Current Status:
ABC Inc. is a company specializing in personal care products. Electric shavers have been the main source of revenue for the company. Recently, based on company’s internal record, the sales of its flagship product (ABC Smart Shaver 1800) in this product line is slowly trending downward. Comments from the company’s dealers and sales staffs have indicated that people do not seem to like this model as much as before.
At the same time, the company’s R&D team has recently been designing a new concept model (ABC Smart Shaver 1900) that has a few minor changes in product features along with a stylistic change in appearance and shape from its current model. The differences in product features between the new concept model and the current model are:
ABC Smart Shaver 1900 features a new blade system for closer shaving while ABC Smart Shaver 1800 features a blade system for comfortable shaving.
ABC Smart Shaver 1900 features an advanced digital interface that shows all the required information while ABC Smart Shaver 1800 features simple battery-level & lock indicators.
ABC Smart Shaver 1900 features a number of personal shaving-settings to choose from while ABC Smart Shaver 1800 lacks this feature.
ABC Smart Shaver 1900 features rings with anti-friction coating for comfortable shaving while ABC Smart Shaver 1800 lacks this feature.
While prototype shavers for this new model has been designed and made, this new model has not yet been finalized/approved for mass production. The management team of ABC Inc. needs to decide whether they should be replacing the current flagship model with the new concept model. Due to the importance of this decision, the management team has commissioned a research project to investigate the feasibility of this product replacement.
Managerial Problem/Question:
Should the company produce the new concept electric shaver to replace the existing flagship model? In other words, if the new concept model is to be produced, will it be a good replacement for the existing flagship model?
Research Objectives/Questions:
To answer the aforementioned managerial question, the research team needs to provide the necessary information for addressing the following research objectives/questions:
Whether the new product can perform better in sales and/or customer satisfaction than the existing product to justify replacing it?
Is there anything about the new concept model that needs to be altered before introducing it to the market?
How much should the price be for the new model?
Who will be the primary type(s) of customers for the new model?
Sample Solution