Product Improvement

Last updated on 12/04/2022 1 By indiafreenotes

Product improvement is the process of making meaningful product changes that result in new customers or increased benefits realized by existing customers. The two most popular ways to make product improvements are to add new product features or improve existing ones.

Product improvement is the process of making significant changes to the product that result in new customers or increased benefits from existing customers. The two most common methods of making improvements to the product are to add new functions to the product or to improve existing ones.

Product improvement is the process of making changes to your product that improve product engagement or retention and move the needle on your business.

  • You can make two types of product improvements.
  • Create a new feature.
  • Enhance existing functionality.

The Product Improvement Workshop is an interactive session and is intended for intact team participation. Participants will apply the concepts presented to develop product improvement recommendations for a real customer product. A one-day follow-up session is scheduled for 4-6 weeks after the workshop to assess the team’s progress.

  • Failure Mode Effects Analysis.
  • Product improvement roadmaps.
  • Recommendation and follow-up review one day after the workshop.

Match or outperform competition

One of the main drivers for product improvements is to stay equal or ahead competition products and offerings. This is certainly common in the technology sector, software, banking where product initiatives by competitors are generally matched off or improved upon. This is to ensure that no competitor has a long-term advantage in terms of a particular product offering.

Meet changing consumer needs

Over time customer needs will change and potentially new segments will emerge. In some cases, a standard and stable offering of products, without improvement, is unlikely to stay relevant to changing customer needs over time. In this case, it becomes necessary to consider the needs of the new marketplace and improve the product accordingly. This will generally mean enhancing existing or adding new product features and benefits.

Provide Variety

By improving the product over time, a firm is essentially adding variety to its product mix. In some markets, such as entertainment, food, hospitality, travel, and so on variety is a sought after benefit.

Energize the brand

By regularly improving offerings and existing products, the brand and relevant may be perceived as quite innovative. For example, 3M works hard to create the market perception among consumers and retailers that they are innovative and exciting. One way they can achieve this is via frequent product enhancements.

Input into Marketing Communications

A new and improved product provides a good story (Message) for the marketplace. Therefore, a product improvement can form part of the marketing communications campaign for the firm. This gives the company something new and exciting to communicate and may also add to the above benefit of energizing the brand.

Increased Retailer interest

It is possible that the existing product, in its prior form, may not have appeal to certain retailers for certain reasons. Alternatively, a retailer might be more interested in a company that is seen to be willing to reinvest and improve and its existing product line. For this combination of reasons, frequent product improvements may deliver greater access to retailers for a manufacturer.

Arrest Declining Sales

Probably one of the main triggers for a product improvement is the declining sales of an established product. This is typically a signal that the product is no longer as relevant or as competitive as it once was in the market. In many cases, an appropriate product improvement should be able to reverse this situation if it is executed correctly.