Alltop.com

How does a company create a new version of an existing product and avoid cannibalization? What a timely question.

Say you want to introduce a new desktop-based product when you already offer the server-based software. You’d want the products to exist in parallel to each other, and really only differ in how they are installed. To do this without impacting your sales negatively, you must consider a few things.

Is there a customer demand for the desktop version? Are your reasons for creating this version of value to your overall goals? The bottom line is that you don’t want to do it unless you are aware of a customer need for it that will ultiately expand your business. If you do decide to go ahead with it, be sure to focus on targetting and resolving the needs of the customers with the new design, and thouroughly map our your marketing strategies. perhaps your pricing and distribution strategies will be dramatically different from your software version.

Learn more about how to position a new version of an existing product and avoid cannibalization. This is a smart article worth the quick read.

By Catherine Faas.

Lots more on innovation.