Understanding Product Planning and Development Process

Product Planning Process

Product planning is a process of building product strategy and developing onto it up until the products are brought to the marketplace. Marketing managers normally develop suggestions for a new product through defining specific issues which clients should resolve or different customer requirements.

For illustration, a laptop retail store could see the necessity to set up a laptop fix department for products it is selling. Following the merchandise strategy is formulated, managers will begin planning the scale boasting of product. Certain businesses also will create product model or design.

The next phase in the merchandise planning approach is looking at competition. Most businesses would order alternative study details from suppliers. Alternative study normally offers information on essential competing firms and the share of the market, the % of overall sales they hold within the market.

Certain businesses can also perform SWOT evaluation (advantages, weak points, potentials and threats) which can help all of them examine the pros and cons against the ones from essential competing firms. The company can establish spots where it has the edge on competition to determine opportunities. For illustration, small business with top quality picture could possibly locate extra market segments for the products.

Small business should think about undertaking each qualitative as well as quantitative marketing study for the new products. Discussion groups are illustration of qualitative details. Discussion groups enable organizations to inquire the clients about the wants and detest of product in smaller groups.

Focus group permits the corporation to change the merchandise idea right before screening it as a result of telephone surveys, a quantitative marketing study functionality. Telephone studies makes it possible for a firm to examine the product idea on bigger scale, the outcomes from which are certainly more expected throughout the general public.

When customer survey outcomes show beneficial, the organization may want to sell the newest product on a level or local grounds. Within this time, the organization would spread the products or services in several areas. The firm would conduct ads as well as sales campaigns for product, monitoring sales outcomes to discover the potential results.

If sales numbers are beneficial, the organization can then enlarge supply even more. In the end, the organization could possibly sell the merchandise on nationwide grounds.

Product planning must involve handling the merchandise as a result of different phases of the product life-cycle. Those phases include launch, progress, maturity and drop phases. Sales are generally solid during progress step, while competitors are lower. Nevertheless, carried on results of the merchandise would pick up the eye of competing firms, that will create products of their very own.

Introduction of those competing products can pressure small business to reduce the pricing. That low prices strategy could help avoid the organization from burning off share of the market. The firm can also make a decision to greater separate the product to have the price ranges constant. For illustration, a mobile phone corporation can create brand new, effective functions on the phones that competing firms don’t have.