Understanding product benchmarking: metrics, types, and competitive insights

Product benchmarking is a strategic process that enables product teams to assess their product performance against industry standards, competitors, or internal benchmarks. In the fast-evolving fintech sector, where user expectations are high and competition is fierce, effective benchmarking provides a data-driven foundation for continuous improvement and innovation.

This article explores different types of product benchmarking, key benchmark metrics, and how fintech companies can leverage benchmarking to enhance customer satisfaction, user retention, and business outcomes.

What is product benchmarking

Product benchmarking is the systematic process of analyzing a product's performance relative to a reference point, whether it be a competitor, industry average, or past internal data. The goal is to identify areas of improvement, optimize key performance metrics, and drive product growth.

Benchmarking can answer critical questions such as:

  • How does our product experience compare to industry leaders
  • Which specific features contribute most to retention and engagement
  • What best practices can we adopt to improve our product's performance
  • Where do we fall behind in customer satisfaction and net promoter score

By measuring your product against relevant benchmarks, product managers can make informed decisions about product development, prioritize improvements, and ensure that their product remains competitive.

Types of product benchmarking

There are several types of product benchmarking, each serving a different strategic purpose.

  • Competitive benchmarking compares your product's performance to direct competitors, identifying strengths and weaknesses in product features, user engagement, and key metrics like retention rate and active users
  • Internal benchmarking evaluates performance across different teams, departments, or past versions of the same product to track progress over time and ensure alignment with business goals
  • Strategic benchmarking focuses on learning from industry leaders or companies outside the fintech sector to adopt innovative product management techniques and improve overall performance
  • Process benchmarking involves analyzing workflows and operations to enhance efficiency and product development speed
  • Performance benchmarking looks at quantitative metrics, such as engagement, product stickiness, and lifetime value, to determine how well the product is performing compared to external and internal benchmarks

Each type of benchmarking provides valuable insights that help product teams identify opportunities for growth, improve product adoption, and refine their approach to user experience.

Key benchmarking metrics

Effective benchmarking requires tracking the right key performance indicators to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of a product's success. Some of the most critical metrics include:

  • Retention rate – how many users continue to use the product over time
  • Net promoter score – how likely users are to recommend the product to others
  • Product stickiness – the ratio of daily active users to monthly active users, indicating how frequently users return
  • Lifetime value – the projected revenue a user generates over their entire relationship with the product
  • Engagement metrics – user actions within the product, such as feature adoption, session length, and interaction frequency
  • Customer satisfaction – feedback collected through surveys, reviews, and direct interactions

By capturing and analyzing these metrics, product teams can measure their product's effectiveness and determine areas for improvement.

The product benchmarking process

The benchmarking process involves several key steps:

  1. Identify objectives – determine what aspects of the product need to be compared and improved
  2. Select benchmarking criteria – define the key metrics and benchmarks that will be used for comparison
  3. Collect product data – gather internal data, competitor insights, and user feedback to build a comprehensive dataset
  4. Analyze relative performance – compare performance metrics against competitors, industry standards, or past versions of the product
  5. Identify opportunities for improvement – pinpoint areas where the product is underperforming and prioritize actionable changes
  6. Implement improvements – adjust product strategy, enhance features, or optimize processes based on benchmarking findings
  7. Monitor progress – continuously track changes in key metrics and repeat the benchmarking cycle for sustained growth

How benchmarking helps fintech products

Fintech products operate in a highly competitive environment where user trust, convenience, and performance determine success. Benchmarking provides product teams with actionable insights that enable them to:

  • Improve user retention by identifying friction points and optimizing the user journey
  • Compare performance against top competitors to refine feature sets and enhance value propositions
  • Optimize customer satisfaction by addressing weaknesses in engagement and support
  • Drive product adoption by tracking key metrics and implementing best practices
  • Ensure long-term product growth through continuous measurement and strategic adjustments

For fintech companies, benchmarking is not just about comparing numbers. It is a tool for refining product strategy, enhancing user experience, and ensuring that digital solutions meet the evolving demands of customers. A structured approach to benchmarking allows fintech products to stay relevant, competitive, and continuously improve based on real-world performance data.

How product competitive benchmarking helps fintech companies gain a product performance

Markswebb specializes in competitive benchmarking, helping fintech companies refine their digital products by analyzing past performance, market trends, and best practices. Our approach combines competitor analysis, external benchmarking, and in-depth benchmarking analysis to provide actionable insights.

A prime example is our research "Top fintech trends for banks: strategic advantage," where we identified key digital innovations that drive competitive advantage. Through benchmarking, we compared leading products and services, analyzing their features, engagement patterns, and user retention strategies. By effectively capturing product data, we helped banks understand how customers use a product, what keeps them engaged, and what makes them recommend a product or service to others.

Markswebb's guide to product benchmarking allows companies to systematically conduct product benchmarking at different levels. Our focus is on external benchmarking, which compares your product’s effectiveness against competitors, but we can also conduct internal benchmarking when needed. By tracking key metrics and identifying gaps, we help product teams improve their product and align their product development process with industry standards.

Our benchmarking work enables fintech companies to optimize their user experience, ensuring customers continue to use a product and engage with its features over time. For businesses launching a product for the first time, benchmarking is an essential tool for validating market fit and avoiding costly missteps. Whether a company needs to enhance product activation, refine its benchmarking approach, or measure the benefits of product innovation, Markswebb provides the expertise and data-driven insights necessary to drive long-term success.

Looking for a partner?

Get in Touch

    Fields requiring an asterisk (*) are essential for submission. By submitting this form, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

    Markswebb

    We respond to all messages as soon as possible.

    Become a client