A Test Market for Bicycle Commuters

After a lot of work and great effort, we have finally developed our product: a new bike that will address the needs and wants of an expanding market. An increasing number of commuters are starting to go to work by bicycle rather than by car, so we have developed this product with both the features of speed and robustness. Nevertheless, before launching the bike, we will test it. How will we do it? Through a test marketing, which is defined as the limited introduction of a product and a marketing program to determine the reactions of potential customers in a market situation.

This tool provides us with specific advantages. First of all, are we sure that the customers want a product like this? We need to ensure that a demand for this product effectively exists. A marketing test will give us an answer and so will provide us with a critical advantage. It is very risky to fully launch a product without knowing whether there is a market with a high level of need for our product. In this case, the company would loose a lot of money if the product's features did not perfectly combine the market needs. The customers' opinions and needs are much more important than the company's ones. Our job is addressing the customers' needs to satisfy them.

Then we have decided to make use of a test marketing, because this allows the company to try different kinds of advertisement in order to find what best fits the target's tastes. Moreover, introducing the product in a different way to each group may result in different responses. It will reveal which promotional messages grasp the consumer's attention and increase their interest in our product.

Another advantage lies in the ability of the testers/users to gage our product and identify rooms for improvement. They probably have a deeper insight than us. Their feedback can consist of constructive criticism and advice that suggests certain modifications that help the product reaches its full potential. Only through a test we can know whether the bike perfectly tailors to their expectations. Our product has to be different from a normal bicycle, it has to be manageable to ride in the city, and at the same time, it must be heavy to meet the working commuters' need of stability. Only our final target can tell us if they appreciate our work or not. Our success depends on them and we cannot avoid listening to possible complaints. That is a stimulus for us to do an even better job.

After knowing a response from the customers we will know the correct amount of bikes the market needs. In this way, the production will be perfectly balanced with the demands. While launching a new product, production is critical. Indeed, it could happen that there is too much demands in comparison to our supply. If this occurs, the customers could change their mind and choose another product only because it is immediately available. We want to avoid losing clients in this way.

Furthermore, from the testers we will gather a lot of critical information. We will know better what the problems are that they face while riding to work and we could solve them. We will have a more detailed feedback of our bicycle,