Variety is the spice of life. You rarely find a retailer that sells only one thing. Even those that have one type of product would most likely have the same thing in different variants. For instance, a store that sells purified water will offer you different bottle sizes and containers to choose from. As a businessman, you cannot bore your customers with the same old thing. You have to make sure that you have products that give your customers more value. Being conscious of and responsive to your customers changing needs is an important part of making your business and your products continuously relevant to their lives. With this comes the necessity to come up with new products from time to time. Developing and introducing new products to your customers is not as simple as picking a product and posting it on your page or putting it up on your store shelves. There’s a list of things that you need to do to ensure that your new product will be snapped up by your consumers. To start with, you have to think of the following aspects before introducing new products :
1. Customer Need. You have to determine if your customers really have the need for the new product you have in mind. You can also view things from your customers’ point-of-view. Find out what the need is first and then develop your product accordingly. Do not rush your research on this. Your new product should be right on the target to ensure revenues.
2. Production Capability. What are you capable of producing? It would be useless to develop a product that you cannot afford to manufacture. Be reasonable enough when you are deciding on what product you are going to develop and launch in the market.
3. Sales Projection. You need to be able to estimate how much of your new product you can realistically sell and how much you need to sell in order to break even. These figures will allow you to evaluate whether it is financially wise to push through with the development of the new products you have in mind.