Consumers are switched on cookies; it would be a folly to bet against them!
If you want to see how a market is trending, one very good way is to look at how consumers are behaving in not just your market – but also similar markets.
One example that can be given is the news. As we all know, traditionally news used to be obtained through the radio (digital of course), TV, and newspapers.
With the advent of the internet and the ability to get (supposedly) unbiased information On-DEMAND, the writing was quite literally on the wall for newspapers. Consumers had spoken and they demanded more from their news agencies. The landscape had shifted and those that chose to dig their heels in or ignore the shift in how their customers consumed their content were going to be closing their doors soon.
Of course, newspapers themselves haven’t seen a death, but they are certainly not the primary source of income for most news and media outlets.
So how might this one bit of information affect product development for a company such as SARA Ltd? Knowing that SARA Ltd is developing a product that includes large digital windows, and that the objective is for people to use the room/space for extended amounts of time, one of our considerations might be to understand how people like to consume media.
If people like to use digital displays for cross purposes i.e read email, watch movies, teleconference – it might be an idea to make sure our product has those capabilities too.
People these days hold certain expectations of their products. Phones for example should be fully multimedia capable – for most it would seem strangely limiting for a phone to just be a phone (they do exist, and that lack of capability becomes a feature). Most displays now are considered touch capable; most UK shops have contactless payments; most people expect next day delivery on their purchases…
How do these things effect product development in general? The answer is consumer expectations often lead to certain capabilities and features having to be inherent in your offering. If these capabilities not present, then you seriously run the risk of alienating your customers or having a flop on your hands.
I would finally add that consumers are also far more particular with where to spend their time, more price conscious, and being connected to the world wide web – they also frequently exercise their ability to quickly compare and get real-time feedback about any given topic.
This all amounts to a far savvier customer, which means your game has to be risen if it hopes to even stand a chance in today’s marketplace! (Image © New Media)
