Product Development Strategy
Introduction
There are many products and services in the market which face many challenges. Most of these products face a lot of competition due to lack of innovation for the companies to improve their products and enhance their sales. With the introduction of a new product into the market, they face hostile competition and unfavourable competition. This paper illustrates how a new product can cope in the market.
Product development strategy
Flexible packaging films play a significant role in food preservation and packaging. This product can be sold in the market at either retail or wholesale.
Product development
This is the focal point of developing a product. Product development is driven by factors e.g. internal and external competition, market availability, technology and innovation of whatever linesthe product may take.Due to the advancement and market demands, the process a product undergoes while being developed from the time the idea is conceived to the time it is finally fruitful depends on various elements (Calantone & Di Benedetto, 2007).
First, the skills and the machines should be consistent in production to meet the market demands. Product development requires cost analysis to be done on the production i.e. total cost of production and the capital available to print the films should not be more than the revenue expected from the sales. The quality of the films will also be considered as well. They should be made of quality and eco-friendly materials that are also biodegradable.
The customer satisfaction will be catered for as they will be tailor made to suit each and every customer’s demands on the colours and decoration. For the product to have a competitive advantage over other packaging bags they will be free delivery services and the prices will be fairer and manageable. Due to the international competition of this product, it will be easier to identify the customer needs and preference by engaging them in online marketing and creation of a business platform that will involve both the producing team and the customers. This will enable the customers to freely criticize the product and equally help in making adjustments in the production.
Product launch strategy
According to Talke and Hultink (2010), conducting present study and investigating antecedents that may lead to the downfall of the product strategy is very important. Hence, precautions on the possible challenges will be done. Basically the objective is aiming to meet the different taste and preference in relation to the customers’ demands. Different customers may prefer diversedesigns and tastes.
Development strategy will involve the market penetration by ensuring that there are product ambassadors that will be conducting demonstrations and free services to a few potential customers. Marketing willbe done through online medium through creating a website. The product will have a distribution channel comprising commercial transportation of the products to the market and to both retail and wholesale shops. The sales force shall comprise marketers who are able to convince the customers in trying the new product.
Advertisement will be done through websites, online marketing, through broadcasts and making bronchus to people easily reached. The promotion of the product will involve having a sales day and free delivery services to the esteemed customers. Most of these potential customers intargetwill be the supermarkets and hotels that most often use the product. This will attract the hotels in purchasing of the product since they are made by design and in different sizes and orders to avoid wastage. There will be direct selling of the product by establishing a warehouse and a retail shop that they can be bought. Indirect sales will be by having sales agencies in various locations (Chiu et al, 2006). This will help in minimising the gap between the customers and the new product.
Processof price strategy
The most preferred pricing strategy is by price discrimination. Price discrimination is a technique involving settingdifferent prices in various segments in the market. This kind of price strategy is basically helping in improving consumer surplus. Since the product is new in the market, it will be preferred if the demand power in different locations are known and well established, having the prices made different in those particular places. The supermarkets and different hotels will be charged differently according to the type of printing and design they order for.
The following factors are to be considered while determining the price strategy
- The public demand (the rate of production should not exceed the demand rate )
- Maximising on the company’s revenue (the total expenditure should not exceed the total revenue from the business)
- Competitors prices (the prices should not be too low nor too high)
- Target market view(distribution of products to the supermarkets, retail shops and hotels)
At the different locations, psychological pricing can be used. Example,by selling at $199 instead of $200. If most of the competitors are selling their products at $200 and we sell at $199, this is what is known as psychological pricing.The minor distinction in the pricing makes difference in the overall sales volume. This will help the business in revenue maximisation. These prices also look attractive and affordably but in the actual sense, the difference is not much.
Conclusion
Packaging products are essential commodities whose demand in the market keeps increasing with increase in production.Therefore, with best product development, launch and pricing strategy, the business can achieve great success. For a product to march with the market trends, it is wise to do a preamble survey to evaluate the possibility of the success of the business. This paper illustrates how printed packaging films can be introduced in the market. The most important aspect to be noted is the product launch strategy since it entails the practicality in order to realise profits in the business.
References
Calantone, R. J. & Di Benedetto, C. A. (2007). Clustering product launches by price and launch strategy. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 22(1), 4-19.
Chiu, Y. C., Chen, B., Shyu, J. Z. & Tzeng, G. H. (2006). An evaluation model of new product launch strategy. Technovation, 26(11), 1244-1252.
Talke, K. & Hultink, E. J. (2010). The Impact of the Corporate Mind‐set on New Product Launch Strategy and Market Performance. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 27(2), 220-237.