1. Idea Generation (Concept)

The new development process begins with ideas or concepts. Where do new ideas come from? they will come from employees, vendors, current and potential customers, management, competitors, and yes, family and friends.

ACTION: the merchandise Development team should have and/or establish a system to capture all of the ideas and score the concepts supported the company's interests.

2. Idea Screening

Step 2 is concept screening. This step is a component of the method to screen the "yes" and "no's". This process is vital to scale back the concepts and choose the decent ones. the method could take a couple of days or weeks, counting on the corporate and therefore the approval review. The concepts chosen are those the corporate feel will become profitable services or products.

ACTION: What happens to the concepts not chosen? they ought to be stored for possible future opportunities. a corporation should never throw out ideas; they'll be valuable later or for a future customer.

3. Development and Testing of the Concept

The "yes" products move to the event and testing stage. what's the target market, this may determine what concept is developed and tested.

Developing the concept:

For example, if the concept may be a widget - is your target market singles; married couples; seniors, etc. If not identified, it'll be hard to check and present your business case.

The concepts should be decided to be meaningful. within the next sub-stage, concepts are tested.

Testing the concept:

To test, your target customers must be identified. The potential customers can test an idea some ways , an image of the merchandise , a physical product test, and use of the merchandise . During the testing, several questions should be asked; including - is there a consumer need or want?

ACTION: Know your customer must get accurate testing results of the merchandise .

4. Development of selling Strategy

Step 4 is where the team will design a marketing strategy to introduce the product/service to the market. The marketing strategy should be carefully thought out and can work with other teams on costs, resources and timelines:

a) Who is that the target market, expected sales and market share and therefore the return on investment/profit forecasted for 1-5 years.

b) Short term plan for the product/service - price (several financial models could also be made to cost test), budget (include research, launch costs, staffing costs) for the primary year.

c) future for the product/service - sales, profit expectations, and possible exit.

ACTION: Establish a brief and future plan.