Understanding what customers need from product innovation
Shopper confidence started to stabilize in 2023 at a low stage. Many customers have tailored to life in a poly-crisis of excessive inflation and stagnating progress by decreasing discretionary spending in sure segments or throughout the board. On this setting, innovation for the sake of innovation just isn’t going to persuade cautious customers to make a purchase order. As an alternative, it’s strategic innovation that has a direct impression on their lives that may have the largest impression.
In 2023, 4 areas have emerged as the important thing methods for manufacturers to focus on innovation funding in ways in which resonate with customers throughout all revenue teams:
- Simplifying duties – Individuals need merchandise that assist them optimize their time. This may be seen within the progress of air fryers and robotic vacuum cleaners. Persons are prepared to purchase much less usually however spend extra on merchandise they view as including worth to their lives. This may be seen within the success of inexpensive premium product ranges.
- Permitting better experiences – One of the vital frequent examples of that is the pattern for distant management of units. From digital central heating to lights managed through smartphone apps, customers are exhibiting a choice for merchandise that permit them to manage techniques remotely by way of their related units.
- Aspirational design – Shoppers nonetheless present a want to personal and determine with merchandise which are seen as fascinating and unique.
- Enabling enhanced measurability – Better shopper deal with sustainability financial savings in addition to well being and wellbeing are driving customers towards merchandise that allow nearer monitoring of ongoing efficiency. This may be seen most strongly within the wearables market, the place individuals can now monitor every little thing from their sleep to blood strain.
“Regardless of excessive ranges of financial uncertainty, customers nonetheless have a really clear concept of what they need from the manufacturers they work together with. If they don’t seem to be changing or upgrading current merchandise, then customers are looking out for merchandise that assist them lead happier and more healthy lives. Manufacturers want to know how their merchandise can align with these goals.”
Sheila Kurniadi, World Advisor gfkconsult
Particular person teams are driving progress
One other option to goal innovation funding in a means that may higher facilitate gross sales progress is to deal with particular shopper teams. There are pockets of market progress coming from teams like content material creators, avid gamers and health fanatics. Manufacturers that may present these teams with modern new options or inexpensive premium worth factors couldn’t solely drive a progress in gross sales however assist place their manufacturers nicely for when the market recovers.
The gaming trade, for instance, is big. Yearly billions of customers buy video games, consoles and a variety of equipment starting from specialist furnishings to keyboards and VR gear. The market can be anticipated to proceed rising over the subsequent few years, creating an enormous alternative for manufacturers that may assist avid gamers obtain increased efficiency experiences or simplify their setup. The rise in content material creation can be serving to to stabilize gross sales of high-end cameras and different specialist gentle and sound tools.
Realizing the place and how one can innovate
For manufacturers seeking to profit from their innovation investments, it’s important to start out by trying on the present market setting and the way it’s influencing shopper ache factors and motivation. On this state of affairs, innovation doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel – it has so as to add worth to individuals’s on a regular basis lives. Whether or not it’s by way of monitoring well being metrics or serving to them prepare dinner dinner for his or her youngsters in minutes, customers need merchandise that justify their buy each day.
Innovation requires perception. Keep forward of your market with GfK’s shopper intelligence options.