As anyone who’s been to a home improvement store can attest to, knowing which product to buy for a specific job can be a confusing proposition. This created a problem for our client. The product category already had a high return rate and making matters worse was a glaring lack of innovation in both product development and positioning. For our client, that meant returns would only continue to rise, as well as warranty claims due to a lack of customer knowledge and misuse. Something different had to be done.
But rather than look at a short-term fix like slashing prices or a patchwork solution to the existing product, we discovered the only way to truly create growth was to create a new product altogether. Which is exactly what we challenged the engineers to do. Using key consumer insights, we were able to reimagine a whole new category – delivering an industry-first product that was so innovative and had such staying power, we were able to price it above anything else while still creating demand. And demand there was. Not only did our breakthrough receive a number of patents, it secured a $60 million initial order from the nation’s leading retailer and earned placement in 1,000 of their ‘Innovation End-Caps’ throughout stores. And our design went on to win placement at other national retailers with one buyer describing the concept as, “simplistic genius.” For our client, their market position was significantly improved, with returns falling to single digits, and shelf space reduced by 75%. Learn more
