Creating new products is at the heart of every budding business, and offers the potential to solve real customer issues and drive growth. To ensure a strong foundation for success, ensure your team conducts thorough market research within five critical areas.
To ensure the efficiency of your new product development project, start by understanding market dynamics and evaluating how your product fits the current market:
- Addressing evolving consumer needs
- Entering a new market
- Gaining and maintaining a competitive edge
- Solving existing customer problems
- Keeping up with technological advancements
Take a step back to study internal and external factors that could influence your product's success, especially if you're a new brand owner entering the market.
1. Customer needs
Perform thorough market research on the broad spectrum of your customer base and establish what needs they have that your product can help solve. Customer needs are also ever-changing. Therefore, a good idea is to project how your product can meet future needs in the long run.
2. Target market
For any new product development project, particularly if you are entering new market areas, you need to evaluate your target market. Consider which market niche your potential customers belong to and adapt your product to match it:
General market: Focused on economic spending, prefers value brands.
Middle-class market: Economically conscious, still values exclusivity.
High-end market: Top-notch products, price is less important.
Naturally, this part of the process will come in handy to later establish your product’s price point, both in terms of how much you are willing to spend on producing it and how much you are willing to sell it for.
Demographics, such as age, gender, and market region, are just as significant. Remember to make your research specific to achieve the best possible outcome when you develop and later launch your product.
Read more: How to optimize your brand visibility with In-Mold Labels
3. Competition
Your research and analysis should also focus on your competitors’ products within the range you are targeting to understand more about their strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, this will help you learn more about your customers' pain points and preferences. With this information in mind, you’ll be able to place your new product in an advantageous position.
4. Market Trends
Have you explored emerging trends and technological developments? They can significantly impact how your product is received on the market. Before you start developing your new product, investigate some of the current trends within:
Conforming to new market trends and technologies will help you develop your new product accordingly and stay ahead.
5. Government Policies
Last but certainly not least, remember to stay updated and conform to current government rules and guidelines. In practice, this involves knowing what you can and cannot apply to your new product regarding:
- Stipulated packaging
- Warnings
- Size
- Materials
Read more: How VIP can help your operations and compliance
Importance of shelf appeal and timing
When your new product enters the market, it should be able to attract customers’ attention at the right place and time. Your product design should connect with your target audience and make the product noticeable amongst competitors on the store shelves.
Which season you wish to launch your product in is also crucial for achieving the intended sales results for your specific product. Therefore, when developing your new product, remember to consider shelf appeal and the ideal timing for a launch.
Read more: 5 elements to consider before designing your new labels
At Skanem Africa, we know how valuable the product development phase is and know what it takes to optimize it. If you are just getting started with a new product development project and need assistance, feel free to contact us.
