As you know, innovation is one of the elements that must always be taken into account to keep a business competitive, and that innovation goes hand in hand with creativity and there are many different ways in which an entrepreneur or a company can innovate when selling your products.
So, if you are looking for how to make your products have a better value and increase your sales while making your customers happy, today I want to talk to you about product innovation.
According to the Oslo Manual published by the OECD, product innovation "corresponds to the introduction of a new or improved good or service, in terms of its characteristics, or its intended use." Thus, when we speak of product innovation, it refers indistinctly to improvements in goods or services, and this type of innovation can be divided between new products or improved products.
New products are goods or services that, due to their characteristics, differ from those previously existing on the market. For example, computer microprocessors were a completely disruptive product innovation during the second half of the 20th century, whereas; For example, the iPhone incorporated features of existing elements (the cell phone and the iPod Touch), which made it a product innovation thanks to the combination of existing objects.
Significant improvements occur when there are changes to materials or components that make products perform better. It may be in the case of a Swiss army knife that a USB is incorporated to save information when needed, in addition to the classic knife or can opener; or, even in a video game, that includes new game features, such as multiplayer. It is important to mention that aesthetic improvements do not constitute a significant improvement and, therefore, are not product innovation.
Distinguishing between product innovation and process innovation can sometimes be not very straightforward. In the case of the introduction of a new object, it is clear that we are facing a product innovation; But, when it comes to a service, the situation can get confusing.
For example, if the innovation refers to new features in the service offered to the customer; For example, a communication channel through a 'bot' on the website to offer support refers to service innovation in how much new methods are being used to satisfy customer needs; On the other hand, if the support service is going to be incorporated in a new way for customers who acquire the software sold by a certain company, then it refers to product innovation, as soon as it is being improved.
Is your company applying product innovation? Contact us to help you.
