I would like to develop new products and have products to sell on the web, what should I pay attention to?

I have developed a new product, how can I market it effectively on my website?

New products that have never been seen before may be difficult to promote online. It is considered important to devise a sales method or be aware of the importance of creating products that are easy to sell on the Internet.
Sales promotion on websites is centered on “active information gathering,” in which customers search for information on their own. Therefore, completely new products that no one knows about yet tend to be difficult to search for in the first place, and it is difficult to convey their value.
The first countermeasure is to “research how to sell”. It is effective to make repeated trial-and-error efforts to convey the appeal of the product visually and audibly, for example, by devising photos and videos and carefully conveying information that eases customers’ anxiety. Another key to success is to take the viewpoint of “creating products that are easy to sell on the Internet” at the product development stage. For example, positioning products as solutions to “problems” that customers already feel will make it easier for them to find them. Consistently considering everything from the product development stage to the sales method will increase the success rate.

I heard that “new products are not suitable for online sales.

This is because customers cannot actively search for something they do not know. Another reason is that it is difficult to convey the appeal of a product on the Internet because customers cannot actually experience the product.
In the Web world, customers search for information according to their own interests and concerns. Therefore, products and services that have never existed in the world before are not known to exist and are not searched for. This is a major reason why people say that the web is not suited for the Internet.
In addition, face-to-face sales can appeal to all five senses through tastings and demonstrations, but on the Internet, only visual and auditory senses can be used. It takes a great deal of ingenuity to convey the appeal of a product in terms of feel, taste, and aroma, and this tends to raise the hurdle for customers to make a decision to purchase.

Do you have any specific tips for selling new products that are difficult to sell on the Internet?

It is effective to convey visual appeal through photos and videos, and to provide information that allays customers’ fears. Offering a low-priced trial product is one way to do this.
TV shopping is a good reference for conveying the attractiveness of products. Specifically, the following innovations can be considered.

• Appeal to the visual and auditory senses by devising photos and videos
• Carefully post information that addresses customer concerns and questions.
• Choose words that resonate with your customers.

It is also important to utilize the “low-cost, repeatable improvement” advantage of the Internet to gain a deeper understanding of customers through A/B testing, heat-map analysis, post-purchase surveys, and other methods.
Another effective method is to provide a “trial product” that is unprofitable and give customers the opportunity to try the product once. Alternatively, by using the customer’s specific “problem” such as “stiff shoulders” as the hook, rather than the product itself, it will be easier for the customer to find the product as a solution.

New product development is an important way to create new value. However, care must be taken, especially when promoting sales on the Internet.

That is, it is very difficult to get exposure and recognition for things and concepts that customers do not know about.

This is because the Web world is not a passive collection of information, such as TV or radio, but an active collection of information based on one’s own interests. Because it is active collection, you cannot reach things that are outside your world.

There are always requests to develop new products, to launch unique services, and to successfully promote them on the Web to get them off the ground. In conclusion, however, we recommend that you consider this to be more difficult than selling an existing product, as there is basically more to think about.

The problem is that “new products are basically unsuitable for the Internet. In particular, “products and services that have never existed before” are difficult to sell. Therefore, let’s proceed with the project with a tripod approach, sharing information and aligning our efforts.

Why “new product promotion is basically unsuitable for the Internet”?

This is because “we have to get people to understand what it is from the beginning. If it is a well-known product group, it is not necessary to explain what it is, and it is enough to differentiate it from existing products, but there is a preliminary step.

In traditional sales, the best way to “get people to understand something new” is to “have them actually touch it, or if it’s a service, have them experience it for themselves. This is not possible with the Internet.

The inability to use all five senses is another weakness of the Internet. At the moment, we can only use our sense of sight and hearing, and we cannot use the pressure of being right in front of us on the Internet.

It may seem as if the Internet is suitable for new products and services because it can reach a large number of people, but if done without proper thought, the Internet will go quiet.

But of course, it is not impossible, and it depends on how you do it.

So what do we do? This is the starting point.

Basically… it’s more about “creating a product that sells” than how to sell it!

To put it bluntly, when selling products on the Internet, it is recommended that you develop products that are easy to sell on the Internet from the beginning as a basic principle. However, since this may limit the range of ideas, please keep in mind that this is only a “basic” approach.

Why is it easier to “make something easy to sell” than to “figure out how to sell”?

This is because non-face-to-face interactions are the main part of the sales process. This is because you have to sell without the product in front of you. This is very difficult compared to face-to-face sales.

Then, it is “easier” to create a product that can be communicated in a non-personal way.

If you can’t tinker with the product, research how to sell it.

E-commerce, TV shopping, radio, and other media all share a common focus on solving the problem of “not having something in front of you, but having to sell something.

In TV and radio shopping programs, the quality of the product itself to be sold is of course important, but more effort is put into conveying the appeal of the product. Various techniques are developed, repeatedly devised, and tested.

On TV or radio, you can’t say, “We can’t handle that product because we can’t sell it non-personally!” I can’t say, “We can’t handle that product because we can’t sell it in person! We want to receive advertising fees.

Since only audio is used on the radio, the main focus is on what words should be used or how they should be said. Short, impactful phrases are played over and over again in commercials and other media.

So what can we do online?

For example, in mail order,

• What kind of photos and videos to take
• What are the benefits of a good starting point that can be easily communicated visually and audibly?
• What information will alleviate any suspicion or anxiety the customer may have?
• What kind of language will resonate easily in the buyer’s mind and allow them to connect with the concept?
• How can taste, smell, etc. be conveyed by sight and hearing alone?

We think about it from various perspectives. TV shopping programs are a treasure trove of techniques.

The beauty of the Internet is that it allows for many cycles of improvement at a low cost. With mass media, the cost is high for a single cycle, so it is not possible to do so many cycles of trial-and-error. This is why there is a big difference between the two.

Let’s use the benefits there anyway.

There are many things that access analysis alone cannot tell us,

• Qualitative research tools such as mouse tracking and heat maps
• Comparative improvement of catch copy and images through A/B testing
• Actively taking surveys after purchase to get information on the brain as well as the behavior.

We will do what we can to thoroughly understand our customers, such as

Repeating this process is a way to sell on the strength of the Internet. However, there are times when no matter how you do it, it just doesn’t get better. Also, while you are doing it, you may gradually realize that this may not be a good product to sell in the first place.

At that time, it is sometimes better to switch heads and reconsider the product or service itself.

Create a trial product at a price you are willing to pay if you think it will fail.

One other direction is to create front-end products.

The direction is to make inexpensive products that are difficult to communicate and to have people feel the effects of the products, even if only a little, without regard to profitability. It is better to think of the loss as a sales promotion expense.

The same concept can be applied to short-term, small-scale, rental… I think there are many common “trial” methods for each product, so this direction is also possible. Demand for home appliance rental services seems to be continuing to grow.

If possible, it is better to make the connection by having the customer pay. It is easier to provide support, and once the customer has paid, it is easier for them to make further purchases.

New words and categories are hard to come by, but if you use “problems” and “situations” as hooks, you can find a way.

There is also the direction of using the situation or problem as a hook and creating products and services around it.

This is because even if the product or service is unknown, the problem to be solved is often known.

For example, “my shoulders are stiff,” “I have trouble shifting my mask every time I use my phone’s facial recognition,” “I left the bathtub plug slightly open and turned on the hot water,” and many other major problems.

If you position your product as a solution to that problem or a way out of a troubling situation, and build your product around that problem keyword, it will be easier to achieve exposure and recognition.

However, it is too late to think, “What kind of words would this suit people who search for this? Instead, it is a shortcut to pick up “easily searched” and “frequently searched problems” on the Internet and create a product that fits them.

We can expect technology to evolve, but it’s still a ways off.

Internet technology is evolving daily.

In the future, when all five senses can be sensed remotely in the world of virtual reality, new products may be easier to sell, but it is still too early to rely on that. We should consider visual and auditory sensation as the basis.

*News has talked about technology such that if you lick the monitor, it tastes the same. Whether or not you want to lick the monitor, it would be interesting to see if such a device is feasible. Development is also underway for devices that can sense wind and temperature through headphones or earphones. However, practical application of these technologies is probably still far away.

Products that are difficult to communicate visually, no matter how much they are appealing, end up being “I’ll have to see it” or “I’ll have to touch it” no matter how good they are. There are some measures that can be taken to avoid this problem, such as offering free returns, but it should be avoided as much as possible.

Let’s focus on features that can be easily communicated online.

Also, some items are more likely to convey value to others online and some are not.

For example, the visual part is easy to convey. It only takes an image. Nowadays, sound and movement are also easier to convey. You use video.

However, it is difficult to communicate smell, touch and taste. Because they cannot be communicated over the Internet (hopefully they will be able to in the future).

Such items cannot be sold unless they are touched in a real store or you get a lot of customer feedback. It does not mean that they cannot be sold. For example, there are many online sales promotions for fabric items, such as clothes, towels, and handkerchiefs, that are comfortable to touch.

However, this is because there are “techniques and mechanisms that make people think it is a good product even if they do not see it in front of them and touch it. Mail-order companies are strong in this area. I think the strongest is Japanet Takata.

Before that know-how is accumulated, we recommend creating products and services that convey appeal through visual and auditory means that are easy to understand.

When fixed customers are attached to these products, and when it becomes possible to hold discourse sessions, prior user review meetings, and joint product development, difficult sensory products will become possible.

Instead of thinking about how to sell your product on the Internet only after it has been developed, try to include marketing and sales in the product development stage to increase your success rate.

Please consider that procedure.