How to Reduce New Product Development: Customer Integration in the e-Fashion Market

Forecasting the demand for new products is becoming increasingly difficult in many markets. A new method to decrease the flop rate of new products is the idea to integrate customers deeply into the innovation process. This method of integrating the commitment of users to screen, evaluate and score new designs as a powerful mechanism to reduce flops of new products. The process starts when an idea for a product is posted on a dedicated web site by either a (potential) customer or just the designer of a product. Second, reactions and evaluations of other consumers towards the posted idea are encouraged in form of internet forums and opinion polls. Based on the results of this process, the manufacturer investigates the possibility of commercialization of the most popular designs. Is this evaluation positive, the company decides about a minimum amount of purchasers necessary to produce the item for a given sales price, covering its initial development and manufacturing costs (and the desired margin). The new product idea is then presented to the customer community, and interested customers are invited to express their commitment to this idea by voting for the design or even placing an order. Accordingly, only if the number of interested purchasers exceeds the minimum necessary lot size, investments in final product development are made, merchandising is settled and sales are commenced.