch a local TV advertising campaign.
• Project 2 : Increase online advertising spend by $5,000 per month.

Typically, you'll have at least two projects for every gap. Use your judgment to ensure these projects are likely to close the gap.

Now, let's discuss the roadmap.

As you create the action plan, establish a clear timeframe for each project with realistic deadlines and milestones. This roadmap will guide your organization on the sequence of actions, resource allocation, and expected timeframes for achieving significant milestones. A well-defined roadmap keeps your team focused, organized, and motivated throughout the implementation process.

🎁 Bonus step: Execute, monitor, and adapt your plan

Congratulations! You've developed your action plan and set targets and KPIs to measure success. Now, it’s time for execution —the heartbeat of your plan.

Ensure everyone in your organization is on board and has clear visibility over the plan. Share the big picture and provide clarity on the specific actions needed to close the gaps identified. Encourage a collaborative spirit where different teams are accountable for the KPIs that drive progress.

The secret to success is continuous monitoring and being open to adaptation. Keep a close watch on progress, and if things don’t go as planned, be ready to tweak your plan swiftly to stay on track.

While spreadsheets can monitor and track results, they may not be sufficient for keeping everyone on the same page and adapting quickly. Our suggestion? Check out  Cascade  😉

Cascade is your organization’s brain. It is the only platform that spans the entirety of your ecosystem to understand the relationships between your business inputs (e.g., metrics, initiatives, investments) and outputs (e.g., expected results, forecasted revenue, margins, etc.).

For example, Cascade helps you to monitor progress toward your targets and identify performance gaps before it’s too late. And even though it has tracking functionalities that allow you to track your progress in real time, like  dashboards and reports , it’s not  just  another tracking tool like the ones out there... It’s the key to  centralized visibility  over your execution engine.

👉🏻 Learn more about strategy execution software  here !

Want to take Cascade for a spin? Sign up today for a free forever plan or book a guided 1:1 tour with one of our Cascade in-house strategy execution experts.

The  gap analysis template  that we've created is a great starting point. However, there are a few different frameworks and tools that you can also use to help you get more specific about the gaps you're trying to resolve.

These frameworks are conceptual approaches that you can 'layer' onto your organization to help you categorize your activities and more easily identify gaps.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It assesses both internal and external factors, providing insights into current and future opportunities. SWOT analysis offers a comprehensive snapshot of your organization's current state by focusing on real-life evidence and contexts.

👉🏻 Learn more about SWOT analysis and get a free SWOT Analysis Template here .

PESTLE/PEST Analysis

Understanding industry threats and opportunities can be challenging without proper industry knowledge. PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal) analysis enhances your understanding of external factors. This framework is particularly valuable in guiding strategic decision-making and identifying gaps related to changes in the external environment.

👉🏻 Check out  this article  to learn more about PESTLE analysis.

McKinsey 7-S Framework

The McKinsey 7-S framework assesses seven interconnected elements within your organization to understand its effectiveness and alignment. These elements include strategy, structure, systems, shared values, skills, style, and staff. When conducting a gap analysis using the McKinsey 7-S framework, you can identify discrepancies in how these elements are aligned and how they impact company performance.

👉🏻Check out  this article  to learn more about McKinsey 7-S framework.

Nadler-Tushman Model

The Nadler-Tushman model focuses on inputs, transformational processes, and outputs to assess organizational effectiveness. By examining how inputs are transformed into outputs, organizations can identify inefficiencies leading to performance gaps.

Fishbone Diagram

Also known as the Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagram, the fishbone diagram helps identify potential root causes of a problem or gap. This tool is useful for mapping out complex and interconnected factors contributing to the identified gap.

McKinsey’s Three Horizons

Another framework for complementing your gap analysis could be  McKinsey's Three Horizons  of Growth.

This framework helps organizations think about business progression over time-based horizons, isolating business-as-usual activities from innovative growth drivers. The three horizons are:

• Horizon 1: Maintain and defend the core business
• Horizon 2: Nurture emerging business
• Horizon 3: Create genuinely new business

By using this framework, organizations can detect gaps in their growth plans and ensure a balanced approach to innovation and sustainability.

👉🏻Check out  this article  to learn more about McKinsey’s Three Horizons.

Balanced Scorecard

A  balanced scorecard  categorizes business activities into outcome-focused quadrants: financial, customers, process, and people. By using the balanced scorecard for gap analysis, organizations can identify gaps in each perspective, understand how they relate to the overall strategy, and prioritize actions to address these gaps effectively.

👉🏻Check out  this article  to learn more about the framework.

Note these frameworks are not substitutes for performing a gap analysis, but can rather add an additional layer of depth on top of your gap analysis.

The following are additional gap analysis templates you may find useful, depending on your needs:

Gap analysis template for business process improvement

Gap analysis is often used to improve business processes. However, the framework needs some adjustment. This gap analysis template focuses on a slightly different approach that’s best for optimizing business processes.

👉🏻 Download the free Gap analysis template for business process improvement

Skills gap analysis template for your team

A skills gap analysis helps organizations uncover team gaps and set career development goals. It quickly identifies underdeveloped skills at the organizational level. Once identified, you can implement training plans or adjust your hiring strategy.

👉🏻 Download the free skills gap analysis template here!

Product or market gap analysis template

Product or market gap analysis is used to highlight the gap between your product and customers’ expectations. It will help you prioritize the next steps and meet those expectations set in the first place.

👉🏻  Download the product gap analysis here!

Financial gap analysis template

Financial gap analysis pretty much follows the standard template. However, we added some finance-related examples for easier navigation.

👉🏻  Download the financial gap analysis here!

Gap analysis is a great tool for detecting gaps and deciding what you should do to improve performance. However, it’s only half the work!

Once you've conducted the analysis, identified gaps, and created a well-crafted action plan and roadmap, the real work begins. You need to execute those projects and make steady progress toward the metrics and KPIs that will lead you to achieve your business goals  - ultimately closing the gap.

The most important thing is to remember that no matter how good your action plan is, it's the strategy execution that counts the most .

So here are our recommended steps to ensure an effective strategy execution process to make sure you close those gaps:

• Download your  FREE gap analysis template  to streamline your gap analysis process
• Put your action plan into  Cascade  (for FREE!)  to achieve centralized observability and effective execution

By combining a well-structured action plan with robust execution through tools like Cascade, you equip your organization with the resources needed to close the gap and achieve your desired outcomes.

What is a ‘needs analysis’ and how is it related to gap analysis?

A  need gap analysis  identifies specific requirements and deficiencies within an organization to address challenges and meet objectives. It focuses on understanding what is lacking or needs improvement.

While both needs analysis and gap analysis assess the current situation compared to the desired state, their focus differs. Needs analysis pinpoints specific needs and improvement areas. In contrast, gap analysis develops action plans to close the gaps between the current and desired states.

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What is a Gap Analysis: How to Use it to Solve Problems

Written by: Unenabasi Ekeruke

Every business wants to expand its operations and thrive in the market. But what happens when you have everything well laid out and yet fall short of expectations? This huge difference between the desired and real outcomes is why you should prioritize gap analysis.

Gap analysis is a technique used to determine the difference between where an organization currently is and wants to be. It's crucial at any stage throughout the life cycle of a business , but it’s more important when starting or looking at new growth models.

If you’re ready to create a gap analysis, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about gap analysis, including the gap analysis methods for solving problems.

Table of Contents

What is a gap analysis, why is a gap analysis in business important, when to use a gap analysis, how to conduct a gap analysis.

• 6 Types of Gap Analysis

Top 6 Gap Analysis Methods

Next steps after gap analysis.

A gap analysis in business is a tool that allows you to get a clear picture of what is working and what isn’t. You can use it in business and project management to

• Pinpoint and prioritize areas for improvement
• Identify gaps in performance, knowledge, processes, or other areas

This will help you focus on those areas, leading to better results for your business.

What is a Fit Gap Analysis

A fit-gap analysis focuses on aligning a business process or system with an organization's goals and objectives. It is often used when implementing a new system or process.

During a fit-gap analysis, you’ll compare the current state of your business with the desired state (the "fit") and identify any inconsistencies between the two (the "gap").

Solving these gaps can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the business processes, ultimately leading to better organizational performance.

Build relationships with customers and drive sales growth

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A well-conducted gap analysis helps you see the big picture by providing insights into your business's different areas. This process can help you establish what steps need to be taken to reach their goals and objectives.

Here is a look at the benefits in detail

1. Allows to Prioritize Areas of Improvement

One key benefit of gap analysis is that it enables you to recognize and prioritize areas for improvement. By understanding where you’re currently falling short, you can focus more effort and resources on the areas with the greatest impact.

These may include improving the onboarding processes and training employees. For example, if your training processes fall below expectations, Visme has everything you need to increase the impact of your training.

The tool offers various training material templates and other features to help create engaging training materials that deliver maximum results. Start creating interactive learning experiences using the template below.

2. Shields Businesses from Potential Pitfalls

Another important benefit of gap analysis is that it can help businesses avoid potential pitfalls and obstacles. You can develop strategies and solutions to overcome them before they become major roadblocks.

3. Gives Businesses Competitive Advantage

Gap analysis can also help businesses to stay competitive in an ever-changing market. Through regular gap analysis, you can ensure that you’re always working towards your business goals and staying ahead of your competitors.

Competitor analysis is an excellent example of performing gap analysis. Essentially you’re analyzing the gap between you and your competitors.

By analyzing your current and potential competitors, you can see where you fall short, improve on them and position your business for success.

When to use gap analysis depends on the situation and the organization's needs. You can use it in various situations, such as when starting a new project, implementing a new system or process, or trying to improve performance in a specific area.

Here are the key situations where gap analysis can be an effective tool for your business.

1. When Planning a Major Transition

One common use for gap analysis is when you’re planning a major change or transition. This could include a merger or acquisition, a shift in business strategy , or the implementation of a new system or process.

In these cases, gap analysis can help you identify potential challenges and things you must address to implement the change successfully.

2. Performance Improvement

Another situation in which gap analysis can be useful is when you want to improve performance. By comparing the organization's current state to industry benchmarks or best practices, gap analysis can help you identify areas where you’re falling short and need improvements.

3. Support Decision Making

You can also rely on gap analysis to support decision-making. For example, if you’re considering expanding into a new market, a gap analysis will help you identify potential gaps in your company’s overall capabilities or resources. This will pave the way for addressing these gaps before implementing further steps.

Let's run through the different steps involved in conducting a gap analysis.

Gather Your Team

Gathering the right team is an important step in conducting a gap analysis. It's important to bring together individuals with a deep understanding of the company's processes and operations and those with a broad perspective on its goals and objectives.

This could include representatives from different departments or functional areas and key stakeholders, such as executives and managers.

Organize brainstorming sessions by having these representatives participate. This allows for the consideration of all perspectives for a more comprehensive gap analysis.

Visme's whiteboard tool can be useful for conducting a gap analysis, as it allows team members to collaborate and visually brainstorm ideas. The tool provides a virtual whiteboard where team members can add notes, images and other visual elements to help communicate their ideas.

Visme also offers a broad range of templates specifically designed for structuring brainstorming processes and ensuring that all key areas are covered.

In addition to the whiteboard tool, Visme’s collaboration features make asynchronous and real-time collaboration super effective. You can invite team members, tag them, assign tasks, leave comments, and resolve comments.

Here's a whiteboard template to help you get started.

Identify Goals and Objectives

The next step is to identify the organization's goals and objectives. These goals and objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, known as SMART goals. This ensures that the goals are clearly defined and can be realistically achieved within a certain time frame.

To set SMART goals , it is important to consider what the organization wants to achieve and why. For example, a goal of increasing sales by 20% in the next year is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

However, the goal of becoming the best company in the industry may not be as specific and lack a time frame. It is also important to involve all relevant stakeholders in setting goals and objectives. Including a diverse range of perspectives will ensure the goals and objectives are aligned with the needs and expectations of all stakeholders.

Identify Key Metrics to Look At

Once the organization's goals and objectives have been identified, the next step in the gap analysis is to identify key metrics. This involves assessing the organization's current state and pointing out any gaps.

These metrics may include financial performance, customer satisfaction, employee retention, and operational efficiency. You can gain insights into these metrics by analyzing data and trends, conducting surveys and gathering feedback from stakeholders.

Measure The Existing Gaps

To measure existing gaps in gap analysis, follow these steps:

• Find out the desired outcome or goal. This could be a specific target, a set of performance metrics, or the desired level of customer satisfaction.
• Collect data on the current state of the organization or process. It may include metrics such as efficiency, quality and customer satisfaction.
• Compare the two states and document the findings. You can then present these findings to the relevant stakeholders through a report or visual representation of the gaps and root causes.

Remember to consider both quantitative and qualitative data when measuring existing gaps. It provides a more comprehensive understanding of the current state and helps identify potential solutions to close the gaps.

Create A Plan to Address the Gaps

The next step is to create a plan to bridge the gap between the current and desired states. Addressing these gaps may involve implementing new processes, training employees, or investing in new technology.

Set Benchmarks and Timelines for Addressing Gaps

Ensure the plan is specific and actionable and includes timelines and benchmarks for measuring progress. Create captivating timelines in minutes using Visme’s timeline maker . You’ll find templates for different use cases, including project management, product development, business, marketing and more.

Types of Gap Analysis

Now let's run through the different types of gap analysis and how you can apply them in a project or business setting.

1. Strategic Gap Analysis

This gap analysis helps in identifying strategic planning and decision-making gaps. It involves comparing the organization's current state against its desired future state and identifying the steps needed to close the gap and achieve its goals.

2. Financial/Profit Gap Analysis

This gap analysis focuses on the organization's financial performance and compares its current performance against its desired financial goals. A financial gap analysis will help you identify areas to improve financial performance and increase profitability.

3. Skill Gap Analysis

This type of gap analysis focuses on the skills and competencies of the organization's workforce. Through the skills gap analysis, you focus on comparing employees' current skills and competencies against the skills and competencies required to achieve the organization's goals.

You can rely on skill gap analysis to identify gaps in the workforce and develop training and development programs to bridge those gaps. Visme has all the tools you need to make this possible. The tools also give you an array of options for feedback.

Watch the video below to learn how you can use our flowchart maker to create mind maps, concept maps, SWOT analysis and more.

4. Compliance Gap Analysis

This gap analysis ensures that the organization complies with relevant laws, regulations and standards. It involves comparing the organization's current state of compliance against the requirements of these laws, regulations and standards.

5. Product Development Gap Analysis

This gap analysis focuses on comparing the current and desired product development processes. Product development gap analysis will help you identify gaps and areas for improvement in the product development process and develop strategies to bridge those gaps and improve your products.

6. Market Gap Analysis

This type of gap analysis focuses on the organization's market position and involves comparing its current market position against its desired market position. The outcome is handy in developing strategies to bridge those gaps and improve the current market position.

There are different methods for conducting gap analysis. These methods are key to earmarking key areas for improvement, prioritizing actions and creating a plan to achieve goals.

Here’s a basic overview of each framework and the right Visme template to use.

SWOT Analysis

When it comes to gap analysis, SWOT analysis is one of the most popular methods. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and it's a great way to identify the gaps in your business.

First, you'll need to examine your strengths and weaknesses. What are your company's weaknesses? What can you do better? Next, look at your opportunities and threats. What are the threats posed to your business and what opportunities can you capitalize on?

Once you have a good understanding of these four factors, you’ll be in a position to identify the gaps. Use this information to make strategic decisions and improve your business operations.

With Visme’s predesigned whiteboard template, you can effectively conduct a thorough SWOT analysis. You’ll find cool features and tools to help you collaborate easily with your team from start to finish.

Seamlessly review your business' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with this template created by professionals to help you solve your business goals.

The McKinsey 7-S Framework

The McKinsey 7-S Framework is one of the most popular gap analysis methods. It's often used in business and management, but you can apply it to any project.

The framework allows you to identify seven factors that need to be aligned for a company to succeed. These include strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills.

Let's take a look at each one.

• Strategy is the long-term plan for achieving objectives
• Structure is how the organization is organized and how work is divided
• Systems are the processes that are in place to support the organization's activities
• Shared values are the beliefs and principles that guide decision-making
• Style is the way that the company communicates with its employees and customers
• Staff are the employees who carry out the company's strategy
• Skills are employees' abilities and knowledge to do their jobs effectively.

The McKinsey 7-S model is applicable in many situations, such as understanding how various parts of an organization collaborate to make decisions on future corporate strategy.

Jumpstart your gap analysis method using our fully customized infographic template.

Feel free to customize the template, add interactive elements and keep your content on brand using our AI-powered Brand Design Tool .

Fishbone Diagrams

Fishbone diagrams are all about creating a cause-and-effect relationship. When creating a fishbone diagram , start by brainstorming all the potential causes for the problem you're trying to solve.

Next, get creative and think of the potential causes for each effect. Once you have a good list, start sorting them into categories (such as environmental, political, economic, social, etc.) and then drill down further into specific causes.

You can include easy and intuitive data widgets to visualize all kinds of data you need. Visme’s data visualization tools are all you need to easily translate statistics and figures into beautiful and meaningful visuals.

The great thing about fishbone diagrams is that they help you identify the potential causes of big and small problems. This can be helpful when it comes time to develop a solution.

Uncover problems within your tasks, systems or process using this technical problem fishbone diagram template.

PEST Analysis - Political, Economic, Social and Technological Factors

PEST analysis is a framework most businesses use to track and monitor the Political, Economic, Social and Technological (PEST) factors that may impact their business.

The PEST factors are:

• Political: Government regulation, taxes, trade restrictions, etc.
• Economic: Interest rates, inflation, economic growth, etc.
• Social: Demographics, culture, education levels, etc.
• Technological: Technology trends, research and development, etc.

You can use PEST analysis to track and monitor these external factors and plan for any potential impacts. For example, if the government Introduces a new law that will impact how your business operates, you can use PEST analysis to plan how you will adapt your business to comply with the new law.

Not sure how to conduct your PESTEL analysis. This PESTEL analysis whiteboard template has everything you need. All you need to do is input your own text, switch color, add other interactive elements and your analysis is ready for use.

Nadler-Tushman Model of Congruence

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of how different parts of your organization interact, the Nadler-Tushman model of congruence is a great tool.

The model looks at how different elements of an organization work together and how changes in one element can impact the others. For example, if you're looking at a change in strategy, you need to consider how that will impact your structure, systems, staff and so on.

To use the model, start by mapping out the different elements of your organization. Then you look at how they interact and identify areas of potential conflict. From there, you can think about how to make changes that will improve the overall functioning of your organization.

It's a complex process, but it can give you many insights into how your organization works and how you can improve it.

Made with Visme Infographic Maker

Don't worry about the details! When you sign up on Visme , you'll have access to our library of templates that will walk you through the process step by step.

Mind mapping involves using visual diagrams for gap analysis . It's a way of brainstorming by creating a diagram with your thoughts.

To create a mind map , you start in the middle of a piece of paper and write down your main idea. Draw branches off that main idea and write down related thoughts. You can keep going until you have a comprehensive diagram of your thoughts.

Once you have your mind map, you can start to see where the gaps are in your business. There may be a product or service that you're not offering that your customers want. Or there's a process you're not following that's causing problems.

Mind mapping is a great way to get your thoughts down on paper so you can start seeing the bigger picture. And once you see the gaps, you can start to fill them.

We’ve got a rich library of mind map templates to inspire you to create yours. Uncover gaps in your product, system or process using the mind map template below.

Once you complete a gap analysis, the job doesn’t end there. The next steps should focus on closing the identified gaps and achieving the desired state.

Let’s show you how you can do that.

Prioritize Identified Gaps

After conducting a gap analysis, the first step is to prioritize the identified gaps. This means looking at each gap and determining the most important ones to address. Prioritizing the gaps will help you focus efforts and resources on the areas with the greatest impact.

Capture the findings of your gap analysis using this beautiful report template. It features a beautiful collection of fonts, photos and creative content blocks — everything that’ll help you bring your content to life.

Develop a Plan

After prioritizing the gaps, the next step is to develop a plan to address them. This plan should include specific actions you'll take to close the gaps and the timelines for action . The plan should also include the resources needed to implement the actions, such as additional staff, training, or funding.

Take advantage of our wide range of templates to document and share your plan.

Implement the Actions

The next step after developing a plan is to implement the actions outlined in the plan. This may involve changing the organization's processes, procedures, or systems. It may also involve providing additional training or support to employees.

Monitor the progress of the actions and make any necessary adjustments to close the identified gaps successfully.

Review and Iterate

Finally, it is important to regularly review and assess the gap analysis results and the actions taken to address the gaps. This will enable you to determine whether the desired state has been achieved and identify any new gaps that may have arisen. Regular review and assessment will also help you continually improve and stay ahead of competitors.

Create a Dynamic Gap Analysis with Visme

Are you looking to improve your business' or organization's performance and identify areas for growth? We’ve covered everything you need to know in this article.

The best part? Visme's powerful gap analysis templates put you one step ahead. You can collaborate with your team and create a dynamic and comprehensive analysis of your current and target states. By highlighting the gaps and opportunities for improvement, you can achieve your goals and drive success.

Don’t be left behind on this great opportunity to take your business to the next level— start creating a dynamic gap analysis with Visme today!

Easily conduct effective gap analysis with Visme

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Conducting Gap Analysis: Steps, Tools and Examples

Market Research Specialist

Emma David, a seasoned market research professional, specializes in employee engagement, survey administration, and data management. Her expertise in leveraging data for informed decisions has positively impacted several brands, enhancing their market position.

While traveling on a train, you must have heard an automated voice saying, “ Please Mind the Gap .” It tells you to be careful when the doors are about to close. Similarly, even in the business world, “gaps” or improvement areas are not safe and must be identified and resolved with the help of gap analysis.

No matter what goals you set for your business – attaining million-dollar sales or increasing operational productivity, you need to create a gap analysis strategy . This will help you bridge the gap between current performance and true potential. 

But in order to close gaps, you need to identify them first. After all, how can you close something that you cannot see? 

In this blog, we will understand the purpose, benefits of gap analysis and explore steps that will help you identify and close the major gaps in your organization. 

But before we jump to the main sections, let’s first start with the gap analysis definition.

What is Gap Analysis?

Gap analysis is a process organizations use to measure and analyze performance against set goals. This popular process can help you identify the difference between the “current” or actual state of your business and the “desired” or ideal state. 

In simpler terms, the term “gap” here refers to the difference between “where your business is currently” and “where it wishes to be.” The bigger the gap, the more problems you have at your hand that must be resolved at the earliest. 

A well carried out gap analysis process can help you find answers to questions such as: 

• At what stage is our business now?
• Where do we wish we were?
• What can we do to close this growing gap?

What is the Purpose of Performing Gap Analysis?

The purpose of gap analysis is simple —  it helps your business improve upon its current state. By conducting gap analysis, you can improve your product, enhance process efficiency, and increase profits by identifying the various “gaps” present in your company. 

Once you are done with the process, leaders can understand exactly what needs to be improved. You can then allocate the necessary resources and energy to those identified areas and get closer to your desired goals. 

Gap analysis has multiple applications and can be seen in almost every industry or vertical. For instance, in the field of project management, project managers use gap analysis along with lean methodology to meet client deadlines, enhance efficiency, and attain operational improvement. Similarly, the human resources department can conduct a gap analysis to determine which skills are present in employees and which additional skills must be learned.

When to Perform Gap Analysis

Gap analysis can be performed wherever and whenever you wish to improve your business and reach your full potential. All you need to do is think of areas where there can be a gap in actual performance and desired performance. 

For example, if you notice that your sales targets are not being met for a long period, you can conduct a gap analysis to understand what could be the underlying causes for the same. Here are more such areas that you can improve:

• Sales 
• Quality Control 
• Supply Management
• Financial Performance 
• Human Resources 
• Employee Performance
• Employee Satisfaction

Benefits of Gap Analysis

The most important benefit of a gap analysis is that it makes you think in a very clear and structured way about your current state, your desired future state, the gaps between the two, and your plan of action.  

It also provides a framework for people to collaborate in the first few steps of creating a strategic plan. Let’s look at some of the top benefits of gap analysis.

1. Get an Overview of Your Organization

One of the top advantages of gap analysis is that it can offer a comprehensive overview of your entire organization. This way, company leaders and executives can determine whether the organization or different departments have the necessary resources to meet their set goals. 

2. Identify Gaps in the Market

Sometimes there can be a major difference between your product’s current and potential market size. With the process of Gap analysis, your organization can understand your current market size, full market potential, and how much you can expand further. 

3. Conduct Profit Analysis

When your business is not able to attain an expected level of profit, you can conduct a gap analysis to understand why the profit targets were not met. You can identify causes of low profits, such as poor resource allocation, increased competition, changes in government policies, etc. 

4. Understand Improvement Areas

You can dig a little deeper to understand the “why” of every outcome. With the help of gap assessment, you can uncover the major improvement areas of a department or the entire organization and bridge the growing gap between actual and expected results.

Steps to Conduct Gap Analysis

Wondering how to conduct a gap analysis? Well, don’t worry, as we have simplified the entire process for you. Let’s learn to conduct gap analysis in 4 easy steps.

1. Understand Your Current State

The first and foremost step is to pick an area of your organization that you wish to focus on. Once you have shortlisted an area, you need to understand its current state. 

For example, let’s assume you wish to understand and improve customer satisfaction related to your product or service. 

For this, you need to share CSAT (customer satisfaction) surveys with customers who are currently using your products or services. The results of the survey will help you see the bigger picture. To make things easier, you can calculate the average customer satisfaction score and then move to the next step.

2. Figure Out Your Ideal or Desired State

Once you have understood your current state and how you are currently performing, you need to foresee the future. Where do you see your business in the next month or year? How do you wish to be perceived by your customers? What is the best-case scenario for your business? 

For example, let’s assume you received 3.2 as your average customer satisfaction rating. Now, you need to identify what is the ideal rating that you wish to achieve. This will be your ideal or desired state. For most businesses, it will be attaining an average rating of 4.5 . 

There are multiple ways to figure out your ideal state. You can refer to your leading competitors and see how they are performing. You can even look for industry benchmarks to raise the bar for your team.

3. Identify What Factors Are Causing the “Gap”

If your “current” state falls short of the “ideal” state then you need to put in the hard work and reduce the gap. In this step, you need to find out what factors are causing this gap between your performance and potential. 

For example, you need to find out where your product/service misses hitting the mark. The potential reasons for customer dissatisfaction can be: 

• Highly-priced product/service
• Lack of quality customer support
• Missing features as promised by your brand
• Faulty onboarding process
• Rude behavior of sales or support staff

4. Create a Robust Plan to Bridge the Gap

The purpose of gap analysis isn’t simply to identify issues; it also helps you look for their possible solutions. In the last step, you need to go back to the drawing board, create a plan, and find better ways to bridge the gap. 

For example, if in your surveys, a lot of customers displayed their unhappiness with support quality or delayed responses, one solution could be to invest in help desk software. This will help you automate your process and track all your customer conversations in one place. 

Similarly, if customers complain about missing or faulty features, you can ask your product team to revisit their design and make necessary changes. Such actionable steps will help your business reach its full potential and enhance the customer experience.

Gap Analysis Examples

The right gap analysis examples can act as a beacon and inspire you to enhance business performance. Here are a few examples that illustrate the scope of gap analysis in various areas:

1. Product Evaluation

Product evaluation refers to the process of monitoring a product’s overall success and safety for use by consumers. With gap assessment, you can understand whether the features and functionalities offered by the product work as promised by your business. You can take customer feedback and understand what areas need improvement for your product to become an instant hit in the market. 

2. Sales Performance

Every business, big or small, is completely dependent on sales. After all, higher sales mean more profits and business longevity. The sales team can conduct a gap analysis to measure the gap between actual sales and the sales forecast or targets. Once they have identified the reasons, they can mold their marketing efforts to meet targets in the next quarter. In case the targets are met or exceeded, you can offer your sales professionals appropriate incentives.

Types of Gap Analysis

Here are some common types of gap analysis that you will find useful: 

Profit Gap Analysis

When your business is not able to achieve desired profits, gap analysis can help you understand what went wrong. You can identify factors that led to low profits, such as shifting market trends, rising competition, or unforeseen political implications.

Product Gap Analysis

Product gap analysis can help you realize whether your product is able to meet customer expectations or not. What are the missing features that are offered by the competitors? How do we make our product more market-ready? How can we improve the design or packaging? 

Skills Gap Analysis

The skills gap analysis focuses on the skills of the employees. How are your teams performing? What skills are missing to achieve the business goal? What education or training could fill the gaps?

IT Gap Analysis

This type of gap analysis involves an in-depth assessment of the efficiency and usability of the company’s IT resources. For example, is there a particular process that software could automate to achieve business goals?

Gap Analysis Tools

There are multiple tools for gap analysis that are used by organizations across the globe. Based on your unique needs, you can implement them and take your business to the next level.

1. SWOT Analysis

SWOT is one of the most popular gap analysis techniques that is taught not just to MBA students but high school kids too. It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This process will help you see the bigger picture and identify internal, as well as, external factors that contribute to your company’s overall strengths and weaknesses. 

The best part about this gap analysis tool is that it helps you resolve your company’s weaknesses without losing focus on the strengths. You can even save your business from current threats (such as rising competition) and grab opportunities such as (demand for a new product).

2. Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model

The Nadler-Tushman Model, also known as the Congruence Model, was developed in the early 1980s by two theorists, David Nadler and Michael Tushman. It is a powerful tool that helps you identify the root causes of performance problems. 

This technique is based on the idea that a business can only achieve its true potential when there is a proper balance between the work , the people , the organizational structure , and the culture . When these areas are “congruent”, any organization can achieve success.

3. Fishbone Diagram

Fishbone Diagram is another impactful gap analysis tool that helps you identify the root causes of a particular problem. Let us understand how this diagram works. 

A fishbone diagram offers an easy-to-understand,  visual representation of cause and effect. The problem is displayed at the head or mouth of the fish, whereas the contributing causes are written on the smaller “bones” under multiple cause categories.

To make this process more interactive, you can include staff members who have worked on that process. They will be able to offer valuable insights and take this investigation ahead.

4. Mckinsey 7S

This popular framework was developed by former consultants of Mckinsey & Company and has stood the test of time. The McKinsey 7-S Model identifies seven internal elements of an organization that must be in sync for it to be successful. These elements are Shared Values, Structure, Systems, Styles, Staff, Skills, and Strategy. 

The model emphasizes that all these elements are interconnected, and it’s challenging to make progress in one specific area without making relevant progress in other areas as well. You can use this framework to align different internal departments or examine the effects of future changes in the organization.

End the “Gap” with Gap Analysis

If you look closely, even billion-dollar businesses such as Apple or Microsoft are not perfect. They have multiple improvement areas or “gaps” that are closed with the help of gap analysis.

To conduct gap analysis in your organization, understand your current state, find your ideal state, identify the factors contributing to the “gap”, and use relevant tools to attain your true potential. 

Remember that analyzing gaps in business is an ongoing process. Tracking its impact will help you identify what’s working well and what isn’t so that you can make lasting progress for your organization and your employees. A tool such as ProProfs Survey Maker can help you with gap assessment in areas such as customer satisfaction, product launch, employee engagement , market research, and more.

About the author

Emma David is a seasoned market research professional with 8+ years of experience. Having kick-started her journey in research, she has developed rich expertise in employee engagement, survey creation and administration, and data management. Emma believes in the power of data to shape business performance positively. She continues to help brands and businesses make strategic decisions and improve their market standing through her understanding of research methodologies.

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How to Conduct a GAP Analysis: Tips, Tools, and Examples!

• Updated on April 15, 2024

Conducting GAP analysis will give you a clear view of the missing parts in your business. So, let’s look deeper into what gap analysis is and how to conduct it.

• What is GAP Analysis?
• How to Conduct GAP Analysis

Benefits of GAP Analysis

• Market vs. Strategic Analysis
• GAP Analysis Examples

Tools for GAP Analysis

• How Excel Can be Used for GAP Analysis

If you are experiencing some difficulties while improving your business, it means there is a “gap” between where you are and where you want to be .

Therefore, this gap needs to be closed to move forward and achieve your goals. You can handle that by doing gap analysis with the right tools. In this article, you will learn gap analysis and how to conduct it properly using suitable tools .

What is GAP analysis?

Firstly, the GAP analysis is a process of comparing the current state with the desired state for an organization and creating solutions to meet their goal.

When gap refers to how far you are behind your target point ; GAP analysis takes you to that point.

It is a method that examines all strategies and possible opportunities to provide optimization. Plus, you can use it for a single process or the entire business; and apply in various areas such as sales, financial performance , employee satisfaction or productivity.

Moreover, it could also be considered as strategic or operational approaches which are both concrete. Thus, operational approach focuses on daily work, while strategic one focuses on planning and future strategies .

Access Now: Gap Analysis Excel Template

How to Conduct GAP Analysis?

You can follow the essential steps for conducting your analysis and discover what needs to be done to reach your goal. Here are 8 steps:

1) Identify your current state

Before heading towards the goal, first, you need to be aware of your existing situation and your main focus.

You should direct your focus on whichever processes or features you want to improve.

For example, imagine you run a clothing company from home . You produce 1000 shirts per day but you want to increase your daily production. Your focus is your productivity. Your current state is 1000 shirts.

In a different scenario, let’s say you are working for a social media company aiming to create a brand image. Your current state, in this case, will be much different and measured with qualitative criteria.

So the situations may differ; but regardless of your department or work area, what you need to do in this phase is finding the root of the issue you are currently facing.

2) Identify your desired state

With a conscious of what your organization is doing, you can set your target point .

Having goals and pursuing them make you idealistic, yet knowing your strengths and weaknesses help you to be realistic at the same time. To determine reasonable goals, you must know what your organization is and isn’t capable of doing .

Be aware of your strong and weak sides then set your goals according to SMART methodology: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound.

Because goals should be realistic.

3) Go back to the current state and define the gap

Now you know where you stand as an organization and where you want to be.

It’s time to handle the gap in between.

Let’s go back to the clothing company example:

You are producing 1000 shirts per day and want to improve. Considering your capacity, possible opportunities or upgrades; you set your target as 1500 per day.

Now your desired state is 1500 shirts while your current state is 1000 shirts, and there is a 500-shirt gap to analyze. After determining the gap, you need to examine the reasons behind it .

You should find what caused this gap; how it came out and which factors or deficiencies played a role.

4) Create solutions

If you discovered why the gap occurs, you can take action to fix it .

Start with evaluating possible solutions and deciding which ones are applicable to the problem.

5) List the possible solutions

Which way is the best to close the gap? Consider all the suitable options and how you can benefit from them.

6) Compare with pro’s and con’s

You might need to reconsider your options with their pros and cons . Bringing a new solution for an existing issue may cause a potential problem or it may cost too much and cause loss.

Therefore, approaching problems from different angles helps you to eliminate unprofitable opinions.

7) Overview of the solutions

After comparing them, choose the most suitable solutions. Review them and make a plan about how you will implement it. Therefore, the solutions are maybe the most important steps of how to conduct gap analysis.

8) Bridge the gap

In this stage, you need to share your plan with your organization and present it to others . In order to implement the changes you plan to make, approval of these people may be necessary . So you should be prepared to convince them . Y ou can have your action plan that leads you.

• Gives an overview of the company performance: By performing analysis, you can discover where you stand as an organization and how you currently operate.
• Helps to detect what needs to be improved: Overviewing your situation helps you to understand the parts of your work that need to be changed.
• Helps to solve the problems: Doing your analysis leads you to create solutions and improvements for your current state.
• Turns potential into performance: It makes you closer to your ideal performance by eliminating the obstacles that hold you back .
• Gives insight about better usage of capability : After discovering how you can do better work, you figure out the more efficient ways to perform. You can use them for the future.
• Highlights the changes: It puts forward all the changes you have done and the changes you are likely to do for other situations.

Market vs. Strategic Analysis:

With the market gap analysis , you find out what is going on in the market; what your competitor can or can’t do. Then you perform a strategic gap analysis and see what capabilities you have; what you can do or what you need to improve .

Gap Analysis Examples

Firstly, we mentioned that gap analysis could be used in many different areas. Here are some examples:

Product launch: Gap analysis can be used by a company to determine why sales of a new launched product didn’t meet the expectations.

Process optimization: A telecom company can perform a gap analysis while trying to fix why some orders have been delivered to customers. It helps them to identify the causes in the current process and produce an optimized target.

Customer satisfaction: If an airline company is aiming to meet customer satisfaction; a gap analysis can be performed to detect the current dissatisfaction and find ways to serve them better.

Strategy planning: An e-commerce company trying to gain a place in the market needs a strategic plan, so they can perform a gap analysis. They can identify their strategic objectives and current deficiencies, then create their action plan .

Individual Assessment: A team leader can perform a gap analysis on evaluating and improving employees performance . Results can be used to draw out the best practices that everyone can adopt, and improve the overall performance.

Frameworks to conduct GAP analysis:

To emphasize, there are some main frameworks that you can use while defining problems and creating solutions. Thus, you can visualize steps and document your report easily with these frameworks.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT refers to Strengths , Weaknesses , Opportunities and Threats . Plus, it is very commonly used framework.

You can scan the environment by inspecting both internal and external factors. In addition, you can create strategies according to your SWOT table and make a plan.

McKinsey 7Ss Framework

Firstly, this framework has seven categories: strategy , structure , systems which are considered “hard” and shared values , skills , style , and staff which are considered “soft.”  

Hard elements are easier to identify, while soft ones are relatively harder and less tangible. You can work through shared values and 7S’s of your organization to start closing the gap.

Nadler-Tushman Model

This dynamic model is based on four elements: work , people , structure , and culture . The aim is to figure out how if they are congruent and how works in each element affect others. It consists of 3 parts:

• Input: Company culture, workforce, resources
• Transformation process: Systems, teams, processes
• Output: Final product or service

Fishbone Diagram

This is a cause-and-effect diagram and is especially used for identifying your current situation. It divides the problem into categories such as environment , machines , materials , measurements , methods and people .

You can use it for concepts like the marketing mix or the 4S’s of service.

PEST/PESTLE Analysis

Firstly, PEST analysis helps you to analyze threats through four factors: political, economic, social and technological. In addition, it is a clear framework to detect current problems.

There is a more in-depth version of PEST. PESTLE Analysis is an acronym like PEST, stands for political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental .

5S Audit Scorecard

5S is another framework to help process management in industrial companies.

Our 5S Scorecard Excel Template helps you to idetify possible problmes in a project or work area with documentation. If you need an online tool for 5S efforts, you can also check 5S Audit Scorecard Google Sheets Template.

Firstly, for performing a gap analysis, some useful tools exist. Therefore, you can visualize steps and document your analysis easily with these tools.

So you can either prefer online platforms or use ready templates.

• upBOARD : This is an online gap identification tool which offers web templates and input forms. It includes progress dashboards , data integration , designs , and full access on desktop or mobile.

• Cacoo : This online tool comes with cloud-based sharing options and editable templates. You can get your input and collaborate with others easily. Each team member can share and edit diagrams at the same time, also share their feedbacks.

• SWOT : This is an online SWOT analysis tool that helps you to create your SWOT table with different layout options . You can customize your template and build your own. It has features as inviting team members to vote and narrowing your focus to fit to one page.

• iAuditor : This is a cloud-based template builder that streamlines your workflow. You can create a dashboard and see employee commitments, you can define a workflow that sends auto-generated gap analysis reports or schedule your analysis .

• Excel: You can use ready templates and perform your gap analysis on Excel. All you need to do is download such templates on, then you can start working on your analysis with your preferred customizations. You can update your data and use your template over again for different purposes.

How to conduct a GAP Analysis in Excel?

By using provided templates; you can input your data, visualize your information with editable features and reach your improvement plan.

Gap Analysis Excel Template is designed as a dashboard with relevant columns to fill, including sections for visual charts, evaluation notes. This template allows you to:

• Type your objectives , current state and desired state .
• Select gap identification (as yes or no ).
• Type gap description depending on the issue you want to improve.
• Type corrective actions about improvements.
• Choose priority (such as low , medium or high ).
• Customize gap identification and priority status .

Once you input your data, charts automatically displays below. So, you can close them if you want.

Another thing you can do with this template is to write your opinions into the notes part.

In addition, we have also a Google Sheets version for this template. Those who prefer using an online spreadsheet may visit our GAP Analysis Google Sheets Template page.

FINAL WORDS:

Finally, Gap analysis is a crucial process for development. Plus, the Excel templates provide you a smooth experience in gap analysis ; it doesn’t require installation and it works both on Mac and Windows.  Moreover, you can customize and re-use them.

Document your process with right tools and steps; your performance will be enhanced.

Related Posts

A simple guide to gap analysis

Looking for a way to streamline the growth of your business?

A gap analysis could be just what you need.

When used correctly, a gap analysis helps you elevate your business from where it is now to where you want it to be. It allows you to identify the quickest and most efficient way to reach your goals.

In this article, we’re outlining what a gap analysis is, the benefits of using it, and some of the drawbacks you should be aware of, too. We’ll also talk you through how to perform a gap analysis for your business.

Try Miro’s Gap Analysis Template

What is a gap analysis?

A gap analysis compares actual performance with desired performance. As a result, businesses can determine the most efficient and effective ways to reach their goals.

There are various situations where a gap analysis is helpful. It forecasts and predicts profits, identifies new sales and marketing opportunities, and reveals areas of improvement in your processes.

There are four main types of gap analyses that businesses can use, which we’ll cover in detail later. But no matter what type, the end goal remains the same: to find out how you can move from where you are now to where you want to be.

• How do you structure a gap analysis?

A gap analysis template is an outline used by businesses to structure their investigation. It should outline your current state, desired state, the gaps, and how you plan to close them.

Take a look at our template as an example:

The template contains all four major columns, with each row assigned to a different goal. Businesses can use this template to outline their plan to close the gaps and reach their desired state.

After using this template to complete a gap analysis, you might want to conduct a SWOT analysis to identify broader strengths and opportunities, too. This will give you a well-rounded picture of how to successfully grow your business.

• What are the types of a gap analysis?

There are four main types of gap analyses. These include:

• Performance

Let’s look at each of these in more detail.

Performance gap analysis

A performance gap analysis measures employee and company performance in comparison to expected performance. Sometimes called strategy gap analysis, it’s the most popular version of gap analysis.

How does performance gap analysis work?

Businesses measure their performance against competitors in the marketplace and in line with established benchmarks and industry standards. Using this information, companies can predict what acceptable performance should be and identify any gaps and areas of improvement.

When should you use performance gap analysis?

A performance gap analysis should be used if you want to improve your internal processes and employee performance.

Let’s say your sales team isn’t reaching its targets. You could use performance gap analysis to figure out why this is and identify a plan of action to get sales back on track.

Whether that’s training your employees, hiring more employees in new roles, or changing existing job responsibilities, the gap analysis will show you how to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

Product gap analysis

Also known as a market gap analysis, a product gap analysis measures areas where demand is greater than supply. In other words, it helps you identify under-serviced markets. With this information, you can expand your product line to a new audience to meet customer demand.

Unlike market research, this approach is proactive instead of reactive. Businesses seek out areas of demand rather than waiting for feedback from consumers.

How does a product gap analysis work?

You’d start by investigating new markets where your service might be in demand, such as new locations or demographics.

You could also think about launching into new service areas. This would mean offering an altered version of your existing product or service to provide something new for your consumers. Uber launching Uber Eats is a good example.

They started as a modern taxi service, and they launched a food delivery service off the back of it.

Once you’ve identified demand for your product in a new market, you can use the analysis to figure out how to get from point A to point B.

When should you use a product gap analysis?

If you’re looking to expand your business but don’t have the time or budget to create a new product or service, a product gap analysis could be just what you need. It helps you find new markets for your existing product so that you can grow your business without having to invest a lot of money upfront.

If you’re a new business, product gap analysis is also a great way to make sure you’re not entering an overly-saturated market.

HR gap analysis

An HR gap analysis measures your current workforce in relation to the amount of work required. It analyzes the capacity and size of a team to make informed decisions about budgeting and staffing.

It’s sometimes called a skills gap analysis or workforce gap analysis.

How does an HR gap analysis work?

You start by outlining your goals. When these are clear, you can analyze the key skills employees need to help the business achieve these goals. Then, you turn your attention to your workforce.

You’ll review their professional skills and their workload, making a note of their experience level in each key skill. By the end of the process, you should be able to identify how and where you can fill in the gaps and help the organization reach its goals. Whether that’s investing in training or restructuring your workforce, you’ll have a clearer picture of what to do next.

You also might consider creating an organizational chart to help with this process. This will make it clear who’s on the team and the role they uphold.

You can use the above template if you want to create an intuitive and shareable chart in a matter of minutes.

When should you use an HR gap analysis?

If you’re concerned that your current workforce can’t hit the goals you want to reach, an HR gap analysis could be helpful. It’ll clearly outline your current team’s skill sets and capacity, allowing you to fill the gaps and help the company succeed.

Profit gap analysis

A Profit gap analysis measures your actual profit alongside your target profit. It shows businesses why their forecasts haven’t been met, what went wrong along the way, and what they can do differently going forward.

How does a profit gap analysis work?

When conducting a profit gap analysis, you’ll review your target profit and your actual profit. By doing so, you’ll be able to pinpoint areas where your business didn’t reach the targets you set and why they weren’t reached.

Was your budget unrealistic? Did you have to lower prices because of your competition? Did your product not sell as well as you’d hoped?

Whatever the issue, the gap analysis will bring it to light. As a result, you can make the appropriate adjustments for the future.

When should you use a profit gap analysis?

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to profit. Market trends are constantly changing, and macro factors are out of your control.

All of these elements have an impact on the financial success of your business. But this is where profit gap analysis can help.

If you have specific revenue or profit goals for the future, or if you haven’t been able to hit financial goals in the past, a profit gap analysis is for you. It’ll break down your finances and allow you to easily find areas of improvement.

• What are the benefits of a gap analysis?

We already know that a gap analysis helps businesses get from where they are now to where they want to be.

But are there any other benefits?

In short, yes. Depending on the type of gap analysis you use, there are multiple ways a gap analysis will benefit your business.

Let’s take a look at some of the main benefits.

Get a unique insight into how your company operates

Conducting a gap analysis gives you an in-depth perception of how your business operates. It shows you how your company processes work, what resources you have, and where your shortcomings are. It outlines all the key aspects of your business in one location.

You also get a better understanding of how your business performs in the marketplace in relation to your competitors.

All of this information offers a deeper understanding of your business — an understanding that you might not have been aware of had you not conducted the analysis.

With this information, you can make informed decisions about how your business operates and its areas of growth and opportunity.

Align your company strategy

No matter which gap analysis you perform, you always have an end goal in mind — a goal that feeds into your company strategy. This means that when you do your analysis, you’re also making sure that your business activity aligns with your strategy.

Alignment is a pretty key part of business growth. If your activities aren’t aligned with your strategy, you risk losing direction and never reaching your desired state.

But with a gap analysis, you make sure that everything your company does is aligned with your strategy. It also gives you a clear perspective of what your company strategy should be and how you’re going to achieve it.

Proactively fix problems

Gap analysis helps you find areas of improvement in your workflow. This means you can get ahead and make changes before the problems get worse.

Think about your website content as an example.

With a content gap analysis, you identify the areas of improvement for the existing content across your website. As a result, you can make the necessary changes to improve your content strategy going forward.

But if you hadn’t performed the analysis, who knows when you would have noticed these areas of improvement?

And that’s why using the analysis is a good thing. It allows you to be proactive about your problems and put things right.

Increase efficiency

A gap analysis helps you find areas of improvement in your current business processes. And when you improve your processes, your entire business becomes more efficient.

Think about it. If your processes are streamlined, you spend less time working on tasks that aren’t necessary and more time achieving company goals.

Improved processes also mean that you can get more done with fewer resources, allowing you to focus your efforts on other areas of the business.

• Are there any limitations to using gap analysis?

Although there are benefits to using gap analysis, there are some drawbacks to be aware of.

Not enough detail

A gap analysis is great for a lot of things, but it doesn’t cover everything you need to know.

For example, you can’t do a competitor analysis within the existing framework. If you want detailed information about your competitors, you’d have to do a separate competitor analysis and integrate the information.

Because of this limitation, it also means that you might not get to the root of your problem with just a gap analysis. Chances are, you’d need some other framework or model to get into the nitty-gritty of your problem.

Simply put, you can’t do everything with a gap analysis. You’ll need other frameworks to bulk out the details and analyze other areas of your business. It’s not the end of the world, but it does impact the efficiency and effectiveness of gap analysis, so keep this in mind.

The process could be time-consuming and costly

Part of the gap analysis process involves creating solutions to get you from your current state to your desired state.

But what happens if you don’t have the time or money to perform a gap analysis in the first place?

For some businesses, doing the gap analysis in the first place requires additional time and money that simply isn’t available. There’s also a chance that the solutions you find might be costly. And if your budget won’t stretch, you’ll probably have to compromise on your solution.

If that’s the case, was the gap analysis worth it in the first place?

This is something to think about ahead of doing the analysis. Take stock of your resources, and see what time you can realistically spend on the analysis and what your budget is for the analysis and the solutions you create.

• How do you perform a gap analysis?

Performing a gap analysis varies from business to business. But there are some steps you should follow to make sure you get the most out of your analysis.

1. Analyze your current state

First things first, you need to pinpoint your current state. This will be your baseline to figure out how to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

So spend some time reviewing your current situation. Take a look at your position in the marketplace, review your competitors, and analyze anything else that’ll tell you how your business is performing. This will help you identify areas of improvement.

We’ve got existing templates that’ll help you review this information as quickly as possible. Take a look at our Executive Summary Template as an example.

By the end of this process, you’ll understand the reality of how your business is performing in the marketplace. You’ll also have a better idea of what your strategic goals should be and how to achieve them, which leads us nicely to the next step.

2. Outline your business goals

Now that you have a clear picture of your current performance, it’s time to think about the future. More specifically, about your business goals.

Ask yourself this: If everything went to plan, where would your business be?

By establishing the goals that you want to achieve, you can start to identify the improvements needed to reach them. In other words, you start to identify gaps.

So spend some time outlining what your goals are. This is the foundation you need to envision your future state in comparison to your current reality.

When creating your goals, make sure they’re realistic. If they’re not, a gap analysis won’t help, as you’ll never reach your goals.

That’s why we’d suggest creating SMART goals. This will guarantee that your goals are achievable and measurable, among other things. Take a look at our SMART Goals Template for more information about the framework and how to use it.

This template can also be altered and customized based on the information you want to find. You can change the text , add shapes , and add visual notes .

3. Compare what you have with what you want to achieve

Throughout the previous two steps, you’ve outlined your current and desired states. Now, it’s time to compare the two and perform your gap analysis.

This involves figuring out how far you are from your target state and how to get there. You need to find the gaps, think about how you can fix them, and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes in the future.

This is where using a ready-made template can help. With the right template, you can view your current and desired states in one location. This makes it easier for you to visualize how to fill the gaps and reach your goals.

If you’re spread too thin across various platforms, it’ll be harder for you to plot areas of improvement.

Don’t forget — we have a ready-made Gap Analysis Template that you can use. And we’ve got a range of tools and features that allow you to customize it however you like.

4. Create a strategic plan of action

You’ve done the work and identified how to get from your current state to your desired state. What next?

You need to put all the information into your gap analysis. This will serve as your plan of action going forward.

You also might need to create separate plans for specific parts of the gap analysis. For example, let’s say one of your actions from the gap analysis is to improve the online user experience.

This isn’t an overnight job, and it requires a lot of planning to figure out the logistics. You need a detailed plan with timelines, deliverables, and delegation of responsibilities. Our Workflow Template and Action Plan Template are good examples.

So when your gap analysis is complete, think about creating separate plans to manage each stage of the journey. This extra layer of planning and detail will make sure everyone on the team knows what they’re doing and how they’re going to do it.

• Start your gap analysis today with Miro

So there you have it — a simple guide to gap analysis. You know the different types of gap analyses, the steps you need to take to perform them, and which platform you can use to create the template (that’s us).

There are a lot of gap analysis tools out there to choose from. With Miro, performing a gap analysis and sharing it with your team is easy. Using our simple whiteboard tool , you can adapt our existing template for any industry. You can also create your own template from scratch or customize existing templates with our additional features.

You can sign up for free , select the template, and start creating. It’s as simple as that.

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How to Conduct a Gap Analysis: Definition, Steps & Example

Table of Contents

What is gap analysis, how to conduct a gap analysis in 4 steps, gap analysis template, gap analysis example, types of gap analysis, gap analysis tools.

Plan all you want. But once that project or business plan is being executed, you’ll need a gap analysis to assess whether you’re meeting the requirements or you could be in trouble. As its name suggests, the gap analysis is a method to look at where you are and where you want to be. Between those two points is the gap you have to close. A gap analysis can be used in projects or for an organization to meet its targets.

It’s important to analyze whether your progress is at a pace to meet your objective or if you need to make adjustments to bridge that performance gap. Let’s learn more about how gap analysis can help your business.

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Use this free Gap Analysis Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

Gap analysis is a formal study of how a business or project is currently progressing and where it plans to go in the future. Various perspectives can be analyzed, from business direction to business processes, from information technology to product management.

When talking about management, gap analysis is a means to compare a current state with a future state in terms of performance. Factors that impact performance include resource planning , capital investment, technology, etc. What a gap analysis does is identify the gaps between the optimized allocation and integration of resources to the current allocation level.

It’s by doing such measurements that a pathway towards improvements can be cleared. To do this involves determining, documenting and improving the difference between requirements and capabilities at the current time. Real-time data is going to improve how you understand the progress of your project.

ProjectManager is cloud-based work and project management software that helps with gap analysis by using live project data. Our real-time dashboard requires no setup and automatically collects live data, crunches the numbers and displays six project metrics in colorful graphs and charts. Get started with your gap analysis today for free with ProjectManager.

When you’re doing a gap analysis, you’re asking yourself a few questions: Where are we now, where do we wish we were and how are we going to get there? So, it’s not merely a picture but a roadmap to improve production.

There are four basic steps that you take when conducting a gap analysis. They can be boiled down to the following.

1. Identify Current State

The first step is knowing where you are at present. So, be clear as to what is being described and what is not. This will avoid scope creep and keep your analysis focused. Then comes collecting contextual information. That means collecting qualitative information, such as what your team processes and methodologies.

Also, quantitative information is important, meaning anything that can be counted and measured. That includes everything you’re currently doing. Yes, it’s a lot of data to gather, but the more you gather, the sharper the picture of your current state.

2. Identity Where You Want to Go

The point of a gap analysis is to figure out where you want to go and if you’re getting there. This is the desired state, future target or stretch goal. To get there you need to know about your current state and what a reasonable timeframe is to get from there to the goal you’ve set for yourself.

But first, you must mark that point in the future that you’re aiming for. Think about where that should be, what’s not happening that needs to happen, what could be happening that hasn’t before or has changed, and what needs to happen to get there.

3. Identify the Gaps 

You know where you are and where you want to go, the space between those two marks is the gap you must bridge to reach your target. This is when you want to figure out why there is a gap. To do that you need to be very specific about the gap. Also, dig deeper and determine why the gap happened. Ask yourself questions that apply to your business and answer them honestly.

4. Bridge the Gap

You’ve done the due diligence, and now it’s time to act. You know why there’s a gap, so you must now devise a way to close it. To do this, you can follow the guidelines of basing all improvements on the information you discovered when you identified the gap. Also, consider the cost of implementation for each solution that you come up with; you might not have the capital or capacity to achieve it. Finally, figure out the date at which the gap will be closed. If you don’t have a deadline, it will get overlooked or ignored.

After doing all the work, don’t neglect the follow-through. That is, follow up on the improvements you’re making by doing a gap analysis. If you don’t, then you’re doomed to repeat them. Also, it’s important not to try and close too many gaps at once. If you put too much stress on any organization, it’s going to break.

Manage the process with our free gap analysis template for Excel . It will help you meet the business targets that have been set for your project and streamline that process. You can add the current item stage and the future item state. Then use our dropdown menu to note the gap percentage. There are even action steps, assignments and statuses. But other templates fill out those steps.

Let’s examine gap analysis by creating a hypothetical gap analysis example. For instance, let’s say Company X has developed Widget and has gone to market and it wants to do a gap analysis on the deviations from its sales objectives of this new product launch and make the required improvements.

• First, they have to gather market data and do customer surveys to discern what the problem is that prevents Company X from selling the number of Widgets they forecasted.
• Next, comes the analysis of that data and the current state of the sales problems.
• From there, Company X will figure out the future state it hopes to reach in terms of Widget sales.
• With these two points mapped out, Company X can now calculate the gap percentage.
• This information will drive the action steps necessary for the company to achieve its target, which might include adding to its sales force, further investment in marketing or even changes to the product.
• Once the action plan is set up, Company X will implement and monitor its progress as it bridges the identified gap.

What gap analysis is doing is providing a way to measure the investment in time, money and human resources that are needed to achieve an outcome. There are several different gaps and outcomes that gap analysis can target.

• Gap analysis can be used to classify how well a product meets its targeted need.
• Gap analysis can also help identify gaps in the market. It can compare the forecast profits to the desired profits and reveal a planning gap.
• Gap analysis can be used to analyze a usage gap. The usage gap is the gap between the total potential for the market and the actual use at present. This includes data, such as market use and existing use. Existing use measures the consumer use for the full market. It comes from doing in-depth marketing research, and sometimes data from government or industry studies.
• Gap analysis can also target a product gap. The product gap is the part of a market that excludes you, for whatever reason. This exclusion can occur because the product that you offer lacks certain features that are required by a customer base, or maybe certain customers just don’t align with your company’s mission statement or general policy.

There are gap analysis tools that can help a project manager identify the gap between the current state of the project and its future goals and objectives. These tools will also help to make clear the required tasks that are necessary to close that gap.

One such tool is a SWOT analysis , which is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. By using a SWOT analysis both quantitatively and qualitatively, you can determine internal and external threats to the project.

Fishbone Diagram

Another tool is the fishbone diagram , which is also called a cause-and-effect diagram. It is a way to visualize and categorize the potential causes of a problem. Then you can go about identifying its root causes. It’s a helpful tool when brainstorming to keep the conversation focused.

McKinsey 7-S Framework

The McKinsey 7-S Framework can be used to improve performance, examine the effects of future change, align departments and processes and determine how best to implement a proposed strategy. It can be applied to teams or a project by looking at the seven interdependent factors of the tool.

PEST Analysis

One more tool is the PEST analysis , which is another acronym that stands for political, economic, social and technological. This allows one to make a framework of macro-environmental factors to design effective environmental strategies, which would apply to applicable projects.

More Free Templates For Better Gap Analysis

Gap analysis requires collecting and analyzing data. But that’s only the start. Next, you have to create a plan to act on what you’ve learned and then monitor the progress of that plan to make sure you’re meeting your milestones. Project management software can do all this and more but if you’re not ready to take that leap then you can use these free templates for gap analysis project management.

Action Items Template

The action items you sketched out in the gap analysis template can be fully realized in this free action items template for Excel. It provides the who, what and when for the plan, like a to-do list but more robust. You can list all the action items, assign them to your team, set the priority to help organize what gets done when add directions and even show the status of the work. But for greater detail on progress and performance, there’s our next free template.

Project Dashboard Template

You’re going to want to monitor your action plan as you execute it. Our free project dashboard template for Excel can help you track time on tasks, cost and workload. Unlike with project management software, though, you’re going to have to do all the inputting yourself, but it’s worth the effort to help stay on schedule. This free template can also be used to gather data on your gap analysis, so we’ve come full circle.

Progress Report Template

Don’t forget to keep your stakeholders updated on your progress in closing the gap. Use our free progress report template for Word. It’s a document that captures where you are in the project to update stakeholders and manage their expectations. You get a section in which to summarize the project scope, schedule, cost and any risks. Then you can dig down deeper into individual tasks and their status.

How ProjectManager Helps With Gap Analysis

ProjectManager is a cloud-based work and project management software that can help you close the gap in your gap analysis. Our tool organizes your action plan into tasks on a timeline that can be assigned and monitored while reporting back to stakeholders on the progress of your objective to meet that gap target.

Gantt Charts for In-Depth Planning

Use our interactive Gantt chart to map your plan on a visual timeline that links dependent tasks to avoid bottlenecks later in the project. Gantt charts are essential project management tools that set milestones and much more. But unlike other Gantts, ours can filter for the critical path without any complex calculations and then set a baseline to see planned effort against your actual effort once the project is executed. That helps you stay on schedule.

Multiple Views to Execute Work How You Want

Once the project is in the hands of your team they might not want to use a planning-intensive tool, such as the Gantt. Our software has multiple project views that share data in real time so teams can work how they want. Robust task lists show everything from priority to status while the visual workflow of a kanban board fosters collaboration on sprints and allows teams to manage their backlog.

Report on Progress in Minutes

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Gap analysis is a great tool to help make better decisions. ProjectManager is a cloud-based project management software that allows you to implement those decisions more effectively with real-time data and online Gantt charts. See how it can help you bridge the gap by taking this free 30-day trial today.

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Gap analysis: Guide with templates and examples

Table of Contents

• Introduction

How to do a gap analysis

The purpose of a gap analysis.

• Types of gap analysis

Gap analysis tools

• Gap analysis examples
• Gap analysis templates

Ever had the feeling something in your life isn’t living up to your expectations — that there’s a gap between where you are and where you should be?

Don’t worry; that’s a very human experience. And believe it or not, it extends to the world of business too.

Key Takeaways

• Gap analysis is the process of identifying the gap between the current state and the future state of a business.
• Gap analysis is helpful in many ways, especially to boost productivity and get closer to its full potential.
• It is conducted for different aspects of businesses, including performance, market and needs.
• There are different methodologies to conduct gap analysis, as the most famous being SWOT Analysis.
• All these methodologies can be visualized with the help of ready-made templates.

In business management, figuring out why a company isn’t reaching its projected performance level — and how to turn it around — is crucial. It’s so important, in fact, that it has become a standard practice among managers motivated to succeed. They call it “gap analysis.”

What is gap analysis?

Let’s set the stage with a general definition of gap analysis:

Gap analysis is a process that identifies the difference between the current state and the future state of a business. It then helps determine what needs to be done to bridge that gap.

When a company launches a project, product, budget, sales campaign, or any other business activity, it has goals or targets. However, the team’s capabilities and performance may not be at the level necessary to hit those goals. That means there’s a gap between what the company wants to achieve and what it can realistically achieve given the current situation.

There are several reasons why this might be the case, such as a staffing shortage, a lack of budget or resources, poor team communication, or missing IT functionality. Often, it’s a mix of many factors.

Whatever the reason, a gap analysis explores why the business isn’t living up to its potential now, and how the situation can be adjusted to reach the projected goal going forward.

Why gap analysis matters

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up somewhere else.” —Yogi Berra, baseball catcher

At the heart of the gap analysis are three separate considerations: where you are, where you want to be, and what you need to get there.

To achieve your business’s potential, you need to be certain about where you stand today. That’s where a gap analysis comes in.

There are two general directions that a gap analysis can take:

• Strategic — covering the planning side of a business
• Operational — assessing the execution of a project or the way the company functions

Gap analyses are typically focused on areas of business like financial goals, human resources, product development, sales, and IT.

A gap analysis is also known as a “gap assessment.” Here are some of the reasons why a gap analysis, or gap assessment, is so important:

It shows your strengths and weaknesses in real time

Rather than waiting until the end of a project or activity to see what didn’t work, a gap analysis is designed to look at what’s happening today and to define the gaps likely to open up as you move forward. It’s not about taking stock of what was; it’s about looking ahead to improve the future.

It enables you to reallocate resources in a smarter way

A successful gap analysis sheds light on the current use of resources and how a lack of resources might be holding you back. This helps managers reassess where resources can be better expended to meet the performance goal. They can immediately implement changes to start closing the gap.

It helps management make better decisions

A gap analysis maps current processes, giving managers a rich picture of the situation on the ground. Together with an understanding of the performance goals, managers can make informed decisions to steer the business toward the intended result.

It provides an objective perspective to improve processes for the future

A gap analysis provides an even-handed assessment of the business activity, without the need to frame it as a performance review of an individual or team. With the insights gleaned from the analysis, you can quickly implement new processes that are not only effective now but can be used company-wide to boost performance in other departments and for future activities.

For a business to succeed, it must be as good as or better than the competition. But it’s not just about outperforming competitors. It’s also about improving the organization’s internal processes. When a company constantly challenges itself to be all it can be, it unlocks the secret to growth and profitability.

Imagine that a fashion brand is releasing a new collection. The marketing team has put together a promotional campaign. Meanwhile, the sales team is working on distribution partnerships with several retailers to help boost market share in a new region. Both of these activities are aimed at the same thing: meeting the sales revenue goal.

Now imagine that the team’s efforts were so successful, they generated 10 percent more sales than the original target. This is the kind of result business managers crave, and a gap analysis is one of the tools that can be used to achieve such success.

Gap analysis methodology: What is it?

Over the years, the field of business management has become more complex. There are so many theories and methodologies that come with the territory. But at the end of the day, you don’t need an MBA to do a gap analysis.

Nevertheless, having a basic familiarity with the methodology of gap analysis is helpful, as it frames the landscape of what you’re setting out to do and why.

What gap analysis methodology involves is asking a common-sense question — what do we need today to meet tomorrow’s goals? — and answering it with an actionable plan.

As mentioned earlier, there are two broad categories in gap analysis methodology: strategic gap analysis and operational gap analysis. One focuses on the planning and performance side of the business; the other focuses on analyzing how the company is executing those plans and strategies.

Gap analyses can look inward at the company’s internal processes or outward to the market or competitive landscape.

Internally focused gap analyses can focus on business performance, IT or resources, staffing, or financials. An outward-focused gap analysis might look at the market, such as competing brands or products. A gap analysis can also include both internal and external factors. One example is a financial gap analysis that assesses internal financial processes as well as issues related to wider economic trends.

How to conduct a gap analysis

Conducting a gap analysis may seem complicated, but the methodology is based on fairly simple principles. A gap analysis can get tricky when you’re assessing complex projects or activities with processes, goals, and purposes that are multifaceted or somewhat unclear.

That’s why the first thing to do if you think you need a gap analysis is to pinpoint the framework you want to assess. What aspect of the business seems to be underperforming? Are you receiving too many complaints from customers? Is there an overflow of customers returning a specific product? Is your sales team underperforming and you can’t quite figure out why?

These are all examples of frameworks that suggest a need for a gap analysis. Without this, the gap analysis won’t be focused and is destined to fail.

Once you’ve determined the apparent gap between what you’re doing now and the company’s future goals, you can get started on the work of the gap analysis.

What are the key gap analysis steps?

Overall, the gap analysis steps cover point A (today’s performance), point B (the business goal), and what’s missing in the journey between those two points.

Here’s what a gap analysis looks like in practice:

• Assess the current situation

This is the time to take a cold, hard look at the current situation. Much of this work involves gathering quantitative information, such as business intelligence (BI) data, financial figures, reports, resources lists, and more.

This step also includes gathering qualitative information to provide a deeper understanding of the current data. This may mean having one-on-one conversations with employees or team meetings to get the staff’s perspective. Customer feedback or focus groups can also be helpful here, depending on the focus of the analysis.

If you’re assessing external circumstances, you’ll need to research the market and competitors. Depending on the scope of the gap analysis, this research can be handled in house or by a third-party research services provider.

• Map the future goal

Once you’ve fully outlined the current state of the business, you can figure out the desired future state. Start by outlining the overarching goal, for example, “to become the local leader in the same-day supply of packaged lunches to schools in our district.”

This goal seems fairly specific and clear; however, there’s a lot to consider if you want to make it a reality.

There are local market forces at play, like competitors and market size potential. There’s the issue of human resources — how many additional employees would the company need to meet the goal? What would the supply chain need to look like to support this kind of growth? There’s also a legal perspective to take into account. How could you achieve this growth while meeting food safety regulations?

Mapping the future goal will demand input from many teams and departments to cover all the activities that determine business performance.

• Measure and analyze the gaps

Now that you have the current situation and future goal defined in detail, it’s time to measure the gaps between them.

The ideal way to do this is with key performance indicators (KPIs) that are quantifiable and measurable. For example, the KPI (future goal) is to reduce the wait time on customer support calls by 40 percent. According to current performance, the wait time is down 10 percent. That leaves a 30 percent gap. This is valuable information. It lets you know exactly how far you are from achieving the goal and forms the basis to calculate what you need to fill the rest of the gap.

Remember though, a gap analysis can be far broader than just one KPI. There are often several goals and KPIs, and therefore several gaps that need to be identified and filled.

• Create an action plan to bridge the gaps

When you’ve analyzed and quantified the gaps, you have the information you need to develop an action plan. This plan includes tactics and projects that will help to reduce the gaps moving forward.

Let’s go back to the customer service calls example. If wait times still need to be reduced by 30 percent to meet the target, you could hire additional call center staff or maybe redevelop the customer service scripts to make them more efficient. Both of these are examples of action items that may be included in the plan.

The action plan should be as detailed as necessary to properly demonstrate the gaps and how to bridge them. However, if there are many ideas or options for how to close the gap, you can outline them more broadly. There’s no need to invest time in developing full plans for every idea. Rather, once the most relevant action items have been chosen, you can fully flesh these out in a comprehensive project plan or document.

One of the most famous gaps talked about today is the gender pay gap. It occupies the time and resources of the world’s major international bodies, governments, and academia.

The gender pay gap is a perfect example of a current situation that isn’t meeting the desired goal or expectation. The purpose of the massive global conversation and numerous studies around the gender pay gap is to identify the difference in income between the genders and figure out how to rectify it.

Business owners are likely focusing on lots of different gaps, most of which aren’t as all-encompassing as the gender pay gap. However, the purpose of a gap analysis is always the same: reorganization of processes and systems to reach a future target.

What are the benefits of a gap analysis?

A gap analysis can have far-reaching effects in an organization, well beyond the specific process being assessed. The culture created by performing gap analyses can do wonders for the company as a whole. Here are some of the benefits you can expect:

Boost productivity and profits

A gap analysis has a direct impact on a company’s efficiency, which in turn affects the bottom line. By filling the gaps in work processes and staff performance, the overall productivity of the company will rise, and that translates to increased profits.

Help the company reach its true potential

Every company — even successful ones — can find ways to improve. By looking at what’s going on in the business right now, and analyzing how it’s falling short of its aspirations, the gap analysis can help a company fulfill its true potential and achieve unprecedented results.

Keep the company fresh and lean

Businesses must stay nimble if they want to seriously compete. The only way to do that is by constantly checking in on staff, processes, and activities. A gap analysis is an objective and focused examination of a company’s “hits and misses.” Its strengths, inefficiencies, wasteful practices, and smart use of resources are all put in the spotlight.

Annual performance reviews are necessary, but beyond that, how can a company identify its most pressing needs in real time? By conducting a gap analysis.

How businesses can use gap analyses

The benefits of gap analysis make it a popular and commonly-used tool in business management. Here are a few examples of the versatility of gap analyses and how businesses use them:

• Increasing sales. A gap analysis thoroughly assesses and properly adjusts the various factors and processes surrounding sales performance. This can be based on aspects like the competitor landscape, product pricing issues, sales team performance, sales training processes, and much more.
• Improving employee retention. If a company has high staff turnover, a gap analysis can help identify what’s causing dissatisfaction among staff and the methods required to change direction and achieve the desired retention rate.
• Investing in a little research and development (R&D). When a company is developing a new product, a gap analysis can be vital in identifying where to focus R&D investment to meet timelines and goals. It can show where the R&D budget is lacking and how funds can be reallocated to better serve R&D performance.
• IT security. A gap analysis can be extremely helpful in identifying security issues within a company and what needs to be done to meet stricter guidelines. The assessment covers not just the IT situation and needs, but also the resources and budgetary issues that arise.

A gap analysis is an effective tool for just about any business process or performance issue. It can work in a range of situations, as long as you stick to the basic methodology of gap analysis: where you are, where you want to be, and what you need to get there.

Types of gap analysis — the boardroom and beyond

In rather shocking news, between 24 and 150 biological species are lost every day to extinction .

What’s one of the tools that can help slow down extinction rates and reduce the gap? Gap analysis — conservation gap analysis, to be precise.

Scientists and environmental specialists use conservation gap analysis to make recommendations about how best to protect threatened species in nature reserves and protected areas.

There are lots of different types of gap analysis , and each has its place and purpose, sometimes even beyond the boardroom or office.

Analysis of the gender pay gap, for instance, encompasses much more than the problem of salaries. It’s a social justice issue that affects millions of women, children, and communities worldwide.

The power of gap analysis is its adaptability. Whenever a goal isn’t being met — in the forest, in the halls of the United Nations, or in your business — conducting a gap analysis will make all the difference.

What are the types of gap analysis in business?

While gap analysis fits just about anywhere, it’s time to get back to business.

The types of gap analysis most often used in business cover a range of areas. Gap analyses can focus on the performance of people, processes, or strategies. They can also cover gaps in needs, such as resources, budget, and staff. There are specific gap analyses for different industries, including retail and education.

Here’s a brief rundown of some of the types of gap analysis you can expect to see in business management:

• Performance. Gaps in performance cover things like customer acquisition, sales, project execution, productivity, and more.
• Market. Market gap analyses include competitor activities versus your company’s activities, the differences between competing products, and assessing market opportunities.
• Skills. This type of gap analysis focuses on staff capabilities. How are your teams performing? What skills are lacking to achieve the business goal? What education or training could fill the gaps?
• Needs. A needs gap analysis takes a close look at things like resources, knowledge, budget, and equipment. For example, there might be missing data your team needs to reach a goal. It can also focus on a specific process, like how many more service reps you need to reach the target quota of resolved customer complaints.
• Retail. A retail gap analysis assesses the supply and demand situation in specific retail markets and regions. If a retailer aims to open stores in a new region or introduce a new product to existing stores, they’ll want to do a retail gap analysis first.
• IT. This kind of gap analysis involves an in-depth assessment of the efficiency and usability of the company’s IT resources. For instance, is there a particular process that could be automated with software to help reach the company’s goals?

There are lots of ways a gap analysis can improve the processes and performance of companies. Let’s focus on two specific scenarios: recruitment and healthcare.

Gap analysis in the recruitment process

Recruiting employees is expensive. Hiring the right people and keeping them satisfied is important, not just for the business’s bottom line, but for team morale too. Conducting a gap analysis in the recruitment process can help you identify where your process is lacking and what you need to do to make it more efficient and accurate.

Case in point: Finding candidates who match the company culture

In an ideal workplace, employees naturally fit in with the vibe of the company. This is not just a matter of their skills and experience, but also personality and lifestyle, which are much harder to quantify. However, with a thorough recruitment gap analysis, it’s possible to pinpoint even these areas.

First, assess the company culture and produce a detailed report of the key values and expectations. Then take a look at your current recruitment process and how it might not be attracting the best people. For example, the gap analysis may reveal that your HR team is attending the wrong job fairs or that your interview questions aren’t designed to properly weed out unsuitable candidates.

Gap analysis in healthcare

Any business owner in the healthcare industry knows just how complex the relevant laws and regulations have become. Keeping up with issues such as patient privacy is essential. In the United States, HIPAA regulations mean that healthcare companies have no choice but to ensure full compliance to avoid privacy breaches that carry serious penalties.

Case in point: Making sure all patient forms meet privacy regulations

We live in a digital, data-based world, and that makes patient privacy extremely complicated. Healthcare companies and medical clinics hold large amounts of patient data, such as health records, personal details, and payment information. This data is often collected from patients with the help of forms.

A gap analysis in healthcare can identify all the different patient forms that you use, such as appointment scheduling and health declarations, and which ones don’t meet HIPAA standards. If the problem is widespread, you may decide to switch to a HIPAA-friendly form builder tool so that all of your forms are automatically compliant.

Fill all the gaps

Any kind of gap in your business can be identified using a gap analysis. There’s almost no end to the ways that you can apply gap analysis.

Fishbone, SWOT, Nadler-Tushman, McKinsey 7-S. What do these have in common?

They are all gap analysis tools.

The concept of a gap analysis is fairly broad — when you assess the difference between where your company is today and where you want it to be. So it’s no surprise that tons of different methods and tools were developed to fit all kinds of gap analysis situations.

Bottom line? You don’t have to use a special tool for gap analysis. Even a spreadsheet is helpful to identify gaps in financial or other data-based processes.

There are many options out there and several ways to use them. At the end of the day, your gap analysis will be far more efficient and powerful with the help of a suitable gap analysis tool.

Just so you know

Achieve your company or project goals by conducting a gap analysis for free with Jotform .

Gap analysis tools everyone’s talking about

Getting acquainted with the various gap analysis tools is a smart move for any business owner or manager. Here’s a look at the main gap analysis tools at your disposal.

SWOT analysis

No one is quite sure exactly when or where it was invented, but SWOT analysis is one of the most popular tools for understanding a business’s market position. It covers a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Some regard it as a more general strategic planning tool, rather than a method of gap analysis. However, it’s a versatile and proven way to gain a clear picture of a company’s current and future state. Find out more about gap analysis vs SWOT analysis in this article.

Fishbone diagram

This strange-sounding method gets its name from the way it looks — like a fish skeleton. The fishbone analysis is typically used to figure out problems and gaps in production processes, due to things like materials, man, machines, method, measurement and the environment. Mazda Motors even used the fishbone chart to develop the Miata/MX-5 sports car.

Nadler-Tushman model

This gap analysis tool is also known as the “congruence model,” and it’s designed to look at how people, organizational structure, company culture, and the work they do all come together to affect performance. It was developed by two organizational researchers in the 1980s and is one of the popular ways to assess the gaps between the inputs and outputs of a company, and why they happen.

McKinsey 7-S

Developed in the 1980s by two McKinsey consultants, McKinsey 7-S stands the test of time as a gap analysis tool for organizational effectiveness. Rather than focusing just on the organizational structure, it assesses the way different factors interrelate to produce results. So what are the seven S’s that affect organizational performance? Strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff, and skills.

There are more gap analysis tools out there, and each is best for different uses and purposes. Finding the right one for your business goal is the next step.

Gap analysis examples: What does a gap analysis look like?

No two gap analyses are alike. The gap analysis process has so many variables and can be applied in so many ways, each specific gap analysis will inevitably be unique.

A gap analysis can be intense and complex, from 20 to more than 100 pages, or it can be smaller in scope, focusing on a gap that’s resolved with only a few action items.

Because gap analysis is individual and case-specific, it’s a good idea to look at several real-world examples. Starting from complex gap analyses for government and banking institutions and moving to a more common gap analysis used by small to medium-sized businesses, here’s an overview of three gap analysis examples to inspire you.

Gap analysis example 1: An action plan for digitizing cultural and historic materials

The world is turning digital at an incredible pace, and that leaves governments and institutions with a big challenge: digitizing masses of cultural and historic hard-copy materials to ensure their preservation.

The Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative is tackling this problem head-on with the help of the Still Image Working Group. The task force is responsible for the digitization protocols and practices for heritage materials among federal agencies . It’s an enormous job that requires advanced technical capabilities, such as scanning, storage, and organization of millions of digital files, not to mention staffing and coordination within federal organizations nationwide and with external tech service providers.

The task force conducted a gap analysis to identify the various digitization needs — both current and future — and to prioritize those that require extra attention. What’s interesting about this gap analysis is that it was explicitly designed as a living document, which can be continuously added to and adjusted as necessary. Since digitization technologies are continually developing, this is a smart approach.

Gap analysis example 2: Helping a bank become more customer-centric

The modern banking industry is incredibly competitive, and that means banks today put customer service excellence at the top of their list. But it’s no longer about being the friendly bank on the corner. Many banks are global organizations trying to sell highly complex financial products in a market rife with competition and bound by stringent regulations. It has never been so difficult for banks to satisfy their customers.

That’s why a leading international retail bank hired Merkle to conduct a gap analysis and develop a road map to boost its direct marketing efforts with a more focused approach to customers’ needs.

The gap analysis followed the classic model. First, the analysis team did a deep dive to understand the bank’s current situation and competencies. That included a SWOT analysis. Then, they created a vision to support the bank’s marketing goals for a new consumer loan program. Next, they compared the current and future states and developed an action plan based on their findings.

And it worked: The budget for marketing the consumer loan program increased by 65 percent, and the program performance doubled!

Gap analysis example 3: Boosting a small business’s SEO strategy

Every day there are an estimated 3.5 billion internet searches. For businesses of every size, ranking high in search results is extremely important. It’s a key way to help customers find you in a virtual haystack and to increase awareness about what you have to offer.

And that coveted no. 1 position on Google search? If you land it, you’ll enjoy a 31.7 percent average click-through rate !

Getting on the top of Google search rankings isn’t easy, and it requires a top-notch SEO strategy. On the flip side, even small businesses can get great visibility with the help of SEO.

Smart Insights recommends that small businesses conduct an SEO gap analysis to find out where their SEO strategy is lacking and what’s needed to boost search rankings.

You don’t need sophisticated tools to conduct an SEO gap analysis. Just export your Google analytics and Google Search Console data to an Excel file, and you’ll have what you need to do an SEO gap analysis.

Of course, some knowledge of SEO is required. Hiring an SEO specialist is a great way to manage the gap analysis process.

Using a gap analysis template: A bit of structure goes a long way

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach in the gap analysis process. Every gap analysis has its own scope and purpose.

A quick look at gap analysis examples shows that there are many ways to personalize your process. However, the way you present your gap analysis will depend in large part on the details.

Does the gap analysis focus on data? Then a numbers-based report is what you need. Are you using surveys in your gap analysis? Perhaps a summary of the results in a Word document will be best.

One of the great things about gap analysis is its diversity. But that comes with a challenge. What’s the best way to structure and present the gap analysis? Here’s where the use of templates comes in.

Free Online Gap Analysis Template

Conduct a gap analysis on your business and work to achieve your goals with a free online Gap Analysis Template !

Go visual with your gap analysis

The basic flow of a gap analysis goes like this: current state versus future state and an action plan of how to get there.

Essentially, it’s the process of moving from one point to another.

That’s why a template can be helpful. A gap analysis template is a visualization of the current and desired situations, laid out in a format that’s easy to grasp. It may involve the use of diagrams, charts, or other design elements to make it visually interesting.

There are a variety of different gap analysis templates available online, covering all the different types of gap analysis. It’s easy enough to use a SWOT analysis template or create a needs analysis with the various online templates. They come in every form, including printable PDFs, Excel sheets, Word tables, and PowerPoint charts.

What appears on a gap analysis template?

In its most basic form, a gap analysis template must include the informational points needed to identify and rectify gaps in business:

• Current assessment
• Future goal
• Gaps between them
• Action items to rectify the gaps

In the example below, there’s an additional column dedicated to the notable issues and risks that can arise. Any gap analysis template should also include the specifications of the project or business area covered, as well as relevant dates.

Of course, gap analysis can go much further in scale and become incredibly complex and detailed. Gap analyses conducted by government bodies or large institutions can take up an entire book — and can take many months or years to complete. Take a look at this 91-page gap analysis report produced by the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland for the European Union, which assesses the environmental impact on the Arctic region. A gap analysis template wouldn’t have worked here.

However, for most business owners, a gap analysis template provides a helpful structure, or framework, for a process that can easily grow in several directions.

Here’s another standard gap analysis template that uses a different presentation:

In this example, the basic informational elements are covered — current state, future state, gaps, and action items — but in a slightly different visual format. The use of color in gap analysis templates is important. It helps the viewer organize and digest the information quickly and easily.

The templates above are examples of basic, general gap analysis structures that can be adapted for any smaller gap analysis. Creating templates like these is easy. Download a template from your business management software or online template sites, or build your own template in Word or PowerPoint.

For all kinds of gap analysis in business — financial, sales, project performance, employee satisfaction, or customer retention — templates are a practical and cost-effective way of generating a powerful gap analysis that gets results.

Your business is constantly in flux, and there’s no such thing as perfect performance. There’s always room to improve and grow. If you can do that, then just about any goal can become a reality.

At its core, gap analysis is a simple concept. It’s a tool that describes the current situation and helps develop a plan to get your company where you want it to be. Knowing what you need to do to bridge that gap is the way to success.

Conducting an effective gap analysis can sometimes get complicated. As the scale of a business process or project expands, so do all the potential gaps that can arise. The beauty of gap analysis is that it’s based on a structure that expands to accommodate the scope of whatever you want to achieve. With the help of a gap analysis template, it’s even easier to manage a successful gap analysis, no matter how big or small.

There’s one question you must ask before starting a gap analysis: What is the best future for my company? Leave the rest up to the assessment process. Like a made-to-measure suit, gap analysis is a versatile, powerful, and efficient tool that will perfectly fit any company or goal.

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1 Comments:

More than a year ago

This is a really interesting overview of what I thought was a tactic only for big companies. I’m very glad to know that it can be equally useful for smaller businesses like mine. Also, the fact that there are a few types of models and templates helps because it makes it easier to see how gap analysis could suit my needs. I’ll definitely be looking at how I can use a gap analysis to lift our profit margin. Excited to see what the analysis will reveal that I haven’t thought of. Thanks for the information!

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Gap Analysis: The 4 Steps of How To Conduct One (With Examples)

In this article:, share this article.

It is the desire of every organisation to make the best use of its financial, technological, and human resources. Hence, they employ a gap analysis to know where they are falling short and how to solve the problem identified.

A gap analysis is a technique an organisation uses to analyse its current condition and compare it to its intended state by evaluating time, money, labor, and other resources. Therefore, it helps businesses assess where they are now and where they want to be in the future. Afterwards, they implement the steps to take them there.

Furthermore, “a n eeds analysis gap” is another name for gap analysis. The identified gap reflects the current condition of the organization and where it wants to be.

Key Takeaways

• A gap analysis is a method used by businesses to solve the dilemma of where they are now and where they want to be. It is the process of determining the disparity between existing performance and expected performance in a company.
• A gap analysis, also known as a needs analysis, is critical for any type of organizational performance. Organisations use it to reevaluate their objectives and determine whether they are on track to meet their goals.

How to Perform a Gap Analysis

Larger companies hire experts such as project managers, business analysts, and process improvement teams to assist them with gap analysis projects. But it can also be done by individuals or small businesses who cannot afford to hire experts by employing the use of well-designed templates.

The following are steps that are involved in performing a gap analysis.

1. Analyze the Current State.

Indeed, knowing where you are is essential before you can move forward. Hence, you must determine the existing state of affairs.

You can achieve this by compiling reports from the different departments, interviewing key sources, and brainstorming with the management team. This will allow you to gather as much data as possible in order to better analyse your present performance.

2. Determine The Future Goal

3. identify where gap exists.

At this stage, you figure out where the gap analysis should be done and what you hope to accomplish with it.

For example, if the production unit isn’t keeping up with client needs, you may want to boost its efficiency. In that instance, the gap analysis will try to figure out why production targets were missed.

4. Determine Steps To Be Taken To Close The Gaps.

After identifying the gap, it’s now time to determine what changes will be needed to close it.

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Examples of Gap Analysis 

In its simplest form, gap analysis seeks to identify gaps that exist in a business by studying its present state in comparison to where the organization should be. And identifying the gaps and implementing solutions that close them. Therefore, it helps the organization reach the desired state.

Example 1: Angela and her Non-profit Organisation 

Angela(not real name)  was currently assigned to lead a non-profit organisation with a small staff. She has been facing a lot of challenges getting the team to work together. Now, she is confused about how to move forward in her role and meeting her deliverables. Additionally, Angela is thinking about organising training for the staff but the organisation’s resources are limited. 

So, she asks in a closed community about performing a gap analysis to help her team and organisation move forward. 

Identify the present situation 

• Staff members are not cooperative with her style of leadership.
• They are unwilling to work together.
• Organisation’s resources are limited

Likewise, determine the desired goals

• A motivated workforce.
• Improved team spirit.
• Improved public speaking and leadership abilities.

Furthermore, draw up activities that will close the gap

• Angela will attend paid leadership workshops or training if she can afford them. Or research free resources that will help her be more effective at managing team members who are more challenging to her leadership style.
• Angela will work on improving her listening skills to better support team conversations by talking openly about what works and what could be improved.
• After gaining the requisite skills, she will be better positioned to carry out training for team members because organisation’s resources are limited. The training would be focused on helping her team become better team players and improving their commitment to work.

Example 2: The Bakery

Micheal is in his early thirties and owns a bakery. He observed just right after the first lockdown that his competitor has more customers placing orders. And he wants his business to enjoy an increase in customer patronage like his competitor’s. Afterwards, he takes the steps to perform a gap analysis to understand why he is not having more patronage.

Specifically, he took a realistic view of his business and analyzed data generated from his competitor’s activities. As a result, he was able to identify the things that he needed to do to elevate the sales level in his own bakery. 

Current State : Low level of sales

Desired State : Gain more customer patronage

• Makes only two types of bread
• Does not have a strong social media presence which his competitor has and is leveraging to drive more sales.

The decision to close identified gaps:

• Expand product offerings to include gluten-free and multigrain bread.
• Offer more breakfast options.
• Increase point of sales: in-store, online, pick-up and home delivery.
• Start online advertising and hire a social media marketing expert.
• Offer discounts to customers who will place orders online.

Four Types of Gap Analysis

Strategic gap analysis.

This  is also known as a performance gap analysis. The purpose of this type of gap analysis is to ascertain the reason for specific performance goals that were not achieved.

Market or product  analysis

This type of analysis is concerned with evaluating the organization’s position in the marketplace. In other words, it seeks to identify the gap between actual and budgeted sales.

Manpower Analysis

This analysis seeks to identify the organization’s manpower shortages. Hence, it is used to analyze the discrepancy between the actual number of personnel on the ground and what is required to effectively and efficiently carry out organizational activities.

Profit Analysis

This is done to find the variance between actual profit and forecasted profit.

Some Tools For Performing Gap Analysis

Swot analysis.

SWOT is an acronym for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.” This technique helps you to identify the internal and external threats confronting your organization and areas where you have a competitive advantage in the market. This analysis can be performed both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Fishbone diagram

It is also known as Ishkawa or cause-effect-diagram. The fishbone diagram is a cause-and-effect diagram used to figure out what causes flaws, issues, or failures in a process. The diagram is useful for analysing the current state.

The main categories of the diagram are measurements, materials, man machines, methods and environment.

Any of the categories can be used to analyse the root cause of any gap that has been identified.

PEST analysis

PEST analysis is similar to SWOT analysis. But it is entirely focused on the external environment. It helps you identify the threats and opportunities that exist in them. Because of the extent to which external factors impact their profitability, larger organizations benefit more from using the PEST analysis.

To conclude, a gap analysis can assist you in identifying where gaps exist in your firm. Additionally, it can help you increase business operations efficiency and, thus, profitability. Once you’ve completed it, you’ll be able to focus resources and attention on the areas where you’ve uncovered gaps in order to improve them.

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Master Keyword Gap Analysis In 5 Steps

Wondering why your competitors rank higher? Keyword gap analysis identifies the keywords they use but you don’t.

Learn how to find these gaps and improve your SEO strategy.

Key Takeaways

• Keyword gap analysis is crucial for identifying valuable keywords that competitors rank for but are missing from your content, allowing for targeted SEO improvements.
• Using tools like Semrush, businesses can visualize keyword gaps and overlaps to refine strategies and enhance content tailored to missed keyword opportunities.
• Regular keyword gap audits are essential for adapting to competitor changes and emerging keywords, ensuring long-term SEO effectiveness and visibility.

What Is Keyword Gap Analysis?

Keyword gap analysis is a strategic approach that involves comparing your website’s keywords with those of your competitors to identify valuable keywords you might be missing.

This method is essential for discovering high-ranking keywords that your competitors use but are absent from your content.

Pinpointing these gaps allows for informed decisions to enhance your content and improve your site’s rankings.

The primary goal of keyword gap analysis is to uncover keywords where competitors outperform you, giving you a blueprint for targeted content improvements.

It reveals missed opportunities and helps businesses create content that attracts more relevant traffic, ultimately allowing you to overtake your competitors in search engine results.

The Importance of Identifying Keyword Gaps

Identifying keyword gaps is crucial for improving your SEO presence. By uncovering unique keywords that drive traffic to your competitors but not to your site, you can significantly enhance your visibility and relevance.

Tracking your competitors’ rankings allows you to adjust your SEO strategies, ensuring that you stay competitive in the constantly shifting digital landscape.

Monitoring competitor content also helps you identify new keyword opportunities and adjust your strategies to maintain relevance.

For instance, you might discover lucrative keywords with low competition where your competitors rank highly, providing a clear path for you to target these terms and drive traffic to your site.

Semrush offers invaluable features for keyword gap analysis, comparing keyword rankings between your site and competitors.

Regular keyword gap analysis reveals areas for new or improved content, increasing your rankings and attracting more traffic to stay ahead of the competition.

Steps to Conduct a Keyword Gap Analysis

Conducting a keyword gap analysis involves several key steps, each crucial for uncovering and capitalizing on missed keyword opportunities.

From identifying your competitors and choosing the right keyword gap tool to extracting keyword lists, analyzing metrics, and identifying keyword opportunities, each step builds on the previous one to provide a comprehensive understanding of your competitive landscape.

1. Identify Your Competitors

The first step in conducting a keyword gap analysis is to identify your competitors. Select at least two to three competitors with strong organic traffic for an effective analysis.

You can use tools like the Organic Research Competitors report or Advertising Research Competitors to select competitors for keyword comparison.

• Identify your competitors.
• Select at least two to three competitors with strong organic traffic for an effective analysis.
• Use tools like the Organic Research Competitors report or Advertising Research Competitors to select competitors for keyword comparison.

Specify competitors for analysis by entering their domain names, exact URLs, subdomains, or subfolders.

Comparing multiple competitors provides richer insights into keyword opportunities, as it allows you to see a broader range of keywords your site may be missing.

Tools like the Keyword Gap tool enable the analysis of up to three competitors simultaneously, providing a detailed competitor keyword analysis.

2. Choose the Right Keyword Gap Tool

Selecting the right keyword gap tool is crucial for effective analysis. Semrush is a favorite due to its user-friendly interface, making it easier to filter results compared to other tools like Ahrefs.

While Ahrefs is excellent for finding keywords you’re not currently ranking for, Semrush’s ease of use often makes it the preferred choice for many.

Moz’s Keyword Explorer is another valuable tool for researching competitors’ keywords, while Similarweb’s Keyword Gap Tool allows you to enter your website and competitors’ websites for a detailed analysis of keyword strengths and opportunities, including how they perform in search engines.

The right tool enables a comprehensive keyword gap analysis, maximizing your SEO strategies.

3. Extract Keyword Lists

Start your keyword gap analysis by entering your domain and your competitors’ domains into the chosen tool. In the first field of the keyword gap analysis tool, input the competitor’s domain.

After entering both domains, select your ‘keyword type’ to refine the search and generate a comparative keyword list.

4. Analyze Keyword Metrics

With your keyword lists ready, analyze the metrics. The Keyword Gap report provides insights into top opportunities for each site and highlights total keyword overlap.

A keyword table shows how each site’s keyword profile intersects with competitors, allowing you to see where you stand.

Keyword Difficulty is a crucial metric indicating the competitive level of ranking for a keyword. Monthly search volume, derived from real user data, reflects the popularity and relevance of keywords.

CPC offers cost insights for keywords, aiding in prioritizing high-value terms for potential traffic. Filters can refine results based on various metrics such as position and difficulty.

Sort keywords by specific search intent using Intent filters to prioritize the most relevant terms. Prioritizing keyword opportunities can be achieved by focusing on keywords within the top 10 or 20 positions.

Traffic share can be analyzed by selecting location and device, providing deeper insights into keyword performance. Additionally, for each keyword, you can view the exact URL winning the most traffic, guiding your strategic decisions.

5. Identify Keyword Opportunities

Focus your target keywords gap research on identifying weak and missing keywords that your competitors rank for.

Filtering for terms that your competitors are ranking for in the top 10 or 20 positions can highlight significant opportunities.

Utilize filters in a keyword gap tool to help analyze gaps and focus on comparing keywords on specific subjects.

Analyzing keyword gaps to identify keyword gaps within specific subfolders can provide deeper insights. Prioritize low-hanging fruit keywords that can be easily targeted for quick ranking improvements.

Visualizing Keyword Gaps and Overlaps

Visualizing keyword gaps and overlaps can simplify the competitive landscape, highlighting both shared and unique keywords among competitors.

Tools like Venn diagrams in keyword gap tools visually represent overlaps between your keywords and those of competitors, making it easier to identify areas of focus.

The degree of keyword overlap and how resources should be prioritized can be determined using these visual tools. The Keyword Gap report provides insights such as total overlaps and opportunities for specific keywords across competing domains.

Directly comparing URLs reveals specific keywords driving traffic to a competitor’s page that are absent from your own.

Page-Level Keyword Gap Analysis

A page-level keyword gap analysis helps identify specific keywords that a competitor’s URL ranks for, which your page might be missing.

This detailed analysis is essential for optimizing individual pages, increasing traffic, and updating old content.

Page-level analysis involves comparing a competitor’s specific URL to your own to identify missing keywords. Using tools like Semrush, you can export keyword rankings and traffic contributions per URL for a detailed analysis.

This helps determine which keywords drive traffic to a competitor’s page, providing actionable insights for your content strategy.

Actionable Insights from Keyword Gap Analysis

Keyword gap analysis can bolster your website’s visibility and authority by uncovering high-potential search terms. This type of analysis reveals previously overlooked topics, enhancing the comprehensiveness of your content.

Focusing on weak and missing keywords can help prioritize content updates and new content creation in your SEO strategy.

The insights gained from page-level analysis can guide decisions on whether to update existing content or create new pages targeting missed keywords.

Incorporating long-tail keywords can attract more targeted traffic and drive higher conversion rates.

Leveraging Keyword Gap Analysis for Paid Search

Keyword gap analysis isn’t just for organic search; it’s also incredibly useful for optimizing paid search campaigns.

By uncovering opportunities that may have been overlooked in your organic strategies, you can enhance your paid search efforts.

One key benefit is identifying the paid search terms that competitors are targeting. Applying insights from keyword gap analysis allows advertisers to better tailor their Google Ads campaigns, maximizing ROI and driving more effective results with profitable keywords.

Best Practices for Ongoing Keyword Gap Analysis

Regular keyword gap audits keep strategies up-to-date with evolving search trends and algorithms. Quarterly audits help you stay updated with changes in competitor strategies and emerging keywords.

Monitoring competitors’ content with tools helps identify new keyword opportunities that may have been overlooked. Regularly updating your keyword list ensures it remains competitive and relevant to your audience.

Mastering keyword gap analysis is a powerful way to enhance your SEO strategy.

By identifying missed keyword opportunities, you can create targeted content that drives more traffic and improves your search engine rankings.

Remember to regularly conduct keyword gap analysis and update your strategies to stay ahead of the competition.

Implementing the insights and best practices discussed will help you achieve sustained SEO success.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is keyword gap analysis.

Keyword gap analysis is the process of comparing your website's keywords with those of your competitors to pinpoint valuable keywords that you may not be targeting. This approach helps you enhance your SEO strategy and improve visibility in your niche.

Why is identifying keyword gaps important?

Identifying keyword gaps is crucial as it uncovers missed opportunities to enhance your SEO and maintain a competitive edge by understanding and tracking your competitors' strategies.

Which tools are best for keyword gap analysis?

Semrush, Ahrefs, Moz's Keyword Explorer, and Similarweb are among the best tools for keyword gap analysis, effectively helping you identify opportunities and improve your SEO strategy.

How often should I conduct a keyword gap analysis?

Conducting a keyword gap analysis every quarter is recommended to stay aligned with changing search trends and competitor tactics. This regular review will help optimize your keyword strategy effectively.

Can keyword gap analysis be used for paid search?

Absolutely, keyword gap analysis can enhance your paid search campaigns by identifying overlooked opportunities that your competitors may be leveraging in organic strategies. This insight allows for more targeted and effective ad spending.

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Harris Energizes Democrats in Transformed Presidential Race

1. the presidential matchup: harris, trump, kennedy, table of contents.

• Other findings: Both Harris and Trump are viewed more favorably than a few months ago
• Voting preferences among demographic groups
• How have voters shifted their preferences since July?
• Harris’ supporters back her more strongly than Biden’s did last month
• Large gap in motivation to vote emerges between the candidates’ younger supporters
• Harris and Trump have gained ground with their own coalitions
• Share of ‘double negatives’ drops significantly with change in presidential candidates
• Views of Biden have changed little since his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Nationally, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are essentially tied among registered voters in the current snapshot of the presidential race: 46% prefer Harris, 45% prefer Trump and 7% prefer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Following Biden’s exit from the race, Trump’s support among voters has remained largely steady (44% backed him in July against Biden, while 45% back him against Harris today). However, Harris’ support is 6 percentage points higher than Biden’s was in July . In addition to holding on to the support of those who backed Biden in July, Harris’ bump has largely come from those who had previously said they supported or leaned toward Kennedy.

Harris performs best among the same demographic groups as Biden. But this coalition of voters is now much more likely to say they strongly support her: In July, 43% of Biden’s supporters characterized their support as strong – today, 62% of Harris’ do.

Overall, many of the same voting patterns that were evident in the Biden-Trump matchup from July continue to be seen today. Harris fares better than Trump among younger voters, Black voters, Asian voters and voters with college degrees. By comparison, the former president does better among older voters, White voters and voters without a college degree.

But Harris performs better than Biden across many of these groups – making the race tighter than it was just a few weeks ago.

• In July, women’s presidential preferences were split: 40% backed Biden, 40% preferred Trump and 17% favored Kennedy. With Harris at the top of the ticket, 49% of women voters now support her, while 42% favor Trump and 7% back Kennedy.
• Among men, Trump draws a similar level of support as he did in the race against Biden (49% today, compared with 48% in July). But the share of men who now say they support Harris has grown (to 44% today, up from 38% last month). As a result, Trump’s 10-point lead among men has narrowed to a 5-point lead today.

Race and ethnicity

Harris has gained substantial ground over Biden’s position in July among Black, Hispanic and Asian voters. Most of this movement is attributable to declining shares of support for Kennedy. Trump performs similarly among these groups as he did in July.

• 77% of Black voters support or lean toward Harris. This compares with 64% of Black voters who said they backed Biden a few weeks ago. Trump’s support is unchanged (13% then vs. 13% today). And while 21% of Black voters supported Kennedy in July, this has dropped to 7% in the latest survey.
• Hispanic voters now favor Harris over Trump by a 17-point margin (52% to 35%). In July, Biden and Trump were tied among Hispanic voters with 36% each.
• By about two-to-one, Asian voters support Harris (62%) over Trump (28%). Trump’s support among this group is essentially unchanged since July, but the share of Asian voters backing Harris is 15 points higher than the share who backed Biden in July.
• On balance, White voters continue to back Trump (52% Trump, 41% Harris), though that margin is somewhat narrower than it was in the July matchup against Biden (50% Trump, 36% Biden).

While the age patterns present in the Harris-Trump matchup remain broadly the same as those in the Biden-Trump matchup in July, Harris performs better across age groups than Biden did last month. That improvement is somewhat more pronounced among voters under 50 than among older voters.

• Today, 57% of voters under 30 say they support Harris, while 29% support Trump and 12% prefer Kennedy. In July, 48% of these voters said they backed Biden. Trump’s support among this group is essentially unchanged. And 12% now back Kennedy, down from 22% in July.
• Voters ages 30 to 49 are now about evenly split (45% Harris, 43% Trump). This is a shift from a narrow Trump lead among this group in July.
• Voters ages 50 and older continue to tilt toward Trump (50% Trump vs. 44% Harris).

With Harris now at the top of the Democratic ticket, the race has become tighter.

Much of this is the result of shifting preferences among registered voters who, in July, said they favored Kennedy over Trump or Biden.

Among the same group of voters surveyed in July and early August, 97% of those who backed Biden a few weeks ago say they support or lean toward Harris today. Similarly, Trump holds on to 95% of those who supported him a few weeks ago.

But there has been far more movement among voters who previously expressed support for Kennedy. While Kennedy holds on to 39% of those who backed him in July, the majority of these supporters now prefer one of the two major party candidates: By about two-to-one, those voters are more likely to have moved to Harris (39%) than Trump (20%). This pattern is evident across most voting subgroups.

In July, Trump’s voters were far more likely than Biden’s voters to characterize their support for their candidate as “strong” (63% vs. 43%). But that gap is no longer present in the Harris-Trump matchup.

Today, 62% of Harris voters say they strongly support her, while about a third (32%) say they moderately support her. Trump’s voters are just about as likely to say they strongly back him today as they were in July (64% today, 63% then).

Kennedy’s voters make up a smaller share of voters today than a month ago – and just 18% of his voters say they strongly support him, similar to the 15% who said the same in July.

Across demographic groups, strong support for Harris is higher than it was for Biden

Among women voters who supported Biden in July, 45% said they did so strongly. That has grown to 65% today among women voters who support Harris.

Increased intensity of support is similar among men voters who back the Democratic candidate: In July, 42% of men voters who supported Biden said they did so strongly. This has since grown to 59% of Harris’ voters who are men.

Across racial and ethnic groups, Harris’ supporters are more likely than Biden’s were to say they back their candidates strongly.

Among White voters, 43% who supported Biden in July did so strongly. Today, Harris’ strong support among White voters sits at 64%.

A near identical share of Harris’ Black supporters (65%) characterize their support for her as strong today. This is up from the 52% of Biden’s Black supporters who strongly backed him in July. Among Harris’ Hispanic supporters, 56% support her strongly, while 45% of Asian Harris voters feel the same. Strong support for Harris among these voters is also higher than it was for Biden in July.

Across all age groups, Harris’ strength of support is higher than Biden’s was. But the shift from Biden is less pronounced among older Democratic supporters than among younger groups.

Still, older Harris voters are more likely than younger Harris voters to describe their support as strong. For instance, 51% of Harris’ voters under 50 say they strongly support her, while 71% of Harris supporters ages 50 and older characterize their support as strong.

Today, about seven-in-ten of both Trump supporters (72%) and Harris supporters (70%) say they are extremely motivated to vote.

Motivation to vote is higher in both the Democratic and Republican coalitions than it was in July .

These shifts have occurred across groups but are more pronounced among younger voters.

Today, half of voters under 30 say they are extremely motivated to vote, up 16 points since July. Motivation is up 11 points among voters ages 30 to 49 and 50 to 64, and up 6 points among those ages 65 and older.

Among the youngest voters, the increased motivation to vote is nearly all driven by shifts among Democratic supporters.

• In July, 38% of 18- to 29-year-old Trump voters said they were extremely motivated to vote. Today, a similar share of his voters (42%) report that level of motivation.
• But 18- to 29-year-old Harris supporters are far more likely to say they are extremely motivated to vote than Biden’s supporters in this age group were about a month ago. Today, 61% of Harris’ voters under 30 say this. In July, 42% of voters under 30 who supported Biden said they were extremely motivated to vote.

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Money blog: Most expensive Premier League jerseys - as £26 gap between teams revealed

Welcome to the Money blog, your place for personal finance and consumer news and tips. Today's posts include a look at Premier League jersey prices and this week's Bring It Back. Let us know which discontinued sweet or treat you'd like to see revived in the comments box.

Tuesday 20 August 2024 10:29, UK

• Fixed energy tariffs that could help you beat predicted winter price rise
• 880,000 households yet to claim winter payment despite being eligible
• How much does it cost to buy a Premier League home kit in 2024?

Essential reads

• Will one of country's most beloved sweets return to shops? We asked Mars
• Pay at every supermarket revealed - and perks staff get at each
• Couples on how they split finances when one earns more than other

Tips and advice

• Money Problem : 'Should I top up my national insurance and could it really get me £6,000 extra?'
• All discounts you get as student or young person
• Save up to half price on top attractions with this trick
• Fines for parents taking kids out of school increasing

Ask a question or make a comment

By Mark Wyatt , Money reporter

The Premier League returned over the weekend, with supporters across the country back in stadiums for another season of drama.

Many of those fans will want to show their support by donning the latest kits in the terraces, but this particular purchase can cost an arm and a leg.

Shirt prices have rocketed in recent years, with some clubs now charging 50% more for their home kits than they did five years ago - Nottingham Forest among them.

Money blog research shows the most expensive adult's home jersey in the Premier League this season belongs to Tottenham Hotspur, with the Lilywhites charging £85.

That's only one penny more than London rivals Chelsea, who are asking fans to fork out £84.99 for an adult home kit.

At the other end of the scale, newly promoted Ipswich Town are charging "just" £59 for their home kit, £1 less than Brentford, Crystal Palace and Southampton.

Here's what we found...

According to separate research carried out by The Sun, Forest have raised their prices more than any other team since 2019. A replica kit was priced at £48 in 2019 but now costs £75, a 56% hike.

Southampton's price rise of 9% (£55 in 2019 compared with £60 now) represents the smallest increase.

For a child's replica home kit, the most expensive shirt in the Premier League is once again Spurs at £65. They come in one penny more than Chelsea.

Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City and West Ham all charge £60 for a children's replica home kit, while Ipswich Town, again, come in cheapest at £43.

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

Rising optimism about the prospects of a ceasefire in the war in Gaza has sent the price of oil - and shares in energy giants – tumbling.

The cost of a barrel of benchmark Brent Crude has dropped to just over $76 (£58), the lowest price since the beginning of the month.

Shares in Shell and BP have also both slipped by around 2% in early trading.

Hopes of cooling tensions in the Middle East have helped ease fears of risks to supplies in the region.

Other factors said to be having an impact on oil prices include an increase in production at Libya's Sharara oilfield and concerns over China's slowing economy, including slower industrial output.

Another big faller this morning is BT Group. Its shares are down more than 5% after it was announced that Sky will launch full fibre broadband services next year on the network of BT's rival Cityfibre.

The falls have contributed to the FTSE 100 dipping by more than 0.5% on Tuesday, with the FTSE 250 also down 0.13%.

Gainers include easyJet Plc, which is up more than 1.2% amid optimism over the tourism industry this summer.

Similarly, Intercontinental Hotels Group is up by a similar level, while British Airways owner IAG is up nearly 0.8%.

Meanwhile, on the currency markets, this morning £1 buys $1.30 US or €1.17.

Pensioners are being urged to check if they are eligible for the winter fuel allowance after universal payments were scrapped by new Chancellor Rachel Reeves last month.

Previously, the money was available to everyone above state pension age, but now it will be limited to people over state pension age who are receiving pension credit or other means-tested support.

It means the number of people entitled to the money will drop from 11.4 million to just 1.5 million.

The payment is £200 for households where the recipients are all under 80, and £300 where they are over 80.

While around 1.4 million pensioners are already receiving pension credit, there are up to an estimated 880,000 households eligible for the support who are yet to claim, the Department for Work and Pensions says.

The government's awareness drive will help identify households not claiming the benefit, and encourage pensioners to apply by 21 December - the last date for making a backdated claim for pension credit in order to receive the Winter Fuel Payment.

It will focus on "myths" that may stop people applying, such as how having savings, a pension or owning a home are not necessarily barriers to receiving pension credit.

More information on applying for pension credit can be found on the  government's How to Claim page .

Yesterday we brought you the unwelcome news that winter energy bills are projected to rise by 9%, according to the latest forecast from Cornwall Insight.

Its newest prediction says the price cap from October to December will go up to £1,714 a year for the average user - a £146 hike from current levels.

We'll find out for sure on Friday.

Comparison service Uswitch says the forecast "compounds the worry" about rising bills for residents across the country "just as we reach the season to switch the heating back on".

"The price cap is expected to rise again in January, but bill payers can take action now to lock in certainty on how much they pay," says Uswitch director of regulation Richard Neudegg. 

It is worth pointing out that it's in Uswitch's favour for people to move - but there are definitely savings to be made based on current forecasts.

Here are the top 10 fixed energy-only tariffs that could help you beat the price rise as temperatures drop, according to Uswitch:

After the revival of popular Cadbury's chocolate bar Top Deck earlier this year, we asked you which discontinued treat you would like to see brought back - and we got so many responses that we've decided to make a weekly feature of it called  Bring It Back . 

Every Tuesday, we'll pick one from our comments box and look at why it was so beloved and, crucially, find out whether the companies in question might consider reintroducing them.

This week we are looking at a product that sparked an outpouring of nostalgia from readers - Spangles.

The boiled sweets were produced by Mars Ltd from the 1950s until the 1980s.

At the time they were first launched, sweets were still subject to post-war rationing - with tokens from ration books needed on top of the price of sweets.

However, for reasons that are not entirely clear, only one token point was required for Spangles, compared with the two required for other sweets and chocolate - a factor considered significant in their popularity.

Originally sold in a paper packet with individual sweets unwrapped, the marketing underwent a series of changes over the years they were available.

Each sweet was formed into a rounded square with a circular depression on each face.

Each bag of the standard product contained a variety of translucent, fruit-flavoured sweets: strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, pineapple, lemon and lime, and cola.

A number of single-flavour varieties were launched at different points, including acid drop, barley sugar, blackcurrant, liquorice, and tangerine. A white mint Spangle, complete with hole, was even produced as a competitor to another longstanding favourite, the Polo mint.

One reader, Margaret, said she had fond memories of the sweets from childhood.

"Every Friday when we got our pocket money, I'd always buy a bag of Spangles," she said.

"They were lovely and I can't think of anything I associate with childhood more than them. I'd just be over the moon if they brought them back."

Another reader, going by the name Spangles, has become familiar to us at the Money blog in recent weeks: "I'll post this every week ;)  Week 4... I can't be the only person that would love to see Spangles back. 'Suck a spangle, be happy' as the jingle goes. Best sweets ever. Fizzy were another level!"

Tommo Boy simply said: "Yummy."

And in a similarly concise appraisal, Kat said: "Bring back Spangles!"

As normal, we asked the company associated with the now defunct product whether they might consider responding to the popular demand with a relaunch.

And while they did not exactly commit, a Mars Wrigley UK spokesperson offered something for Spangles fans to cling to.

"We're always listening to the fans of our chocolate and fruity treats, which is why we're constantly innovating our ranges." they told Sky News.

"Whilst our beloved Spangles aren't currently on shelves, we're pleased to offer many delicious alternatives such as Starbursts and M&M.

"We've always got an ear to the ground and recognise the enduring love for old favourites, so stay tuned for some epic comebacks that could be happening soon… Watch this space!"

Which currently discontinued chocolate bar, crisps, sweets - or any other food product - would you like to see brought back, and why? Let us know in the comment box at the top!

The number of drivers visited by bailiffs due to unpaid traffic fines has increased substantially, according to a report.

Four million penalty charge notices (PCNs) were referred to bailiffs in England and Wales in the 2023-24 financial year, it is claimed.

This is up from 2.4 million during the previous 12 months, 1.9 million in 2019-20 and 1.3 million in 2017-18.

Read more ...

Ted Baker is the latest in a string of high-street giants to call in administrators in recent years, with shops set to disappear this week.

But how does it affect you? 

Purchases and returns

You can still buy items online and in store until they close, but you could run into trouble returning them. 

If the retailer stops trading, it may not be able to get your money back to you.

If that is the case, you would have to file a claim with Teneo (Ted Baker's administrator) to join a list of creditors owed money by Ted Baker – and even then there's no guarantee you'd get your money back.

If you have a gift card, you need to use it while you still can.

Credits and debits

You can file a claim with your debit or credit card provider to recover lost funds - but how exactly does that work?

• Credit card:  If you bought any single item costing between £100-£30,000 and paid on a credit card, the card firm is liable if something goes wrong. If any purchase was less than £100, you may still be able to get your money back via chargeback;
• Debit card:  Under chargeback, your bank can try to get your money back from Ted Baker's bank. However, be aware that this is not a legal requirement and it can later be disputed and recalled.

Morrisons has admitted it "went a bit too far" with self-checkouts.

Chief executive Rami Baitiéh says the supermarket is "reviewing the balance between self-checkouts and manned tills".

Some will be removed.

Mr Baitiéh told The Telegraph : "Morrisons went a bit too far with the self-checkout. This had the advantage of driving some productivity. However, some shoppers dislike it, mainly when they have a full trolley."

The executive also said self checkouts had driven more shoplifting.

What have other supermarkets said about self-checkouts?

In April, the boss of Sainsbury's said customers liked self-checkouts...

That prompted us to ask readers for their thoughts - and we carried out a poll on LinkedIn which suggested the Sainsbury's boss was right...

Asda's chief financial officer Michael Gleeson said last week the technology had reached its limit - and said his firm would be putting more staff on tills.

Northern grocer Booths ditched almost all self-checkouts last year amid customer service concerns.

Over at Marks & Spencer, chairman Archie Norman last year blamed self-checkouts for a rise in "middle-class shoplifting".

But Tesco CEO Ken Murphy is an advocate: "We genuinely believe, at the end of the day, it provides a better customer experience."

Many retailers boosted wages after living wage/minimum wage changes in spring.

Figures show German discount brands Aldi and Lidl top the list of major UK supermarkets when it comes to staff hourly pay - after Lidl introduced its third pay increase of the year in May to match its closest rival.

Meanwhile, Morrisons is at the bottom of the pack for staff pay outside London, with hourly wages starting at the National Living Wage (£11.44).

How do other companies compare when it comes to pay and benefits? We've taken a look...

Pay: £12.40 an hour outside London and £13.65 inside the M25

Aldi announced in March it was bringing in its second pay rise of the year as part of its aim to be the best-paying UK supermarket.

From 1 June, hourly pay rose from £12 an hour to £12.40 outside the M25 and £13.55 to £13.65 in London. 

Aldi is one of the only supermarkets to give staff paid breaks. It also offers perks such as discounted gym membership and cinema tickets, and financial planning tools. However, there are no cheaper meals, staff discounts or bonus schemes.

Pay:  £12.04 an hour outside London and £13.21 inside the M25

As of 1 July, hourly wages for Asda supermarket staff rose to £12.04 per hour from £11.11, with rates for London staff also going up to £13.21.

As part of the July changes, Asda brought in the option for free later-life care or mortgage advice. The company also offers a pension and a free remote GP service.

Pay:  £12 an hour outside London and £13.15 inside the M25

Co-op boosted its minimum hourly wage for customer team members from £10.90 to £12 nationally as the national living wage rose to £11.44 in April.

For staff inside the M25, rates rose from £12.25 to £13.15.

The perks are better than some. Workers can get 30% off Co-op branded products in its food stores as well as 10% off other brands. Other benefits include a cycle to work scheme, childcare vouchers and discounts on its other services.

Pay:  £11.50 an hour outside London and £12.65 inside the M25

Iceland says it pays £11.50 for staff aged 21 and over - 6p above the minimum wage. Employees in London receive £12.65 per hour.

Staff are also offered a 15% in-store discount, which was raised from 10% in 2022 to help with the cost of living.

The firm says it offers other perks such as a healthcare scheme and Christmas vouchers.

Pay:  £12.40 an hour outside London and £13.65 inside the M25

From June, Lidl matched its rival Aldi by raising its hourly wage to £12.40 for workers outside the M25 and £13.55 for those inside.

Lidl also offers its staff a 10% discount card from the first working day, as well as other perks such as dental insurance and fertility leave. 

Marks and Spencer's hourly rate for store assistants was hiked from £10.90 to £12 for staff outside London and from £12.05 to £13.15 for London workers from April.

The grocer also offers a 20% staff discount after the probation period as well as discretionary bonus schemes and a free virtual GP service.

Pay:  £11.44 an hour outside London and £12.29 inside the M25

Along with many other retailers, Morrisons increased the hourly wage for staff outside the M25 in line with the national living wage of £11.44 in April.

Employees in London receive an 85p supplement.

While it's not the most competitive for hourly pay, Morrisons offers perks including staff discounted meals, a 15% in-store discount and life assurance scheme.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury's hourly rate for workers outside London rose to £12 from March, and £13.15 for staff inside the M25.

The company also offers a 10% discount card for staff to use at Sainsbury's, Argos and Habitat, as well as a range of benefits including season ticket loans and long service rewards.

Pay:  £12.02 an hour outside London and £13.15 inside the M25

Since April, Tesco staff have been paid £12.02 an hour nationally - up from £11.02 - while London workers get £13.15 an hour.

The supermarket giant also provides a 10% in-store discount, discounted glasses, health checks and insurance, and free 24/7 access to a virtual GP.

Staff get their pay boosted by 10% on a Sunday if they joined the company before 24 July 2022.

Pay:  £11.55 an hour outside London and £12.89 inside the M25

Waitrose store staff receive £11.55 an hour nationally, while workers inside the M25 get at least £12.89.

Staff can also get access to up to 25% off at Waitrose's partner retailer John Lewis as well as 20% in Waitrose shops. 

JLP (the John Lewis Partnership) gives staff a bonus as an annual share-out of profit determined by the firm's performance. In 2021-22 the bonus was 3% of pay; however, it has not paid the bonus for the past two years.

Dozens of Ted Baker stores will shut for the last time this week amid growing doubts over a future licensing partnership with the retail tycoon Mike Ashley.

Sky News understands that talks between Mr Ashley's Frasers Group and Authentic, Ted Baker's owner, have stalled three months after it appeared that an agreement was imminent.

Administrators are overseeing the closure of its remaining 31 UK shops.

One store source said they had been told that this Tuesday would be the final day of trading.

The housing market experienced a surge in activity following the Bank of England's recent decision to cut interest rates, according to a leading property website.

Estate agents reported a 19% jump in enquiries about properties for sale after 1 August, when compared with the same period last year, research by Rightmove found.

It came after the Bank cut rates for the first time in more than four years from 5.25% to 5%.

The lead negotiator for major train union ASLEF has denied the union sees the new government as a "soft touch" after announcing fresh strikes two days after train drivers were offered a pay deal.

Drivers working for London North Eastern Railway will walk out on weekends from the end of August in a dispute over working agreements.

Lead negotiator Nigel Roebuck said it is a separate issue from the long-running row over pay, which looks likely to be resolved after a much-improved new offer from the government.

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A novel urban heat vulnerability analysis: integrating machine learning and remote sensing for enhanced insights.

1. Introduction and Background

1.1. introduction, 1.2. the current state of urban heat vulnerability assessment, 1.3. the emerging trend of machine learning and remote sensing integration, 1.4. the focus of this study, 2. research design, the urban heat vulnerability analysis framework.

• Historical Mapping: Historical mapping in U-HEAT utilizes advanced ML and RS techniques to reconstruct detailed heat maps from diverse data sources. This phase is pivotal as it provides a comprehensive understanding of past and present heat vulnerabilities, allowing for the identification of long-term trends and spatial patterns in urban heat exposure. By fusing various socio-economic, environmental, and health-related data with high-resolution RS imagery, U-HEAT generates a nuanced portrayal of how urban heat vulnerability has evolved over time. This retrospective analysis is essential for establishing a baseline, understanding the historical context of current vulnerabilities, and identifying persistent hotspots that require targeted interventions. The detailed historical maps produced in this phase serve as a foundational reference for subsequent predictive mapping efforts, ensuring that future projections are grounded in a robust empirical understanding of past conditions.
• Predictive Mapping: Building on the insights gained from historical mapping, predictive mapping in U-HEAT integrates urban planning data to forecast future trends and distributions of urban heat vulnerability. This phase leverages the predictive power of ML models to simulate how urban heat patterns might evolve under various scenarios, such as climate change, population growth, and urban development. By incorporating forward-looking data, such as planned infrastructure projects and anticipated demographic shifts, U-HEAT can generate projections that inform proactive urban planning and policymaking. The predictive mapping capability is crucial for identifying emerging areas of concern and guiding the implementation of preventative measures. This forward-thinking approach ensures that cities can anticipate and mitigate future heat risks, enhancing their resilience and adaptability to climate change. Predictive mapping transforms U-HEAT from a reactive tool into a proactive planning resource, enabling urban planners to design cities that are better equipped to handle the challenges of rising temperatures.
• Relevance: Rooted in established frameworks and empirical research, U-HEAT’s approach to selecting indicators and gathering data is both relevant and representative.
• Precision: By transitioning from broad statistical areas to a more detailed grid-scale, U-HEAT provides a finer-grained and accurate depiction of urban heat vulnerability, benefitting from the integration of ML and RS.
• Comprehensiveness: U-HEAT not only maps historical data, but also predicts future urban heat trends, resulting in spatially detailed and temporally extensive outcomes.
• Sustainability: The U-HEAT framework’s ability to recommend mitigation strategies, adapt to new data, and provide ongoing monitoring highlights its sustainability.
• Criteria Development: To formulate a universal set of criteria for the selection and categorization of indicators, establishing a reference framework.
• Feasibility Demonstration: To showcase the practicality of conducting long-term, grid-scale, and precise assessments by integrating ML and RS technologies.
• Predictive Methodology: To bridge the existing gap in predictive methods by introducing an innovative approach for forecasting urban heat vulnerability trends in future decades.
• Framework Proposal: To offer a robust, enduring, and sustainable framework for the continuous, accurate, and focused monitoring and management of urban heat vulnerability challenges.

3. Integrated Urban Heat Vulnerability Analysis with Machine Learning and Remote Sensing

3.1. indicators and data selection, 3.1.1. popular reference frameworks, 3.1.2. indicator collection and categorization, 3.1.3. data collection and pre-processing, 3.2. historical mapping of urban heat vulnerability, 3.2.1. two scenarios of historical mapping, 3.2.2. challenges and algorithm selection for historical mapping, 3.2.3. model development, validation and effective communication of results, 3.3. future prediction of urban heat vulnerability, 3.3.1. lack of future prediction, 3.3.2. challenges and algorithm selection for future prediction, 3.3.3. model development, validation and presentation of results, 3.4. strategy recommendation, 3.5. continuous monitoring and updating, 4. findings and discussion, 4.1. key challenges and limitations in existing approaches, 4.2. prospective applications, 4.3. contributions to sustainable development, 4.4. implications in policy and public engagement, 4.5. assumptions and limitations, 5. conclusions, author contributions, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Share and Cite

Li, F.; Yigitcanlar, T.; Nepal, M.; Thanh, K.N.; Dur, F. A Novel Urban Heat Vulnerability Analysis: Integrating Machine Learning and Remote Sensing for Enhanced Insights. Remote Sens. 2024 , 16 , 3032. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16163032

Li F, Yigitcanlar T, Nepal M, Thanh KN, Dur F. A Novel Urban Heat Vulnerability Analysis: Integrating Machine Learning and Remote Sensing for Enhanced Insights. Remote Sensing . 2024; 16(16):3032. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16163032

Li, Fei, Tan Yigitcanlar, Madhav Nepal, Kien Nguyen Thanh, and Fatih Dur. 2024. "A Novel Urban Heat Vulnerability Analysis: Integrating Machine Learning and Remote Sensing for Enhanced Insights" Remote Sensing 16, no. 16: 3032. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16163032

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Digital Commerce 360 | Retail

Us ecommerce sales reached $1.119 trillion in 2023, u.s. ecommerce represented 22.0% of total retail sales, according to digital commerce 360 analysis of u.s. department of commerce data..

In 2023, U.S. ecommerce represented 22.0% of total retail sales, according to Digital Commerce 360 analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce data . That compares with 21.2% penetration in 2022.

2023’s 22.0% marked the largest U.S. ecommerce sales penetration to date, according to Digital Commerce 360 analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce data. The department’s ecommerce data goes back to the year 2000.

At the same time, U.S. ecommerce grew 7.6% in 2023 and total sales grew 3.8%. That’s a sharp contrast from the pandemic-induced U.S. ecommerce boom, which led online sales to grow at a rate of 42.8% over 2019, whereas total retail sales in 2020 grew 7.8%.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this chart has been updated to reflect 22.0% penetration for U.S. ecommerce in 2023.

Prevent a Holiday Hangover with Year-Long Performance on CTV

How much did US ecommerce sales grow?

U.S. ecommerce sales grew to about $1.119 trillion in 2023 from $1.040 trillion in 2022 (7.6% growth). Meanwhile, total retail sales grew to about $5.088 trillion in 2023 from about $4.904 trillion in 2022 (3.8%).

U.S. ecommerce has also grown every quarter going back to Q2 2009, when it decreased 3.9% over Q2 2008. Similarly, total retail sales in the U.S. have grown every quarter going back to 2009, according to a Digital Commerce 360 analysis of commerce department data. Total retail sales decreased every quarter that year, as well as in Q4 2008, a result of the Great Recession .

Outside of the Great Recession, total U.S. retail sales have not declined going back at least through 1993, the extent to which Digital Commerce 360 analysis is available.

“Ecommerce growth continued to slow this year amid an overall slower economy, but it accounted for nearly half the total retail growth for the country,” said James Risley, research data manager and senior analyst at Digital Commerce 360. “That’s a return to pre-pandemic levels of contribution compared to a much smaller contribution in 2021 and 2022. Overall, the ecommerce picture is returning to our pre-COVID understanding of retail.”

2024 State of American Ecommerce Report

How is ecommerce penetration calculated?  

U.S. ecommerce sales accounted for 15.4% of total sales in 2023, and 14.7% of total sales in 2022, according to the Commerce Department.

Digital Commerce 360 studies non-seasonally adjusted commerce department data and excludes spending in segments that don’t typically sell online. These segments include:

• Restaurants
• Automobile dealers
• Gas stations
• Fuel dealers

U.S. ecommerce penetration reflects the share of dollars consumers could potentially spend online.

The commerce department defines ecommerce sales as the sales of goods and services where an order is placed by the buyer or price and terms of sales are negotiated over:

• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network
• Electronic mail
• Other online system

Payment may or may not be made online. The Commerce Department publishes estimates it adjusts for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding. Here’s last year’s update .

Ecommerce sales reach Q1 record share of total sales

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Submit your data  and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

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• U.S. Ecommerce
• Video included

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