Product Management Tools: A Complete Information

What is Product? Product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want. Product is the requirement of consumers which is manufactured naturally and unnaturally with the help of machines. In this article I've explained more information about products, its types, stages about products, product levels, and understanding the product life cycle. 



Types of Product:

• Business Products
• Consumer Products
• Convenience Products - inexpensive and frequently purchased with little shopping effort

Convenience Products:

• Staples products - products consumers purchase on a regular basis (Ex: Colgate toothpaste, toilet soap, biscuits etc.)
• Impulse products - purchased without any planning (Ex: Chocolates, Kurkure, Lays etc.)
• Emergency goods - purchased when a  need is urgent (Ex: Umbrella, rain coats, sweaters, shawls etc.)
• Shopping products - a product that requires comparison for quality, price, suitability (Ex: Furniture, clothing, major appliances)
• Specialty products - substitution low and extensive search by the consumer (Ex: Car, photographic equipment etc.)

Product Mix, Depth and Width

• Product item - specific version of a product designated as a distinct offering
• Product line - a group of closely related product items
• Product mix - all products of the company

HUL Product - Mix Width

• Product Depth - how many variants are offered of each product in the line. (ex: Lux - variants are lux peach & cream, lux strawberry & cream, lux sandal & cream, lux creamy white etc.)

Product Adjustment

• Modification - Quality, Functional and style
• Product line extension
• Product line contraction

New Product development stages:

New Products: A product new to the world, the market, the producer, the seller, or some combination of these.

• Idea Generation (Brainstorming)
• Idea Screening
• Business Analysis - demand, cost, sales & profitability are ascertained
• Development phase - (prototype, alpha and beta testing)
• Test Marketing - Limited introduction of Product & Marketing program to determine market reaction
• Commercialization (Large scale production)

Product Levels

1. Core Benefit - Fundamental benefit or service the customer is buying (rest and sleep required by a hotel guest)
2. Basic Product - benefit or service into tangibles (ex: hotel room should include a bed, bathroom, towels, desk, dresser etc.)
3. Expected Product - a set of attributes and conditions buyers normally expects (ex: hotel guest expect a clean bed, fresh towels, working lamps and relative degree of quiet)
4. Augmented Product - which needed customer's expectations
5. Potential Product - which encompasses all the possible augmentations and transformations the product might undergo in the future.

A Classical Product Life Cycle

Understanding Stages

• Introduction Stage - sales are low, profits are negligible or negative and companies follow a selective distribution strategy.
• Growth Stage - the sales grow faster, profits are high and companies follow intensive distribution strategy.
• Maturity Stage - sales go flat, profits start declining and competitors start entering into the business.
• Decline Stage - sales fall faster, profits often turn negative and companies decide either to drop the product or maintain the markets where they are doing good.

Characteristics of PLC