Product Research Job Description

Do you know what the product research job description is? Do you know the roles and responsibilities of someone working in this area? If not, read on to know.

Product Research Job Description

A person working in product research is responsible for understanding the needs of the customers and then identifying the potential products which will fulfill their needs. The job involves:

• identifying new product opportunities,
• developing the product, 
• analyzing the product and its features, 
• conducting market research 
• and testing to identify if the product has the potential to be successful in the market.

The duties of someone working in this area are basically to identify new product opportunities, develop the product, analyze it and test it. Let us take a closer look at the five.

Product Research Duties

Identify New Product Opportunities

Each year, many new products flood the market. Some of them are innovative and are successful in fulfilling customer needs. There are many ways to find out about the new products which may enter your market and compete with your product. 

Then, you can find out about them by reading company newsletters, magazines, and newspapers. As well as attending trade shows, talking to suppliers, attending seminars or reading customer surveys or feedback.

Determine Needs

Once you have identified a potential new product that can be introduced into your market, you will have to find out if there is a need for it. There are many ways you can do this. You can talk to experts such as:

• buyers or technical personnel; 
• interview users; 
• observe users while they are using your current product or competitor’s products;
• survey experts on customer trends and preferences; 
• use focus groups; 
• read company newsletters; 
• interview customers by telephone or in-person;
• read newspaper articles; 
• review magazine articles; 
• attend trade shows and read customer surveys or feedback etc.

Develop Product

Once you have identified a potential new product and determined that there is a need for it, you will have to develop it. This may include:

• designing it as per customer needs, 
• creating marketing strategies for introducing it into the market successfully 
• and conducting tests on various aspects of the product such as its size, color, shape, cost, etc so that customers accept it easily.

Analyze Product

Once you have developed a new product, you will have to analyze its performance in terms of its sales revenue generation capacity. This is about its cost of development and marketing costs involved in introducing it into the market successfully, etc. 

Then, this will help you judge whether or not your investment in this project is worthwhile or not.

Conduct Tests

You will also have to conduct tests on various aspects of a new product. Such as its color, shape, size, as well as its features so that customers accept it easily. This will help you to understand the product better.

Then, testing may include:

• potential customers to see if they like it; 
• testing to see if the product is safe for use; 
• testing sales staff to see if they can sell the product successfully; 
• a product in a limited area to see what its sales are.