The next step is a complete product development process, right?

Not so fast.

You could also cross a busy street blindfolded and make it across unharmed, but the odds aren’t good. The same is true about jumping into new product development without a strong understanding of the risks and opportunities you face.

We recommend improving your potential for success with a feasibility study.

In this article, we’ll cover why and how to conduct a feasibility analysis for new product development. By the end, you’ll know where to start, what to expect, and how critical this step is for maximizing your return on investment.

What Is A Feasibility Study?

A feasibility study is an assessment to determine if your project or product idea is viable. It helps you understand the potential challenges, costs, and chances of success before you dive into development.

A feasibility study guides you in making informed decisions by examining factors like technical feasibility, financial projections, market analysis, and operational capabilities. This crucial step saves you time and resources, ensuring your efforts are directed toward projects with the highest likelihood of success.

Types of Feasibility Studies

Understanding the different types of feasibility studies is crucial for comprehensive project evaluation. Each type focuses on a specific aspect of your project, ensuring a thorough assessment from every angle.

Technical Feasibility

Technical feasibility examines whether the technology needed for your project exists and if your team has the necessary skills to implement it. This study evaluates:

• Technological requirements and resources
• Potential technical issues and constraints
• Availability of skilled personnel

Addressing these factors can help you determine whether your project is technically viable and identify any technical hurdles early on.

Operational Feasibility

Operational feasibility assesses whether your organization can support the project operationally. This includes:

• Organizational structure and staffing needs
• Operational capabilities and processes
• Day-to-day management and logistics

This type of study ensures that your business operations can handle the new project and that it fits within your current systems and workflows.

Financial Feasibility

Financial feasibility focuses on the economic aspects of your project. It evaluates:

• Cost implications and financial projections
• Return on investment and profitability
• Funding requirements and financial risks

This study helps you understand your project’s financial viability, ensuring that it is economically sensible and sustainable in the long run.

Market Feasibility

Market feasibility analyzes the market environment for your product. It includes:

• Market survey methods and customer segmentation
• Competitor analysis and market trends
• Potential market share and target customers

This type of study helps you gauge the demand for your product and identify the best strategies to capture your target market.

Legal Feasibility

Legal feasibility ensures your project complies with all legal requirements. It examines:

• Regulatory constraints and compliance needs
• Intellectual property considerations
• Legal risks and mitigation strategies

Addressing legal feasibility can prevent potential legal issues and ensure your project adheres to all relevant laws and regulations.

Evaluating Feasibility For The 6 Steps Of Product Development

Let’s start with the six standard phases for new product development (NPD) and what a feasibility study looks at for each:

1. Product Ideation And Research

For the ideation portion of the process, the study will evaluate and make recommendations on the availability of the right industrial designers and the clarity of the product vision. Then for research, it will assess what type of research is needed, how much effort will be required, and the availability of key information. This is also where you take an initial look at the intellectual property (IP) landscape.

The most important takeaway is how much you should invest in ideation and research to be successful. Outputs include cost and schedule estimates and suggestions for further research.

2. Product Design

Product design is critical to your product’s success, so it needs a long, hard look. This portion of your feasibility study evaluates the effort required and the technical feasibility of your product idea. It should also explore what type of technical resources your design and engineering team will need.

Is your proposed project a “convert-a-napkin-sketch-into-drawings” or “bring-in-the-hardcore-nerds” effort? Because good design is an iterative effort, it should also estimate the best- and worst-case number of design cycles needed. The study will also delve into the schedule and the risks within the schedule, recommend verification and validation testing requirements, and identify when prototyping will be needed.

The most important takeaway is understanding what technical challenges — and potential failure points — you will face. Outputs include a cost estimate for the product design and a list of potential failure modes.

3. Product Sourcing Assessment

The goals of the sourcing step in the NPD process are to evaluate if there are people who can make your product, document the information they will need to produce good quotes and production plans, and where you should consider manufacturing.

The most important takeaway is an assessment of how hard or easy it will be to find a production partner. Outputs include location suggestions and recommendations on the type of manufacturing partner you should look for.

4. Production Management

A failure at any step in the product development process is painful. A failure in manufacturing can be catastrophic because you are so late in the process, and fixing problems is a massive drain on your financial resources. A feasibility study will dig deep into production. Since you don’t have a production partner yet, it looks at typical failure modes in production around supply chain, quality, and production speed. It should evaluate the balance between labor-intensive and automated production. The study will calculate estimates for cost and schedule, capture dependency, and identify potential problems with the probable manufacturing process.

The most important takeaways are the potential points of failure and recommended backup options. Outputs include estimated production costs with a basic production schedule and feedback from manufacturing engineers.

5. Product Logistics And Compliance

Once made, you have to get your product to warehouses, shelves, and ultimately to your customers. As the recent pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions have shown, no matter how good your product is, it won’t sell if there is nothing to ship. This part of your feasibility study needs to find shipping weak points and suggest alternatives.

You also need to make sure your product meets local and national regulations and complies with standards. This is where your feasibility study will identify requirements and point out any that will be hard to pass. This is also where your team should look at tariffs and other taxation issues.

The most important takeaway is identifying regulatory requirements. Outputs include a list of standards you need to meet and recommendations on preferred and backup shipping.

6. Supply Chain Management

Once your product gets into the hands of your customers, the product development process still chugs along, focused on maintaining and optimizing your supply chain. Your feasibility study will help you understand what type of effort this requires and the long-term problems you may face. And, because you did a feasibility study, your product’s sales will grow. So, it will also look at if and how your supply chain can evolve to meet growing demand.

The most important takeaway is an estimate of how viable it is to scale your production to meet your long-term sales goals. Outputs include challenges to scaling and where you need to establish multiple suppliers.

Don’t Forget The Sales And Marketing Strategy

Although a full marketplace assessment is part of the research step in the NPD process, a good feasibility study will examine your market and how you plan to market and sell your product.

There are a lot of unknowns at this point, but a good SWOT analysis of the market is a good place to start. The study should also gather some competitive information and map out comparable pricing. Without a doubt, one of the most valuable pieces of information you will get from a feasibility study is a preliminary market analysis showing how big your potential market is and the effort required to capture a part of it.

Another area to focus on is the sales environment: assessing the type of sales used in your industry, the challenges, how large a sales team needs to be (if any), and the length of the sales cycle. Your team should also evaluate the different places your product can be sold—an e-commerce site, retail, and/or through Amazon.

The most important takeaways from this part of the study are estimates of your potential market’s size and how much of it you can practically capture. Outputs include a selling price estimate and a SWOT analysis of your product relative to the market.

How To Conduct A Product Feasibility Study

Conducting a product feasibility study involves several critical steps to ensure comprehensive evaluation. Each step focuses on a different aspect of feasibility, helping you make well-informed decisions.

Step 1: Define the Project Scope

• Outline project objectives and goals
• Identify key deliverables and milestones
• Determine project boundaries and constraints

Step 2: Conduct Market Research

• Analyze market trends and customer needs
• Conduct surveys and focus groups
• Evaluate competitors and their offerings

Step 3: Assess Technical Feasibility

• Review technological requirements and resources
• Identify potential technical challenges and solutions
• Assess the availability of skilled personnel

Step 4: Evaluate Financial Feasibility

• Estimate costs and create a budget
• Project revenue and profitability
• Identify funding sources and financial risks

Step 5: Analyze Operational Feasibility

• Review staffing needs and organizational structure
• Evaluate operational processes and capabilities
• Assess logistics and day-to-day management

Step 6: Review Legal Feasibility

• Identify regulatory constraints and compliance needs
• Review intellectual property considerations
• Assess legal risks and develop mitigation strategies

Step 7: Compile the Feasibility Report

• Detail the analysis and conclusions for each feasibility aspect
• Provide recommendations and actionable insights
• Highlight potential risks and mitigation strategies

6 Suggestions To Make Your Feasibility Study Successful

A successful feasibility study requires thorough preparation and strategic planning. Here are six practical suggestions to ensure your study provides valuable insights and guides your project to success.

1. Capture And Prioritize Which Parts Of The Project You Need To Study

A feasibility study is only useful if done on time and gives you the information needed to make a go/no-go decision.

So start the process by looking at your project plan and identifying what information you need to decide and which are the most important. This will help your assessment team know what to focus on and how much effort to put into each study phase.

Decide how important aspects like legal requirements, technology requirements, staffing requirements, operational feasibility, economic feasibility, and financial feasibility are to the project.

2. Dig Deep To Get Answers

For those high-priority items, the team needs to dig deep and keep asking “why?” to understand what generates threats and challenges and also how to deal with them. They should leverage whatever data is available to get quantitative information.

A great example is talking to the manufacturing engineers at any company supplying you with a production estimate. Don’t just take their quote. Ask questions about the project scope, challenges, and potential areas of improvement. Also, never use just one source. Get quotes and feedback from multiple people.

3. Be Creative In Looking For Potential Problems

A successful feasibility study involves thinking outside the box and using your team’s brainstorming skills to uncover potential problems and find solutions. The team should always ask themselves, “what about this?” while looking at every step in your product development process and go-to-market strategy.

4. Learn From The Mistakes And Success Of Others

Don’t reinvent the wheel.

Take the time to explore what other businesses have done with similar products and uncover what went right and what went wrong. History is a great teacher if you look at it without bias and learn from the past.

A great source for this type of information is the people you are getting estimates from. Ask them about similar projects and how they went.

5. Include Growth And Scaling

If you are starting a project for a new product, it is tempting to just focus on the validity of getting the product to market. Yes, you need a successful launch, but you make your money over time by growing and scaling your business.

Make sure your feasibility report includes looking at the challenges you will face over time, and especially how hard or easy scaling up production, logistics, sales, and marketing will be.

6. Identify And Listen To Multiple Stakeholders

It’s a good thing people have specialties. However, specialists tend to be a little short-sighted. If they are experts at using a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Make sure you identify all of your project’s stakeholders—from the person who came up with the idea to the end customer. Include people who can examine technology considerations and organizational structure. Ask them what they think and listen to what they have to say.

Let’s Get Started On Your Feasibility Study

Whether you’re a startup or an established brand with products already on the market, when you start a new project, you should conduct a preliminary analysis of your product’s potential with a feasibility study.

As suggested in the recommendations for success, you need a team with broad, interdisciplinary knowledge and proven competency to conduct your feasibility study efficiently.At Gembah, we think this process is so important that we offer a feasibility study as a standard package through our Marketplace. Besides the items listed above, our study will also provide you with a full product development quote and recommendations for global manufacturing options. Our diverse team of experts can address every aspect of your potential project and deliver actionable recommendations to help you make the right decisions. You can start now by visiting our Marketplace or by contacting us and sharing your product vision.

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What Is Product Differentiation?

Product differentiation is the characteristic or characteristics that make your product or service stand out to your target audience. We believe that determining what products to sell starts with inspiration in the design room, but the product itself should have the ability to inspire your consumers as well. What makes your product different from your competitors? It may seem like your idea has “already been done,” but if there is a feature or service your product offers that no one else has, your product has the ability to be a standout in the market! 

How to Create a Product to Sell

Turning the things that we imagine into reality can be a trying task, but it can start with simply jotting down, or sketching an idea on a piece of paper or even a napkin. Design sketching can help you iron out the kinks and flaws within your design. It can also help you narrow down the functionality. Relieving pain points for your customers is one of the best ways to not only generate loyalty to your brand, but when you consider this during the sketching stages of your product, the users will find the product to be the best on the market, and ultimately what’s best for them. 

Design sketches push product innovation and make you take into account your own expertise. Users want to find the product produced by someone who’s experienced in that particular industry. Your education or years of experience wasn’t for nothing. When thinking of how to create a product to sell, your knowledge can be a differentiator. This even includes hobbies. For example, wrestling is one of the world’s oldest sports. If you have actual experience in the sport and wanted to create products for it like one of our clients did, you’re more likely to create products that those involved in the sport want to use. People could consider you more trustworthy since you have a passion and experience within the sport itself. When planning products to sell, how to create a product to sell and why you more specifically should be creating it, is a huge part of the design process. 

The Reviews are In

When considering how to create products to sell, investigate what your targeted audience is saying about the current products on the market. Look at this as feedback for your own product, and plan to make something even better. Pointing out complaints that your potential customers have with your competitors’ products can help to determine how to create your product and what to sell online by using your customer’s “wishlist” of sorts as a guide.

What to Sell Online

There’s a great, big, worldwide web out there filled with competition. In 2022, retail e-commerce sales were predicted to exceed 5.7 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide, and this figure is expected to grow even more as people gain more access to the internet in the coming years. Platforms like Amazon have dominated the marketplace. They are making it an easy place for your customers to find the product you want to sell online. As a matter of fact, Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) sellers are one of the largest segments we work with to help determine what to sell online, and assist in sufficiently developing the new product all the way through the manufacturing stage. If your products (and brand) become attractive enough, you might even find yourself receiving offers from Amazon aggregators that can help grow your brand faster. The digital commerce platform, Alibaba.com, ranked second after Amazon among selected online companies operating in the retail, real estate, mobility, travel and hospitality sectors. The products that do best on e-commerce sites like these are products that don’t just attempt to be a good idea, but the solution to a problem your customers are looking to ease. 

Commoditized Products vs. Niche Products 

When determining what to sell online it helps to break down what category your product would fit in. Is it a mass market product (commoditized) or a niche product? Commoditized products are products that everyone uses on a daily basis. The plus side to selling products like these is that consumers usually buy these products in large quantities or at least buy these products frequently. Think of toothpaste as an example. The downside of commoditized products is that there is greater competition and there can be problems with differentiating your product from your competitors. The price of your commoditized products versus a larger competitor is really going to be a key determining factor for your buyers, along with providing better, more accessible customer service. 

Niche products are products that are sold to a specific group of customers and these products are very much tailored to that group’s needs. One of the selling factors of niche products is their uniqueness and the sort of exclusivity they can generate. For example, BEATS by Dre, an audio brand that creates headphones, earphones, and speakers, might seem like a commoditized product since many people use and buy these sorts of products to listen to music. However, these particular products can go in the niche product category because they are marketed to musicians, producers, and other musicophiles because of the studio-like quality the products offer is what people within that particular group are looking for.

The World Is Ready for Products Like Yours

Don’t be discouraged by the seemingly great products on the market already. What you have to offer could be exactly what consumers are looking for. Find out more about product design and e-commerce selling, and know that you don’t have to go through this process alone with Gembah on your side.  

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To understand how to use data in this way, we have to first understand advanced product management analytics as a whole. After all, your research should go beyond basic demographics and surveys. Plus, we must take a deep dive into how this research can help our designers and developers create products that meet the needs of our target audience. From identifying customer pain points to testing product prototypes, let’s look into the specific methods and tools that can help turn market research into actionable insights for successful product design and development.

Learning the Competitive Landscape 

When assessing how well you have leveraged data to develop your strategy, you have to investigate hoe successful you have been in learning and understanding the competitive landscape. It is perhaps the most basic task of any market research team. But, it is still one of the most important aspects of product management analytics. 

Gaps In the Market

One method that market researchers inform product designers about the competitive landscape is by identifying gaps in the market. By analyzing competitors’ products, designers can identify areas where there are unmet customer needs or preferences. This provides an opportunity for product design and development that fills in the gaps. Which, of course, gives developers the opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors.

How do you go about this? Analyzing customer feedback, reviews, and ratings of competitors’ products is a fantastic first step. By doing so, designers can identify areas where their products can offer more value. For example, if customers consistently complain about a particular feature of a competitor’s product, designers can prioritize improving or addressing that feature in their own product.

It’s All About Demand

One major thing you need to know before embarking on a product design and development process is how big the market is for your idea. By analyzing the market, with sources such as industry reports and sales data, developers can gain insight into the size of the market, its growth potential, and potential barriers to entry. Obviously, this will determine whether their product has the potential to succeed in the market.

Market research can also provide insights into the potential demand. This starts with analyzing customer data, such as customer preferences, purchasing behavior, and demographics. Using that information, designers and developers can make informed decisions about product features, pricing, and marketing strategies.

Identify Customer Pain Points

When assessing how you have leveraged data to develop a strategy, you must also gauge your success in identifying customer pain points. We’ve all done customer surveys and interviews to gain an understanding of their needs, expectations, and frustrations. The insight gained is invaluable. But how do we move past this to more advanced market research? One method is by analyzing customer feedback on social media platforms and review websites. This feedback can provide valuable information regarding the issues that customers face when using competitors’ products, as well as the features that customers value most. Designers and developers can use this information to create products that address the pain points and needs of their target customers.

In addition, market research can help identify pain points that customers may not even be aware of. By analyzing data on industry trends, emerging technologies, and changing customer preferences, you can identify opportunities to create products that buyers will love, even if they didn’t think of it themselves!

Advanced Methods for Market Research

Sure, we’ve all heard of the basics. Surveys, interviews, focus groups, and online analytics are already in our repertoire. Let’s take a look outside the box – here are some advanced methods for market research that will propel you deeper into the 21st century. 

Ethnography

Put simply, ethnography involves observing and studying people in their natural environment. This approach provides a rich understanding of customer behavior and preferences, and can reveal insights that are not apparent through other research methods. Ethnographic research can involve in-person observation. Or, thanks to the modern age, it can be conducted remotely using video conferencing software.

Eye-tracking

Eye-tracking technology measures where individuals focus their attention when viewing a product or website. This information can be used to optimize product design and user experience. Eye-tracking studies can be conducted in a lab or remotely, using specialized equipment or software that tracks eye movements. This data-driven product management strategy can help you get a good idea of both conscious and unconscious preferences that future customers hold. 

Neuromarketing

Neuromarketing involves using biometric data to measure and analyze consumer responses to products and marketing messages. This approach provides insights into unconscious decision-making processes and can be used to optimize product design and marketing campaigns. Biometric data can include brain activity, heart rate, and skin conductance.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI-powered market research tools can analyze large volumes of customer data to identify patterns and trends. This can provide insights into customer preferences and behavior that, in turn, can inform product design and development. AI can also be used to analyze social media conversations about a product or service, helping to identify pain points.

Virtual Reality (VR)

Want to go even more tech-forward? VR can be used to simulate customer experiences with a product, providing insights into how users interact with it in a virtual environment. VR can be used to test products before they are launched, or even before they are physically prototyped.

Big Data Analytics

This approach involves analyzing large volumes of customer data from various sources, including social media, online platforms, and customer surveys. It is a more comprehensive way to gain insights into customer preferences and behavior. These product management analytics can also be used to identify trends and patterns that would not be apparent through other research methods.

Successful Product Design and Development With Gembah

Gembah’s market research services provide your company with deeper insights into your target audience and emerging market trends. Our expert research team can help you gather detailed information about your target audience’s preferences, needs, and pain points, informing your product design and development. We can also help you identify market opportunities and conduct competitive analysis, differentiating your company from your competitors. With our data-driven product management approach, your company can stay ahead of market trends, position yourself as a leader in your industry, and increase your chances of success.

The post Advanced Market Research: Data-Driven Insights for Successful Product Design and Development appeared first on Gembah.

Home Product Research

Prosper Show

Ready to Connect and Prosper?

Join us at the Prosper Show this March 14-16
Booth #528
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas

Final Product

Gembah is excited to partner with the executive producers of a new TV series, Final Product. Anyone with an idea can work with a group of successful entrepreneurs, design and sourcing experts to create a new product to help realize their dreams of creating the next big thing.  The producers are looking for new products or expansion ideas that can help fuel your business.

We will have a live casting call in Booth #528. Stop by, get your product idea on camera and you are on your way to becoming the next reality star!

Sketch a Design With Our Industrial Designers

So you have an idea, we’re here to help you take the first step!  Spend time with one of our premier industrial designers to better define and outline your idea and start the path to develop it into a full concept. After your time with them, you will walk away with a detailed sketch- just bring your back of the napkin idea.

Because space is limited for this opportunity, we encourage you to pre-book your slot ahead of the show.  Book now and guarantee this free design ideation session.

Book Now

Gembah + Canopy Cocktail Hour

Ready for some fun?  Gembah is teaming up with Canopy Management to host an Amazon seller meet-up on Monday, March 14 at 6 pm.  We are inviting you to be our special guest at a very cool, prohibition-era speakeasy, 1923 Prohibition Bar. It’s at Mandalay Bay, adjacent to minus5 Ice Bar, upstairs from House of Blues.

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Product Research Services

Our team brings you the technology, tools, and proven practices to help you make data-backed decisions before you invest in product design and development.

Get Started

In Depth Product Research

Get Started on the Right Foot

Before you give the green light for product development, you need to know if you’re investing in the right product at the right time. That means understanding things like what consumers like and dislike about existing products, market competitiveness, where there are opportunities, and costs versus expected rate of return.

We guide you through the critical research process, leveraging powerful research tools and technology to get you the data and insights you need to make smart decisions. With Gembah, you enter into the product development process with eyes wide open, confident and in control.

Step 1

Opportunity Assessment

To help determine the size of the opportunity, we assess several components. We begin with the Search Frequency Ranking, i.e. how often a search term or keyword is searched on a daily basis and how that changes over time, to discover seasonality and trends. We then assess the Click Share and Conversion Share of a keyword to determine how likely a customer is to add your product to their shopping cart based on your placement in search results. We also look at the ecosystem of other related keywords that may drive traffic to your product, helping uncover new opportunities to grow sales.

Step 2

Competitive Analysis

Before committing to a product opportunity, it is important to understand the competitive landscape for that product. We look at a number of factors, such as price, average number of reviews, and average value of those reviews, to help determine how difficult it will be for you to be listed on page one of search results. Once you know the number of ratings you need to boost your search ranking, you can more accurately estimate the marketing budget required to generate the sales target. If you are in a highly competitive market, you may need $100k of marketing budget to get your product on the first search page, but less competitive markets may require as little as $1k for the same result.

Step 3

Profitability Analysis

It is also important to understand pricing trends and distribution. A hot new product category may look attractive today but could be crowded and highly competitive in a matter of months. You need to anticipate future price pressure in order to ensure that your product has sufficient profitability to sustain such pressures. Naturally, factory pricing is another important factor in the profitability calculation. With our extensive network of factories, we can help analyze the supply chain, estimate the price range to manufacture, and help optimize profitability.

Step 4

Customer Research

In addition to quantitative research it is important to listen to the voice of the customer. By performing review research, we can determine what current customers think of the products that are currently in the market. This often points to opportunities for improvement in future product versions. Understanding what type of materials, features, or functionality that are trending can also be helpful in spotting changes in demand early and being the first (or at least early) to market, taking advantage of evolving consumer trends.

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There are dozens of aspects to product research (also called market research). Fundamentally, the term refers to gathering information about the target market for your product idea, including what products are already in or adjacent to your market and the customers in that market. Both an art and a science, product research uses many methods to gather information and can produce pages of hard statistics or fuzzy results like emotional impressions. Everything from searching social media hashtags to face-to-face focus groups is employed and fed into the product development process.

This article will dive into why product research is so important and how to conduct it. We’ll also present 21 questions your product research should try to answer. We then finish up with some suggestions on building the right team to understand your market and your potential customers. 

Why Product Research is So Important

Without product research, you’re just guessing about the success of your product. Even if you’ve been in your industry for years or have experts in your segment on your team, without research, your decisions are based on assumptions drawn from personal experiences. And no matter how plugged in you are, that is not enough. 

Here are five of the most common benefits of market research for a new product, followed by a discussion on the main reason you conduct research — product/market fit.

1. Prioritizes Customer Needs

A proven aspect of bringing a product to market that sells is keeping the customer in mind throughout the process. With good product research, “customer first” becomes more than a buzzword. Good research gets your team into the mindset of your customers and keeps their perspective at the front. 

2. Provides a Decision Tool for the Entire Product Development Team

Developing a product requires a host of decisions. You and your team need to decide on what your product will look like, its features, how it’s made, what price point to sell it at, and how it’s sold. Product research ensures that at every step in the process, your team can refer to research data to make informed decisions. 

3. Keeps Your Products Relevant 

If this is not your first product, you and your team might think you have a good feel for the market you sell in. The truth is, you had a good feel for the market. Consumers’ wants and needs change at an ever-accelerating pace, especially with the internet and e-commerce driving them towards the new and different every day. If you want your new and existing products to stay relevant, you need strong product research. 

4. Reduces the Risk and Cost of New Product Introduction

Nothing costs more than paying for a mistake. The last thing you want is to halt manufacturing of your potential product because you realize too late that your customers aren’t willing to pay for what you’re making. With good product research done up-front, you can avoid these costly, time-consuming mistakes and protect your profit margin. 

5. Clearly Defines Your Audience

Knowing your audience is important for product design, but it is essential for marketing and sales. Good market research will tell you who your competitors are, who might buy your product, and why they buy similar products. This is the fuel that drives marketing. If you don’t know your audience, your marketing will miss your target market. 

Different Ways To Conduct Product Research

Gathering information about products, customers, and markets used to be very difficult. Before the internet, market research relied on consumer surveys and observing volunteers from behind a one-way mirror. E-commerce, search engines, and data capture have given rise to a whole new set of product research tools to obtain metrics about your products. 

Most tools for market research look at what competitors and customers do, or ask customers what they think. The first class of tools relies on metrics captured by retailers, e-commerce sites, social media, and organizations that specialize in collecting consumer behavior information. When it comes to asking customers questions, this can also be digitized and rolled out on a massive scale. And sometimes, customers share what they think without being prompted in reviews. 

The list below details some of the more common tools and methods to use in your research process. 

Capturing What Competitors and Customers Do

• Search Engine Data Analysis: Examine the information Google and Bing search provide on who is searching for what. You can brute force it or use tools built to summarize information like search volume, SEO for great products in your industry, and other Google trends. 
• E-Commerce Data: Many e-commerce websites provide data, including Amazon product research, showing what people search for and what they buy. You can look at data for a specific product or a segment. 
• Retail Statistics: Different industries collect data on retail sales in most industries. This data is usually not free but can be worth far more than its price. 
• Searching: Do your own internet searching and document what you find. There are also tools that search for you and summarize the results as valuable metrics. 
• Advertising Data: Both traditional media buys and digital advertising are tracked by various entities. This data can be invaluable to understanding how your industry advertises. 
• Consumer Behavior Tracking: Tracking the buyer’s journey, online or in a retail store, can help you understand how customers find products, such as mapping traffic patterns in a physical store or recording how people navigate an online store. 
• Competitive Product Analysis: There are experts who will compile a competitive product analysis for you, looking at all aspects of product functionality, marketing, sales, and support. 
• Big Data Analysis: All of the data collected with the above methods can be combined into one data set, and modern machine learning can be applied to pull trends.

Discovering What Customers are Thinking

• Surveys: Tried and true, a customer survey asking the right questions can be a game-changer. You can create your own or hire a company to do it. 
• Focus Groups: Getting people into a room and asking them well-designed questions is a method that large consumer companies swear by. Virtual or face-to-face, experts can learn a lot from these sessions. 
• A/B Testing: Digital marketing allows you to send out two different campaigns to see which performs better. This may be one of the best ways to measure what customers respond to. It’s also a great way to try out the results of your keyword research. 
• Social Media Tracking: Consumers share their thoughts about products and your industry all the time on social media. Use purpose-built tools to search sites and find out what people are saying about the type of product you’re creating, how often they say it, and how prevalent their feelings are. 
• Customer Reviews: Reviews are another abundant and accessible resource. Use tools that scan the mountain of available information and pull out actionable insights about your industry, competitors, and products. 

We partner with companies at the forefront of product research. As an example, here is information on two of our partners and a brief description of what they offer:

• Helium 10: Helium 10 offers a complete set of tools to companies selling through Walmart and Amazon. This includes easy-to-use tools to research products, spot buying trends, and validate your product ideas. 
• ZonGuru: ZonGuru focuses on Amazon product research and provides tools to Amazon sellers that uncover product ideas, rate how various industries do, track monthly sales, and summarize customer reviews. Other platforms do the same for Shopify stores, eBay, and other e-commerce businesses. 

With the right set of tools, you can launch the right product with a high conversion rate.

These brief descriptions can give you a crash course on product research methods. However, the best way to understand and leverage them is to partner with experts and tool providers to get valuable information in a timely manner and build an action plan grounded in those findings. 

21 Questions Your Product Research Should Answer

Product research is essentially asking and answering questions about your market and product, so it makes sense to start with a list of questions to ask. Here’s a list of common questions, divided into the four areas you need to research: target market, competition, customers, and product. 

Start with this list and add or delete as you learn more about your product, market, and customers.

Questions About Your Target Market

1. How big is the potential market?

2. What is the growth for the market? Is it a fad, flat, growing, shrinking, or seasonal? 

3. What are the past, current, and future trends in your target market?

4. How do retail stores and e-commerce sites define your product category?

5. What channels are used to market to customers? 

Questions About Your Competitors

6. Who are your competitors?

7. How well are your competitors selling? 

8. What keywords do your competitors use in their product listings? 

9. How do your customers review your competitors? 

10. How do your competitors fulfill orders?

11. How do your competitors provide support?

Questions About Your Customers

12. Who are your target customers, and what personas do they fall into? 

13. What do your target customers care about? What is important to them? 

14. What emotions drive customers in your market?

15. How do your customers get information about products in your market?

16. What keywords do customers use when searching for trending products?

17. Why would customers buy your product? Does it satisfy a passion, relieve a particular pain, meet a need, or solve a problem?

Questions About Your Product

18. How much will customers pay for a particular product in your market?

19. What features are important to a buyer in this market or of similar products?

20. How do customers perceive your brand (if you have one established)?

21. What might differentiate your product and make it a winning product?

Although this list is by no means complete, it provides a good start for you and your team to construct questions that fit your product and market. When making your list, focus on questions that produce answers which can help you improve product/market fit, increase sales, reduce costs, and better understand your target market. 

Start Your Product Research With The Right Team

Hopefully, this article has given you an idea of why market research is so important, the various methods for conducting product research, and what questions need answering. If you want to turn your new product idea into a successful product that’s in high demand, research can make all the difference. 

To get started, you could log into your favorite browser and start searching keywords related to your industry to see what pops up. But that’s not the fastest way to profitable products. Product research is an important part of product development, and just as you hire experts and use the right tools for design and manufacturing, you should build a team of marketing research experts and use tools that enhance your research.

Here at Gembah we offer a wide variety of research services. Our experts use their extensive experience conducting product research across product categories with a deep understanding of how to use the information they gather to meet your business goals. Most importantly, they can provide insight into what the numbers mean and how to modify your design, go-to-market plan, and marketing. 

Overall, we’re here to make it easier for you to bring best-selling products to market. Our marketplace contains vetted experts and tool providers that understand the value of good product research. In addition, our team of experts can advise you through your journey, starting with research and continuing through design and manufacturing. Reach out today, and let’s talk about your product and see how we can help you supercharge your new product with product research.

The post Will It Sell? Product Research Can Answer All Your Questions appeared first on Gembah.

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Topics in this session:

• Building value in product platforms through design services 
• How to make your existing product more marketable by innovative sourcing and strategic design
• Budget, product management, and sourcing that goes into the cost of building a brand — and why they matter for your exit
• Why holding a patent on your product is crucial for your brand
• How you research cost-effective packaging and products 
• Manufacturing and product development timeline

About Zack

Zack Leonard is the COO, President, and Co-founder of Gembah, where they help Amazon and e-commerce sellers design, research, manufacture, and promote products. He has helped build Instacart in the Texas market from zero to seven figures and the national supply forecasting system, has led partnerships with WholeFoods and Costco, and was the Director of Strategy for Dropoff.

He earned his bachelor of business administration from Texas McCombs School of Business. He lives with his wife, daughter, and two dogs in Texas.

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The post Creating Value With Proprietary Products with Zack Leonard appeared first on Gembah.

Are you considering launching a product or already have one and want to add to your portfolio? Before you hit the floor running, you need to know where you’re going, how you’re going to get there, and if it makes sense to even try.

In this recording of The Final Hour, we discuss high-level strategies, business models and tools you can use to research how to identify the right products to sell across a number of platforms and find the ideal manufacturers. 

You’ll learn:

• The top 5 key research categories to consider
• The 8 best free resources for research
• How to identify a product opportunity 
• The 5 Pillars in product research
• How to find the perfect supplier
• Why you should leverage multiple tools, like Helium 10, BlackBox, Google Trends, and Keepa, at the same time

About our guest:

Our guest, Eric Howard, will lead you through the questions you should ask yourself and the tools to use to find the answers. This is a must-see for any entrepreneur, eCommerce reseller, or product-focused small business that wants to increase their brand value.

Eric launched his first private label brand in 2016 and sold it a year later to a private merchandising company. Since then, he has launched multiple brands generating a combined $6M across Amazon, Walmart, and Shopify.

After a successful IndieGogo campaign, he started working with Gembah to bring custom products to the market. In addition, he helps clients develop and grow their own eCommerce private label brands on global marketplaces. Some key areas of focus are product and category research, overseeing P&L and cash flow, supply chain logistics, hiring, multi-channel marketing and profitability KPIs.

About your host:

Steven Blustein is an entrepreneur/innovator extraordinaire and the Co-Founder of both Gembah Inc and PrideBites Pet Products. He is an expert in product development and supply chain strategy. Over his career, Blustein has owned and operated businesses that have designed, manufactured and sold millions of consumer products from all over the world. He is well versed in foreign manufacturing strategy and has participated in every aspect of the product creation journey.

In 2016, Blustein was backed by two Sharks, Lori Grenier and Robert Herjavec, on ABC’s Shark Tank, and was a previous recipient of the Pet Industry 40 under 40 award. Blustein graduated from the University of Kansas with his Masters in Tax and is trilingual in English, Chinese and Spanish. Steven is married to his beautiful wife Kellie, and together they have a son, JB and two furry children named, Mona and Minnie.

The post The Final Hour: The Value and Types of Product Research (with Tips) appeared first on Gembah.

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The post The Final Hour: The Value and Types of Product Research (with Tips) appeared first on Gembah.

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The post How To Take Your Product From Concept To Market appeared first on Gembah.