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                                    products. These partners are excellent areas to test the sales process of theproduct during the medium scale of production of the product for a largemarket.d) Direct-to-consumer (DTC)This channel might account for a smaller volume, but it offers the highestprofit margins as it eliminates intermediary costs. DTC can be through anonline shop, pop-ups, or direct sales events. It is the best channel to startselling a new product. The customer will give their opinion of the perceptionof this novelty and the manner of their purchase is very interesting tounderstand and to adapt. This channel represents the reality of all of the otherpartners that were mentioned before. It is an opportunity for the company tostudy the customer%u2019s reactions and to collect qualitative information aboutthe offered solution, such as the price level, the perception of qualitycompared to the price, the significance of the brand, and the use of thisproduct. It is real life for the innovation. The volume of clients is the lowest ofall of the channels, but is interesting at the very beginning of the salesprocess. The costs to promote the product to first customers are high.Turnover will probably not be sufficient in relation to costs and a margin willnot be generated from these actions.e) Online marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, etc.)With the increase in online shopping, especially post-Covid, these platformscan be a significant source of sales. They have broad reach, but the salesvolume might be lower than physical retailers due to the competitive nature ofthese platforms resulting in innovative products being lost in a huge range ofproducts. The quality of the solution description and the referencing will notbe optimised. The new product is considered traditional and will no longer bereferenced if this solution does not bring margin in the product portfolio. Thischannel is not really optimal for an introduction to the market, particularly forfrugal innovations, which need explanations on the specifications of theproduct. f) Business-to-business (B2B %u2013 hotels, offices, institutions)These clients could be interested in frugal innovations for cost-savings orCSR reasons. The sales volume would be relatively low due to a smallercustomer base but can be substantial for certain products. It is a goodchannel to test the business-to-business sales process, especially regardingquantity, the size of the products (bigger for a hotel than for an individualhouse), or the robustness of the product in relation to intensive use. Some ofthese clients will purchase with a specific process, such as hospitals andinstitutions. They use tenders to ensure an ethical balance betweencompetitors on the market. This type of negotiation is quite different fromdirect negotiations with clients and takes time. The solution has to first be1503 Frugal Innovations
                                
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