Have you ever noticed how a product that you bought for yourself offers the exact features and functionality you were looking for? The magic that carves customers’ desires on a product is called market research. It collects data on targeted groups to design and develop the product that fills the demands of customers.
Seems interesting?
So, let’s drive deep into the market research in product development to explore what it is, its role and importance, and its types. We will also explore the examples that show the importance of market research in product development.
A] What Is Market Research in Product Development?
The market research has been one of the reliable ways of making an informed decision and drastically minimising the chances of product failure. Market research in product development is all about gathering data on a product’s demands and needs, identifying feature gaps, and deciding competitive pricing. The in-depth market research in product development looks through the three critical aspects: customers, competitors, and market trends.
Read in-depth about: What is product design and development?
B] Importance of Market Research in Product Development
1. Reducing Risk of Failure
Market research provides valuable data extracted from customer needs, market viability, and the competitive landscape. It keeps the new or existing product highly relevant for the market by implementing insights gained by the market research, reducing the risk of failure.
2. Understanding Customer Needs and Preferences
One of the major roles of market research in product development is understanding customers’ needs and preferences. It helps designers build demand-based products that customers actually want, which minimises risk and increases the rate of product success.
3. Guiding Product Features and Pricing
The market research also provides insight into the features that the competitors have not yet covered despite the needs. It also helps decide the price based on the quality and pricing other brands are offering. Ultimately, market research helps the product stand apart in the crowded market, as the product comprises all needs and preferences of customers, which is only possible through market research.
4. Competitive Advantage
Market research in new product development provides a competitive edge by offering insights into the competitive market. It helps the designers benchmark the competition and include the unmet needs.
5. Shaping Go-to-Market Strategy
Market research also helps in strategising the market campaign by identifying the right audience, channels, and messaging medium through which a brand can promote their products. It also allows newly released or existing products to be promoted through the most viable mediums for maximum exposure.
C] Types of Market Research in Product Development
1. Primary Research
Primary research involves surveys, interviews, and studying the target audience to get broader insights on the product. It is conducted to collect firsthand data on market trends, customers’ needs, and competition.
2. Secondary Research
Secondary research involves analysing existing data collected by others, like government statistics, competitor reports, previous research, and sales data. It provides past trends on products and helps developers gain more confidence in predicting the product’s success before making it live for market.
3. Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is all about collecting and analysing numerical data to understand market trends, customer behaviour, and demand for products. It provides measurable numerical data for demand forecasting, pricing studies, and data-driven decision-making.
4. Qualitative Research
Qualitative research collects data of customers’ emotional insights, motivations, and pain points. The collection of data may involve non-numerical A/B testing and ethnographic studies to assess the insights into customers’ needs, behaviour, and daily lives.
Also Read: The Phases of Product Design and Development
D] Role of Marketing Research in New Product Development
1. Idea Generation And Validation
One of the main purposes of market research in product development is to provide idea generation and validation. Market research helps gain data insights into customers’ needs and market gaps, which further assist in idea generation. The collected data through research steps also lets the developers validate their idea and predict the product’s success.
2. Concept Testing
Market research assists in assessing the viability of a product through providing feedback on the product’s features, benefits, and price point. Similarly, it also provides feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of products and guides to improve them.
3. Prototype Feedback
Prototype refinement guided by market research provides feedback on the fidelity, which helps developers make changes and integrate lacking features or reduce redundancy in design.
4. Market Testing Before Launch
In this testing phase, the final prototype is introduced to a confined group of customers for whom the product is made. It is done to gain data on any performance lacks to fortify the success rate after launch.
E] Market Research for New Product Examples
1. Apple iPod
The first version of the Apple iPod was launched in 2002. It was the product that came out of in-depth market research, where the company found that people are looking for portable and easy-to-use music storage. Using the research’s various data, Apple launched a brand new MP3 player targeting young and youth audiences. And the success of the Apple iPod is not hidden from us.
2. Coca-Cola Vanilla
Market research was done by Coca-Cola, a soft drink manufacturing company, to gain data on whether customers are demanding flavoured drinks. However, some market research flaws and poor customer validation have led the Coca-Cola company to recall the product. It shows how the role of in-depth market research in product success is significant.
Conclusion
Market research is a pivotal process in product development, requiring in-depth analysis of the market and targeted customer to ensure a high success rate of the product. It requires meticulous attention to each detail to set the product apart from the competition.
Criador Labs, a trusted company of product development services, turns your idea into reality through a rigorous idea testing and validation process. We ensure the product has above-the-competition functionality, high user satisfaction, and satisfactory commercial feasibility. Contact us today!
Abhishek Reddy Gujjala
Criador Labs is an innovative product design studio that is future-focused and renowned for turning bold ideas into exquisitely engineered products. With expertise in Medical Devices, Consumer Technology, and Industrial IoT (Internet of Things), we combine strategy, design, and usability to deliver tangible creative solutions. Founded by Abhishek Reddy Gujjala, an entrepreneur passionate about purposeful innovation, Criador Labs reflects his vision of creating meaningful products that solve real-world problems through thoughtful design.
