Product Testing & Launching: The Keys to Successful Product Development

Product testing is one of the stages in the product development process and involves the act of acquiring information from potential customers about a particular product and this information is obtained through informal conversations, formal surveys, or getting data from a website/traffic of an advert. Launching, on the other hand, entails the planned and coordinated effort for a product to make its debut in the market, thereby giving the clients a chance to purchase the new product, create anticipation and also get some feedback from the pioneer users. The launching stage also helps to create a platform for the company's momentum and recognition.

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Among the most effective ways of product testing is developing a prototype referred to as 'test ugly'. Amazon company can use these ugly prototypes to initiate some interesting conversations from the customers on how the product can be fine-tuned depending on their taste and preferences. If the product is too refined, the company cannot get the actual customer's feedback and also ideas to refine the product further, thus widening the radius of tapping more clientele (Karleigh, 2019). Customers feel okay giving ideas to a rudimentary product but somewhat reluctant when the product looks too finished.

Test ads are also a unique strategy for product testing. Before venturing into the actual market, Amazon can run several ads via websites landing page to evaluate and gauge the response of the potential customers. For a product like a smartwatch, amazon can run the ads before the launching date. The ads can give the value startup proposition, thereby help to improve on specific areas, for instance, pricing and market insights ahead of time hence saving on time and money in the long run. Online tools such as Google analytics and quant cast will tally the clicks giving precise demographics on your product.

Talking to people is also a brilliant idea despite it looking outdated and straightforward. Talking to people has never lost its touch as a testing strategy because, in it, you get to interact with the customers and get feedback directly from them. Amazon Company can organize exhibitions as a perfect platform to interact with its potential clients. Conducting surveys online based on the marketability of apple versus android operating systems will give Amazon an upper hand when it comes to the actual business and always must remember to ask the critical question (Furukawa, 2017). "If this smartwatch is in the market with an operating system of either apple or android, which one would you buy?''

Different companies have different launching strategies, and therefore, Amazon must perfect its launching skills for the product to have an edge in the market. Launching the smartwatch before its ready is one strategy that will make sure the market is not taken up by other competitors. As long as Amazon is confident that the product can give value to customers, it will always be wise to launch it, and perfect/improve it later based on early users' feedback. Building the product for the whole user experience is also useful by not only focusing on the product but also the possible involvement of the customers (Majed, Nuraddin, & Hama, 2018). Amazon must bring in the concept of Alexa or Echo platforms that will satisfy the customer's needs holistically.

Amazon Company must start with the end in mind to enhance the upfront strategic thinking having goals and objectives for the smartwatch in the long term. The designed goals solve challenges that may crop up for the target users. Finally, these goals must be translated into a strategic blueprint called product roadmap. The roadmap is used to break into high-level strategic plans of the specific user stories and features. The strategy increases the chances of product resonating with users and generating momentum on its way to market success. In conclusion, no matter how brilliant an idea or a product is, polishing it with the actual market in testing and real customers when launching calls the ultimate shot.

References

Furukawa, G. (2017). The Million Dollar Case Study Session #12: Amazon Product Launch Strategies. Retrieved from https://www.junglescout.com/blog/amazon-product-launch-strategies/

Karleigh, R. (2019). 5 Steps to Product Launch on Amazon in 2019. OrcaPacific. Retrieved from https://www.orcapac.com/blog/amazon-product-launch/Majed, S. Z., Nuraddin, S. H., & Hama, S. V. S. (2018). Analyzing the Amazon success strategies. Journal of Process Management. New Technologies, 6(4), 65-69. DOI: 10.5937/jouproman6-19264