"Assortment Styler is the only research tool that could provide us with a systematic and quantified overview of the trends within home design, with the detail necessary to provide insights beyond color and general style. It has been an invaluable tool for better streamlining our resources in product development to ensure the best possible fit into overall home décor trend direction.”
Isn’t it Time You Looked Overseas?
2020 is over. It was a rough year. But things are looking better. The political scene should be calming down and the vaccine is on its way. Consumers are looking forward to better times even though they are still stuck at home. They are looking forward to dining out and vacations. The American nesting response may be slowing down, especially when the warmer weather arrives. Maybe it’s time to look beyond the US market for sales growth. Have you thought about exporting? Are you concerned about where to go and whether your products will find acceptance?
We can help. We conduct consumer research worldwide. We can test acceptance for your existing products, your brand name and positioning, your pricing, your packaging, even your product claims and commentary. As you’ve heard us say in these blog posts, everything has to be right with every product every day. The same is true in other countries. You can’t just ship the same product with the same packaging and labeling to another country and expect that consumers will understand and covet it. You need to explain it and you need to find ways to tell them that they need it and want it. What passes muster in the US doesn’t necessarily even make sense in other countries. You need to know that in advance or you are wasting your time.
Sound too hard? In some categories it might be. But think of it like this. It typically takes 12 to 18 months to develop a product from conception to delivery, more if there is complicated or expensive tooling involved. It typically costs tens of thousands of dollars to millions to bring a new product to market. It takes only a few weeks to deliver an existing product to a new market. It might take only one salesperson/administrator to open and manage a new country. How many does it take to develop a new product? Clearly many more.
The challenge presented by exporting is and always has been one of information and understanding. If you don’t understand other markets you can’t sell to them. Let us help you to understand what foreign consumers want from your product category. From there it’s just selling.
Foreign countries we currently conduct research in include:
| Australia | Italy |
| Brazil | Japan |
| Canada | Malaysia |
| China | Mexico |
| France | Poland |
| Germany | Russia |
| India | Spain |
| Indonesia | UK |
Call 609.896.1108 or email Rick@designres.com today to learn more about opening foreign markets.