Whether you are an existing business or a new startup, if you are intending to sell some new products there are some steps you should take first before you invest any money. At some point, most businesses need to expand their range of products or services, you just need to make sure you go about it in the right way.
Research and More Research
The amount of research you need to do cannot be underestimated. You need to know what the best audience is for you to target with your marketing. This is important, as your marketing strategy might be totally different for young females than it would be for male pensioners. This is much easier to do with today’s technology and the analytical tools available to help you. There are also online research companies that will carry out this task for you.
You also need to research your competitors. You need to look closely to see if you can improve on the way they do things. For example, most people would happily pay a little bit more for a product if they get excellent customer service. If your competitors are failing to provide a service that is up to scratch make sure yours excels in every way. You also need to check how their price compare to yours and is their products quality as good as yours?
Research to make sure there is a market for the new products you are intending to sell. Most consumers buy a service or product because it fills a need. Make sure your new products solve their problem and don’t sell them just because they will increase the number of items in your store. Expanding your range is great, but only if it is with saleable items.
Product Liability
There are no federal laws in America for product liability; it is up to each state to have their own rules and regulations. In most of the country, the liability lies with any seller in the selling chain from the manufacturer to the retailer.
Bearing that in mind, it is up to you to avoid product liability claims by ensuring that products are tested and safe. This should have been done at every stage of the selling chain, starting with the makers or importers, then the distributors and finally by you. In theory, this should mean that no defective product ever reaches US consumers, but unfortunately, that happens all the time.
People can suffer a life-changing injury because of a faulty product, and it is advisable for your business to have product liability insurance in case this is a product you have sold. You may also want to consult specialist lawyers like Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., who deal with liability claims for some advice on covering yourself. The legal fees and the amount of compensation due in cases like these can be considerable amounts, and you need to make sure you are covered. It is not generally an expensive type of insurance, although of course for products that pose more dangers it is dearer.
Be Eco-Friendly
There has been such a huge amount of coverage in the media in recent years, about how we all need to change our ways to help save the planet. There are a growing number of consumers and consumer groups who favor buying from businesses that can show their products are eco-friendly or that their wrapping and shipping materials are at least.
Before you start selling your new products look at how they are packaged. Plastic is becoming very frowned upon, as well as others things that will not degrade. If the product itself, the way it is wrapped and your shipping materials are all environmentally friendly, you are far more likely to make the sales you are after.
You may also find that once a consumer group has found your eco-friendly products, they pass the information on to others with the same frame of mind.
Are Your Company Policies In Place?
Putting new products in your store could bring a deluge of orders, far more than you expected. You may have enough to fulfill those sales, but what if you run out before they have all been dispatched. Have you got company policies in place to deal with situations such as this? Can the customer have a refund if they do not want to wait? Do you have a returns policy if the new product is not as good as the consumer thought? If they have queries about the new products, how quickly does your company policy say they should receive a reply?
Having the right things included in your company policy can help to build trust in your brand, and the more trust consumers have the more sales you will make.
Get The Timing Right
The timing of launching your new products is crucial to their success. Seasons need to be accounted for, as do things like Christmas, holidays, back to school and many other events that take place annually. Trying to sell Christmas decorations in January, for instance, is doomed to failure, as would attempting to sell raincoats at the peak of summer. On the contrary, selling Ray ban Sunglasses during summer might have more chances of success!
The time of year should dictate the timing of introducing the new products to your range, or they may just sit there without any sales for a very long time.
Announce Them On Social Media
If everything is in place for your new products to go on sale, why not announce their introduction into your range on social media. You will reach more people on the many platforms that millions of people log into every day than you would with any other marketing ploy.
Even businesses that ignored the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and all the others for many years, now have business pages and utilize them to the fullest extent they are allowed.
Make the most of announcing your new products to let your brand be seen. Some images or videos are the best way to grab users attention, and then a link to your full website to finish the post off.
Launching new products will hopefully bring you new customers and more sales. That is the point of enlarging your range and done correctly it will work.
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