The NPD Group Introduces Product Feature Evaluation Service
Port Washington, New York (PRWEB) April 08, 2016 -- The NPD Group, a leading provider of global market information, announced it is introducing a one-of-a-kind approach for identifying the value in dollars of individual product features. By quantifying the value of those features, the service will help manufacturers make more informed product development and marketing decisions.
While business has traditionally relied on consumer research (e.g., conjoint analysis) to understand people’s preferences, to set price points, and to predict sales, the new NPD approach leverages the firm’s industry-leading data assets, including point-of-sale (POS) information from more than 700 retailers nationwide. NPD data show what consumers purchased, the price they paid for those products, and a variety of other attributes. Through analysis of this granular store-level data that is representative of the entire market, NPD can determine the value in dollars of the individual features of those products.
“People who participate in research are not always great at rating or rank ordering product features, let alone predicting their own future behavior,” explains Dr. George Terhanian, President of Solutions for NPD. “Within an in-depth interview or survey, for instance, someone may say that the brand of a laptop is only a moderately important consideration when they think about buying a computer. At checkout, it may turn out that brand trumps all other features.”
By determining the value of individual features, the NPD Group can help to address and even answer the broad range of questions that arise as manufacturers develop and take to market new and enhanced products:
• How much are people willing to pay for feature X?
• Which features, or combinations of features, should we focus on when designing or enhancing products?
• Which product features should we highlight in our communications?
• How should we price products that we upgrade?
• What is the incremental value of our brand—a product feature—in different categories?
Retailers can benefit from NPD’s product feature evaluation service as well:
• To identify must have product features they need to carry,
• To support category-level decisions on how to price and assort products within stores, and
• To understand people’s needs and preferences and how they evolve over time
All product feature evaluation subscribers—manufacturers and retailers—will be able to test hypotheses, conduct what if analyses, and obtain answers to critical questions through an interactive simulation system that NPD updates as new features enter the market.
Product feature evaluation is the latest addition to NPD’s expanding portfolio of data-driven solutions that help manufacturers and retailers understand and optimize performance. It follows the company’s recent roll-outs of pre-market sales forecasting, segmentation and market mapping services.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group provides market information and analytic solutions that drive better decision-making and better results. The world’s leading brands rely on us to help them get the right products in the right places for the right people. Practice areas include apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty, consumer electronics, diamonds, e-commerce, entertainment, fashion accessories, food consumption, foodservice, footwear, home, mobile, office supplies, retail, sports, technology, toys, video games, and watches / jewelry. For more information, visit npd.com and npdgroupblog.com. Follow us on Twitter: @npdgroup.
Kim McLynn, The NPD Group, http://www.npd.com, +1 (847) 692-1781, [email protected]
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