Did you know? Studies show that 76% of new product offerings fail during their first year on the market… The main reason is that these products don’t meet the real expectations of consumers! To reverse this trend and ensure the commercial success of your product launches, know that nothing replaces the opinions of a panel of target consumers! Today, product tests have become essential for marketing professionals, and specialized sites that organize these free online tests are spreading across the Internet. But what is a product test? How does a product testing site work? And why must brands and companies imperatively call upon testers to evaluate their products via specialized sites? We’ll cover all these points in this article.
Product Testing: What Does It Involve?
It involves one or more tests set up during the product design phase. The principle is to question a panel of target consumers about their impressions of the product, the emotions and feelings they experience when using it.
Several types of product tests are possible depending on the strategic objectives defined by your company:
– The monadic test, which consists of evaluating a single product concept;
– The sequential test, during which several products are evaluated;
– The protomonadic test, which allows you to compare your product with other competing versions;
– The comparative monadic test, during which the tester chooses a product and evaluates it;
– A/B testing, which allows you to test several variants of the same product.
After receiving one or more products (either in full size or in the form of “samples) at home for free, the pre-selected tester is responsible for” evaluating the product on several points and according to a list of criteria determined by the brand. For this, the tester must respond in detail to a questionnaire covering all the characteristics of the product.
As a brand, thanks to this testing phase of your new product offering, you can collect valuable information from your testers such as: product appeal, purchase intent for your product, product quality and effectiveness, design, packaging, or even value for money, etc.
You can test a product offering as many times as your concept needs to be perfected. In fact, you have every interest in conducting continuous product tests, during and after the product launch to offer your customers a concept that fully meets their aspirations.
Before marketing your products, having them tested by your target consumers allows you to know if they are likely to meet a real demand and need, if they will appeal to your target audience, and if sales will be successful.
This approach secures your product launches before their introduction to the market and helps you avoid many setbacks: loss of money, disappointment of your consumers, and a decrease in the trust they have placed in you…
How a Product Testing Site Works
Today, product testing sites are legion on the Internet. These sites can be specialized in a specific field such as: beauty care, cosmetics, food products, or even i-Tech products, for example.
There are many sites in France – such as in the beauty domain – that offer pre-selected consumers, based on their profile, home delivery of free products in the form of samples or full-size products from many brands in the beauty and cosmetics sector.
Indeed, these product testing sites offer consumers the opportunity to receive products for free (full size or samples) and exclusively to test them comfortably at home.
The objective for the brand is to obtain, in exchange for each shipment of free products or samples, 100% authentic, complete, and verified consumer reviews through the product testing site.
To participate, the consumer must first register for the ambassador program, then complete a very detailed profile via a form. Afterwards, they can apply to become a tester. If their profile matches the criteria requested by the brand, the tester receives an email for each new product testing campaign.
Regarding Trustt, we take care of selecting the best tester profiles – thanks to the Favikon tool – to match them with your brand and the products to be tested. In exchange for the product test carried out and the publication of an authentic review on the brand’s product page, testers can keep the product for free and use it as they see fit.
Product testers can also be rewarded for their participation through gifts or promotional offers. In some cases, these individuals may even be paid. It’s up to the brand organizing the product tests and depends on the level of contribution requested from the testers.
The importance of implementing “product testing prior to” a launch
Creating a new product offering is a real challenge for a brand, requiring a lot of money, time, and work: research, conceptualization, planning, etc. From its conception to its launch, implementing product tests with a panel of consumers appears essential and allows your brand to:
1- Gather first impressions of your product and evaluate its appeal to your future customers
It is very difficult, if not almost impossible, to know how your new product offering will really be received by consumers before its market launch. Indeed, it’s only when your customers use your product in real conditions and you obtain their first feedback and reviews that you can determine if your offering will be successful…
Implementing a product testing phase gives your brand the opportunity to:
– Take the temperature among testers and realize the interest of your target population for your new product offering;
– Know if your product really meets consumer expectations and addresses a real customer issue;
– Ultimately, decide whether you can continue developing this product offering or if it’s better to stop it.
Through surveys and questionnaires, you will gather all the necessary information to measure the appreciation of your product concept among consumers. Moreover, you don’t need to pay your testers, sending free products in the form of samples or full-size products is sufficient.
2- Identify areas for improvement to optimize your product launch
By giving consumers the opportunity to test your new product for free, you can quickly detect design or manufacturing defects that could lead to returns, dissatisfaction, repairs, refunds, and cause you to lose money.
You benefit from a completely fresh perspective on the use of your product innovation. Consumer feedback and reviews can help you highlight new features and new development avenues that you might not have thought of for your products.
Free product tests give your company the opportunity to gather a large amount of key information about your target consumers. You can then use all this feedback and these reviews to correct and improve your offerings, thus putting all the chances on your side when launching them on the market.
3- Refine your targeting and define the right market segment
During each product testing campaign, the feedback from your testers will help you precisely determine which target consumers your offer appeals to the most. Very often, the initial target audience for the product does not fully correspond to the market reality. Thanks to the results obtained from surveys and questionnaires with consumers selected for your product testing campaign, you will be able to better understand your target consumers, their expectations, their needs, their consumption habits, and thus target the ideal market for your product concept.
Discover Trustt
Trustt is a digital marketing solution that allows you to create a virtuous circle between your brand and your consumers.4- Eliminate the Least Relevant Product Ideas
The consumer insights you gather during the testing of your product offerings also serve to ensure that each new product you are developing truly has added value compared to existing offers on the market. Thanks to the feedback you will receive from your product testing campaigns, you will be able to realize that some of your products are not well positioned and thus eliminate irrelevant product ideas before their market launch. This will save you time and money!
5 – Involve Your Community in the Co-Creation of Your Product Offering
By asking for their opinion, you place consumers at the heart of building your products. It’s a win-win strategy that allows you to:
– Respond to the current need of customers to be involved in the life of brands;
– Benefit from increased and free visibility;
– Create a product offering that meets the real needs of the market.
Moreover, testers who participate in the design of your product offering are generally more inclined to buy it afterwards, which has a positive impact on your sales and revenue!
6- Obtain Relevant Recommendations and Reviews
As part of a product testing campaign, you send free products to a panel of testers that can be composed of consumers, but also influencers.
Once the product test is completed, each tester is invited to leave an authentic and complete review online. They are also invited to talk about it on social media. These sincere reviews contribute to improving your brand image and building your online reputation.
7- Increase Your ROI
As you can see, the advantages of product testing sites for companies, regardless of the sector (beauty, food, sports, i-Tech…), are numerous and must be an essential part of your plans! The reviews you will receive from your panel of testers will help you determine if your product offering can be sold as is on the market, if it needs “to be improved, and if it truly corresponds to the needs and expectations of targeted consumers. The advantage of these product testing sites is that you can have your products tested for free and thus continuously optimize your product offering. Thanks to product tests via specialized sites, you considerably reduce the risks of” product failure and obtain a better return on your investments (ROI).
Trustt’s SaaS solution automates your product tests and gives you access to a community of 185,000 pre-selected testers. Our teams put their expertise at your service and assist you in setting up your product tests.
