In terms of volume, the most exploited commodities around the globe are coal, iron ore, potash, and bauxite.
Over the past few years, the global shaft mining industry is experiencing setbacks in terms of losses faced and low ROIs. Leading companies in the shaft mining industry are revamping their business models to enhance their overall production capabilities. Additionally, companies have started adopting new technologies to identify potential value opportunities as the industry is moving from a manufacturing-based business model to a more service-oriented business model. The growth of the shaft mining industry is mostly characterized by the rising demand for iron ore from the construction and transportation sectors.
Although the shaft mining industry is expected to proliferate over the next few years, certain factors are expected to hamper the growth of the industry. These factors include:
- Technological innovations: Today, shaft mining companies have started using innovations in their production capabilities with the advances in technology to meet the end-user requirements. This trend is expected to pose a challenge to firms in this space as it is essential for players to stay up to date with the technological changes and to efficiently meet the business requirements.
- The shortage of raw materials: The shaft mining industry is nearly reaching its saturation with exponential growth in mining activities around the globe over the last couple of years. This has led to an increase in supply shortages for the products and companies are forced to maintain consistency.
Several such factors are compelling firms in the shaft mining industry to leverage the use of market segmentation solutions. Market segmentation solutions help firms sub-divide the market based on commonalities to gain a competitive advantage. 
These solutions also help companies increase their focus on marketing resources through effective distribution channels.
The Business Challenge
The Client: Shaft mining industry player
The client, a leading shaft mining industry player with business units spread across the globe, wanted to profile and segment the market based on the customer preferences. The client also wanted to seek ways to identify the most profitable target segments and accordingly promote their offerings. Furthermore, the client wanted to comprehend the market attractiveness and devise actionable marketing strategies to meet customer requirements.
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The Journey
The market segmentation experts at Infiniti carried out extensive interviews and discussions with leading stakeholders within the shaft mining industry space to gain a deeper understanding of customer preferences. Infiniti’s market segmentation experts further gathered information across a wide array of proprietary sources such as trade promotions, industry forums, and company presentations in the mining industry to adequately allocate resources to the desired segments.
The Solution Offered and the Business Impact
With the help of Infiniti’s market segmentation solution, the shaft mining client tapped potential market opportunities and streamlined their offerings across niche market segments. The client also robustly segmented the most profitable target group and accordingly allocated their resources to meet their requirements. Furthermore, the client sought out ways to segment the market based on geography and preferences of the customers over specific products.
The Future
Technology is not just a factor in the future of shaft mining operations; it is also impacting the market for mining’s outputs, often faster than companies can respond. For instance, the growing use of smartphones, tablets, and batteries has seen shares in rare earth and lithium miners skyrocket, while the price for thermal coal was recently bumping along at historic lows.
