TCM #024: To Customise or Not to Customise? That's the Product Question
Read time: 3 minutes
Happy Saturday to 1,098 motivated & curious entrepreneurs. 👋
Below is your weekly one short tip on marketing and revenue growth for your ecommerce business.
Enjoy & please hit reply if I can help in any way.
Happy Saturday Curious Merchants,
This week, we're diving into a question that many of you might be grappling with:
Should you validate an "off the shelf" product first or go ahead and try to get a limited run of a customised product?
Fernando, one of our readers, recently asked this very question. And it's a great one, Fernando!
Option 1: Validate with an "Off the Shelf" Product
This is the less risky route and requires a lot less upfront investment.
You can test the market reaction to the product as is. If it sells well – fantastic!
You can then consider investing in customisation to further differentiate.
This way, you validate the market demand before making a larger investment.
Option 2: Go for a Customised Product Right Off the Bat
This is riskier and requires a bigger upfront investment in both capital and time, but could potentially yield greater rewards.
If you have a strong belief in your product idea and are confident that it will resonate with your target audience, this could be a good option.
It can definitely help you stand out from the competition right from the start.
The Key to Differentiation
Regardless of the path you choose, it's crucial to understand your competition and your customers.
Read customer reviews (on their stores & Amazon), and try to understand what customers like and dislike about the existing products.
This will give you insight into how to differentiate your product, whether it's through design, features, quality, branding, or just customer service.
Keep this front and centre – differentiation doesn't always have to be about the product itself.
It can also be about how you position and market the product – about who you serve and how you serve them.
A unique brand story, superior customer service, or a compelling value proposition can set you apart from the competition enough, especially while you're just getting started.
The Bottom Line
Many times, just being the one who replies to customer queries, shipping fast, and offering returns and a solid guarantee can be enough to 2x the price and get a rush of word-of-mouth because you actually care about serving the end customer.
I hope this helps, Fernando, and all other curious merchants out there.
As always, feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!
Stay curious,
Tom
AI Tip of the Week:
Struggling to figure out how to differentiate your products from the competition? Why not leverage the power of AI to analyse customer reviews and feedback in seconds vs days?
AI can sift through thousands of reviews on platforms like Amazon and your competitors website, identifying common praises and complaints.
This insight can be a goldmine for understanding what customers love and hate about existing products in your category.
Use the following prompt (with a browser plugin such as WebPilot):
"I want to differentiate my product [YOUR PRODUCT NAME]. Can you please analyse customer reviews on Amazon for similar products and tell me what customers like and dislike? Here's the link to the product category: [LINK TO CATEGORY]"
This analysis can help you pinpoint exactly where you can make improvements or add unique features, allowing you to stand out in the market.
See this full example live: https://chat.openai.com/share/749eded0-bd12-49e2-b10c-8077b2f1926c
Have a topic you'd like me to cover in the next newsletter? Let me know. I'm all ears. 📬
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