Product development using supermarket aisles approach
Product development
Supermarket aisles approach to develop a unique product range
People often ask me how I grew data analytics and technology solution business in the past. Here is the approach I tend to use to identify potential business and product development opportunities.
What do you see in supermarkets?
I’m pretty sure everybody goes to a supermarket now and then. What do you see in there? Look at each aisle in your favourite supermarket. They are organised by specific category; chilled section has aisles for meat, dairy products, desserts, fresh juices etc, while household section has a variety of daily essentials such as cleaning products, toilet papers, laundry detergents, etc. These products in supermarket aisles are sold individually and customers go to different aisles to pick what they want. But with a closer look you will also notice that these aisles are configured in such a way that it can persuade customers to look around for more products to buy. I often compare a product development process at Startup companies to supermarket aisles. For Startup companies to expand their product range, it is important to find these complimentary products in the similar aisles.
The power of “add-on” as an additional revenue stream
Another thing to remember is the power of “add-on”. This is where supermarkets usually do well. For example, if you are inviting your friends for a dinner at home, you will go to a supermarket with a list of specific items. But we tend to come back with more, don’t we? That’s because you are seeing complimentary products on supermarket aisles that are relevant for the purpose. You can apply the same theory in business and product development. As a whole, your product might be very sophisticated and attract high-end clients well. But are there anything else you can offer to make your products sticky? What about each process of building your product? Is it possible to commercialise some components within your product to attract a different client base? Or do you have a technology that is unique? If so, is it possible to productise the technology as a white label product?
Bundling and re-packaging
Developing a suite of products in the way I described above has a particular importance when you face strong competitions in the market. For example, I’ve seen well established and mature companies struggle when their high-end products are challenged by cheaper alternatives offered by competitors. What they tend to lack is the flexibility in bundling and re-packaging to create a different face of products. Rather than cutting the price of your product, you can create a product bundle that can provide more value to the target audience. Again supermarket aisles approach is useful here. We often find an attractively bundled food box at supermarkets - recently I saw Valentine’s Day chocolate gift box bundled with a fine bottle of wine and a selection of cheese. We all know we can buy each product separately, but it would be cheaper to buy the bundle. But here is the catch - by buying the bundle, people who came only for a box of chocolate will end up paying for wine and cheese too!
You might think all this is very hypothetical - but in the past this approach helped me enormously when I was leading a product development effort. So start thinking outside the box - what kind of aisles are you going to create? And what are you going to showcase there?
