Assignment 25A: What’s Next?
1) Existing Market:
I think that my next step could be to offer different kinds of heatable seat covers. I want to offer a product that is affordable for everyone. But I think it is also important to bear specific desires of the customers in mind. I want to be able to offer a wide product range – starting with a basic product and ending up in a luxury version. Additionally to that it would also be good to offer different versions of heatable hand grips, for example a luxury version where people are able to control the temperature.
Furthermore a good supplement would be a cooling seat cover for the hot summer season, because the seat becomes very hot when people are not able to park the bike in the shadow.
The information given by the interviewees have been very useful and informative. The first one recommended a heatable seat cover that might make use of solar energy. Even though it is very cold during the winter, there are some hours of sun each day. The interviewee’s suggestion was to use this energy to charge a battery which will heat the seat when riding the bike.
The seconds interviewed person had the idea to offer a seat cover made of sheepskin, this would spend additional warmth.
The third person I interviewed had the same idea I already had. He suggested to offer a cooling seat cover for the warm season.
Based on the feedback I received from my interviewees, I could find out that they liked the idea of different versions of my product (offering a wide product range, starting with a basic product and end up in a luxury product). Furthermore I decided that the implementation of a cooling seat cover is also a good supplement. Finally I could try to integrate the solar energy seat cover to one of the different versions of the heatable cover.
2) New Market:
I believe that a new market I could enter would be a market for “special” bicycle lights. The light I am thinking about has an integrated censor which is kind of scanning the street and changes the light to warn the bike rider against an icy road.
This light is a very helpful gadget to protect against slipping with the bike and have an accident. A lot of people slip with their bike in winter because they are not able to recognize icy parts of the road. This can be really dangerous, especially when they are riding their bike on the road where cars are driving as well. Consequences are that people get injured or they have to bring the bike to a repair station because something broken due to the accident or they simply have to buy a new trousers because it was ripped by the accident. That is why this product creates a high value for bike riders, it can help to prevent accidents due to icy roads.
The two interviewed persons reacted positive towards the concept. Both of them already experienced an accident due to an icy road. One of them just had a ripped jacket, but the other one had a really bad accident and even had to stay in hospital. One of the interviewees suggested that it is not necessary to implement the censor in the light. It is also possible to install it somewhere at the bike and then connect it to the hand grips. If there would be danger of an icy road, the hand grips would start to vibrate.
I learned about the new market, that there is much potential to implement such a censor. I also believe that there will be a huge customer base. A huge customer base could end in high profits. People are willing to spend money for those gadgets because it helps to protect the health and health is one of the most important goals people strive for. I think that the existing market is still more attractive because it is easier and cheaper to implement and it is easier to create a high value to each customer individually due to the possibility of being able to customize the product.
I think that my next step could be to offer different kinds of heatable seat covers. I want to offer a product that is affordable for everyone. But I think it is also important to bear specific desires of the customers in mind. I want to be able to offer a wide product range – starting with a basic product and ending up in a luxury version. Additionally to that it would also be good to offer different versions of heatable hand grips, for example a luxury version where people are able to control the temperature.
Furthermore a good supplement would be a cooling seat cover for the hot summer season, because the seat becomes very hot when people are not able to park the bike in the shadow.
The information given by the interviewees have been very useful and informative. The first one recommended a heatable seat cover that might make use of solar energy. Even though it is very cold during the winter, there are some hours of sun each day. The interviewee’s suggestion was to use this energy to charge a battery which will heat the seat when riding the bike.
The seconds interviewed person had the idea to offer a seat cover made of sheepskin, this would spend additional warmth.
The third person I interviewed had the same idea I already had. He suggested to offer a cooling seat cover for the warm season.
Based on the feedback I received from my interviewees, I could find out that they liked the idea of different versions of my product (offering a wide product range, starting with a basic product and end up in a luxury product). Furthermore I decided that the implementation of a cooling seat cover is also a good supplement. Finally I could try to integrate the solar energy seat cover to one of the different versions of the heatable cover.
2) New Market:
I believe that a new market I could enter would be a market for “special” bicycle lights. The light I am thinking about has an integrated censor which is kind of scanning the street and changes the light to warn the bike rider against an icy road.
This light is a very helpful gadget to protect against slipping with the bike and have an accident. A lot of people slip with their bike in winter because they are not able to recognize icy parts of the road. This can be really dangerous, especially when they are riding their bike on the road where cars are driving as well. Consequences are that people get injured or they have to bring the bike to a repair station because something broken due to the accident or they simply have to buy a new trousers because it was ripped by the accident. That is why this product creates a high value for bike riders, it can help to prevent accidents due to icy roads.
The two interviewed persons reacted positive towards the concept. Both of them already experienced an accident due to an icy road. One of them just had a ripped jacket, but the other one had a really bad accident and even had to stay in hospital. One of the interviewees suggested that it is not necessary to implement the censor in the light. It is also possible to install it somewhere at the bike and then connect it to the hand grips. If there would be danger of an icy road, the hand grips would start to vibrate.
I learned about the new market, that there is much potential to implement such a censor. I also believe that there will be a huge customer base. A huge customer base could end in high profits. People are willing to spend money for those gadgets because it helps to protect the health and health is one of the most important goals people strive for. I think that the existing market is still more attractive because it is easier and cheaper to implement and it is easier to create a high value to each customer individually due to the possibility of being able to customize the product.
Hi Laura, it seems like you have a lot of knowledge about the industry from your research and conclusions. I agree that a wide variety of bicycle seats would allow you to not only meet the needs of your customers, but also become more competitive as other products enter the market. In addition, your ideas to add different features to the seats could be an opportunity not only to specialize, but also to up the price a bit!
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